Canopy and Peak Apartments
When Green by Nature first arrived at Canopy Apartments, the job was small: three newly planted landscape zones around a brand-new building.
More than six years later, the precinct has grown around us. Peak Apartments went up next door. Stairways and access paths linked the buildings, and the surrounding Community Association grounds filled with playgrounds, an outdoor gym, open lawns, water features and rooftop community gardens. Contract by contract, the client brought them under one team. Today we care for the whole precinct as a single, connected landscape.
As Canopy and Peak matured, it became clear that some of the original planting was too dense, and some species were wrong for the site. Shrubs crowded each other, beds became harder to keep tidy, and maintenance time crept up year after year.
Meanwhile, the precinct never emptied. Residents, children, dog walkers and neighbours use these spaces all day. Machinery can’t start before 7:30 am, other contractors are often on site, and beneath the lawns and gardens lies heavy clay and builder’s fill.
Rather than keep pruning against the original design, we worked with the client and the Community Association to change it. Through staged removals, replacements and design refinements, overcrowded beds have been opened up and replanted with species suited to the site. Each enhancement brings in fresh planting soil, so new plants have a better start.
The day-to-day work runs on a simple roster. A two-person team attends two days a week, with set days for each part of the precinct, so every lawn, garden, path, playground and rooftop garden gets regular attention. Noisy jobs are timed for after 7:30 am and away from the busiest periods.
Each year the lawns are aerated, fertilised and topdressed, and worn patches are repaired. Up on the roofs, battery-powered controllers and micro-sprays keep the community gardens watered, and we upgrade them as they age.
Over six years, the team has become a familiar presence. Their relationships with residents and the Community Association make access easy and turn planning into a genuine collaboration.
The beds are mulched with recycled arborist and leaf mulch, laid about 75 mm deep, and a full-site re-mulch is underway. Weeds are mostly pulled by hand. Bio-active herbicides are used only where needed, mainly on hard surfaces. Pests are managed by monitoring first, with targeted treatment only when required. Drip lines and two central controllers deliver water by zone and season, and regular irrigation audits keep the system efficient.
Key numbers: 3 zones grown to a whole precinct · 6+ years of continuous service · several contracts combined into 1 · 2 people, 2 days a week
The landscapes at Canopy and Peak are now easier to maintain and healthier than when they were first planted, and they’re used every day. Families use the playgrounds, neighbours walk the paths and residents enjoy the rooftop gardens.
The clearest result is the growth of the contract itself. What started as three garden zones now covers the whole precinct, all in the care of one team.
