![](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/FullCircile_Kaylee_Katrina.jpg.avif?itok=g9dpDZOW)  

  

  

  

# Full Circle: a Gold-winning garden you can eat

**Katrina Christison and her daughter Kaylee won Gold with their first-ever show garden at the 2026 Waikato Home & Garden Show in October. Almost every plant in it had an edible use, and every bed was filled with Daltons Garden Mix with Daltons Decorative Pebble pathways. Here's how they did it, and how you can use some of their ideas at home.**



  

## Looking back to look forward

The show's theme was ***A Garden for the Future***. For Katrina and Kaylee, the answer was to look back.

"Our grandparents and ancestors grew gardens with purpose. Fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and flowers all had their place," they say. "Somewhere along the way, gardens have become more about how they look and less about what they can provide. We wanted to bring those two things back together."

The result was a garden designed to feed people, support pollinators, use water wisely, connect with the whenua and bring people together.

"**Full Circle** is a garden for the future inspired by the knowledge of the past."



  

*Image: Katrina and Kaylee with their Gold award in the Full Circle garden.*



   

  

 

 

  

  Image

        ![Full Circle show garden at sunset with raised vegetable beds, steel arch and dark fencing](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/Full_Circle_sunset.jpg.avif?itok=julGK90b) 

 





   

  

*Full Circle at sunset, showing how the raised beds, paths and steel arch fit together.*



   

  

 

 

 

## Two generations, one garden

Katrina designs gardens through Tidy Gardens, based in the Waikato, and Kaylee also works alongside her and shares what she grows and harvests through **ThymewithKaylee** on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thymewithkaylee/), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/thymewithkaylee) and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Thymewithkaylee/).

"Working together as mother and daughter is pretty special, although like any family, we both have our own ideas and opinions!" they say. "We share a love of gardening, but we also bring different strengths and perspectives. Full Circle gave us the opportunity to combine those interests and work together on something we both felt passionate about."



  

## Gold on their first go

After months of planning and a seven-day build, Full Circle won a Gold Landscape Design Award.

"The whole garden was about bringing generations together and passing on knowledge. So to be standing there together, celebrating something we'd created, really did bring the whole experience Full Circle."



  

         ![](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/fullcircle_table_crop_edited.jpg.avif?itok=YypS9NNJ)  

  

 

 

  

  

 

 

         ![](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/Ceris_TexasTree.jpg.avif?itok=p_bRFE8g)  

  

 

## Edible, but not a vegetable patch

Katrina and Kaylee wanted to challenge the idea that an edible garden has to be rows of vegetables hidden at the back of the section.

"We wanted it to look like a beautiful garden first, with the edible aspect being something people discovered as they looked closer."

Only three plants in Full Circle weren't there for their edible uses: viburnum, gaura and swan plants. These were chosen to support pollinators and wildlife, with the swan plants feeding monarch caterpillars.

Everything else had a use, whether for its fruit, leaves, flowers or seeds. Not all parts of these plants are edible, however, and some require special preparation. Always check which parts are safe to eat. See the full plant list below.

The crowd favourite was the Cercis 'Texas White', a feature tree with edible spring flowers. "Lots of people asked what it was. For those who were keen, we invited them to try the flowers, which were a real talking point."



  

*Image: Cercis 'Texas White', the crowd favourite, has edible spring flowers.*



  

## Why grow your own

"With the cost of living and increasing interest in knowing where our food comes from, we think growing even a small amount of your own food is becoming more important," say Katrina and Kaylee. "But it's not just about saving money. It's about understanding the seasons, knowing how food grows, appreciating what goes into producing it and passing those skills on to the next generation."

"There's something really satisfying about being able to walk outside and pick fresh herbs, lettuce, fruit or flowers to use in your kitchen. For us, it's about reconnecting people with their gardens and showing that growing food can be both practical and beautiful."



  

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

## Inside the Full Circle Garden

A circular seating area sits at the heart of the garden, a place to gather and share food. Pathways invite you to wander and discover the plants, and raised vegetable beds make food growing part of the design rather than something tucked out of sight.

The materials were chosen to work together:

- **Ekodeck Castellated Carbon Panel fencing** gives a dark backdrop that makes the greens and flower colours stand out.
- **Macrocarpa vegetable boxes from Apperleys Timber** add warmth and soften the darker finishes.
- **Straightcurve steel edging** creates the flowing curves around the seating area and paths.
- **Daltons Decorative Pebble** on the paths and seating area adds a lighter texture against the dark fence and steel.
- **A mild steel arch** marks the entrance to the seating area and draws people in.

Rahim Projects Limited helped with the fencing and steel edging, which gave the garden its clean, flowing lines.



  

 Image

        ![FullCircle_Vegetable Bed](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/vegetable_beds_crop.jpg.avif?itok=Zui8Xy0I) 

 





  

*A Daltons Decorative Pebble path with stepping stones runs between the raised macrocarpa vegetable beds.*



  

 Image

        ![Hexagonal bug hotels on the dark fence, reflected in a water bowl surrounded by edible planting in the Full Circle garden](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/Fullcircle_Bug_hotel.jpg.avif?itok=GIsx4f8T) 

 





  

*Bug hotels on the fence, reflected in a water bowl, help bring pollinators into the garden.*



  

 

 

  

  

 

 

         ![](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/FullCircle_repotted.png.avif?itok=UHWj1LPt)  

  

  

  

## Good soil makes all the difference

"Good soil is the foundation of any successful garden," says Katrina.

Daltons Garden Mix went into every planting area, with attention paid to soil depth, drainage and what each plant needed. This mattered most in the raised vegetable beds. "Vegetables are actively growing and producing food, so they need access to moisture and nutrients. You want soil that holds enough moisture to support the plants but still drains well so the roots can breathe."

Their advice is simple: "You can buy beautiful, healthy plants, but if the soil isn't right, they'll never perform as well as they could. Healthy soil is where a healthy garden starts."



  

## Getting the plants show-ready

Unlike a normal garden, where plants have months or years to grow into their space, a show garden needs to look established almost immediately and is only in place for a week.

A few weeks before the show, Katrina potted up plants from [Amber Garden Centre](https://www.ambergardencentre.co.nz/) into a larger pot with [Daltons Commercial Potting Mix](https://daltonslandscapes.co.nz/collections/garden-mix-compost-soil-copy), giving them time to grow bigger and fuller before the build. At build time, the vegetables went into the beds still in their pots, giving lush, productive-looking beds straight away and an easy pack-down afterwards.

What happened next surprised them.

"After just one week, the roots of the vegetables had already grown through the drainage holes in their pots and into the Daltons Garden Mix beneath them. It was incredible to see how quickly the plants had responded to their new growing environment, and it really highlighted the importance of using quality growing media."



  

*Image: These two roses arrived at the same time. The one on the right has been potted up, and the difference shows.*



   

  

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

## Get the look at home

For anyone unsure where to begin, Katrina and Kaylee's advice is to start small. "Start with a few plants you enjoy eating. Learn what they need, watch how they grow and build your confidence from there. And don't be afraid to make mistakes. The most important thing is to enjoy it."

### Three ideas to borrow from Full Circle

1. **Mix edibles into your existing beds.** Herbs, lettuces, strawberries and edible flowers look great planted among ornamentals. There's no need for a separate vegetable garden.
2. **Layer texture and colour.** Combine different leaf shapes, heights and colours, such as soft herbs, colourful lettuces and bright edible flowers.
3. **Make somewhere to sit.** Even a small seat tucked into a corner can encourage you to spend more time outside enjoying your garden.

### Five easy edible plants for your garden

- **Nasturtiums.** Bright flowers, and the flowers, leaves and green seeds are all edible. Pollinators love them too.
- **Rainbow silverbeet.** Colourful in a border, and you can pick leaves as you need them.
- **Strawberries.** A pretty groundcover or edging plant, and perfect for pots and hanging baskets.
- **Chives.** Easy to grow, with edible purple flowers.
- **Violas and pansies.** Colour through the cooler months, and edible flowers for salads and baking.

### How much maintenance does an edible garden need?

How much upkeep does a garden like this need? According to Katrina and Kaylee, probably less than you might think, particularly once it's established.

"Like any garden, it depends on the season and what you're growing," they say. "During the warmer months, you'd need to keep an eye on watering, harvest vegetables and herbs regularly, remove spent flowers and do a little weeding. You don't have to do everything at once. Even spending 15 or 20 minutes here and there can make a difference."

Good soil preparation, [mulching](/products/daltons-premium-mulch-feed), choosing plants suited to your conditions and an efficient watering system all help cut down maintenance. "And the bonus is that some of your time in the garden is spent picking things to eat!"



  

 Image

        ![FullCircle_PebblePath](/sites/default/files/styles/banner_2xl/public/2026-10/fullcircle2_pebblepath_dehaze_sm.jpg.avif?itok=VfFCU36C) 

 





  

*Edible planting and native ferns under a Cercis 'Texas White'.*



  

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

## The Full Circle plant list

##   Feature trees and fruiting plants ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/minus.svg) ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/plus.svg)  

- Cercis canadensis 'Texas White'
- Ballerina apple trees
- Black Boy peach
- Strawberries



 

 

##   New Zealand natives ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/minus.svg) ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/plus.svg)  

- Pikopiko ferns
- Fuchsia procumbens
- Muehlenbeckia astonii
- Kawakawa
- New Zealand spinach
- Arthropodium cirratum (rengarenga)



 

 

##   Herbs and edible foliage ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/minus.svg) ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/plus.svg)  

- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Mint
- Chives
- Coriander
- Parsley
- Lemon balm
- Lemongrass
- Lavender
- Miner's lettuce



 

 

##   Vegetables and salad plants ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/minus.svg) ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/plus.svg)  

- Green lettuce
- Red lettuce
- Silverbeet
- Cabbage



 

 

##   Flowers and companion plants ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/minus.svg) ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/plus.svg)  

- Nasturtiums
- Calendula
- Pansies
- Violas and violets
- Dianthus
- Alyssum
- Roses
- Ajuga



 

 

##   Non-edible plants for pollinators and wildlife ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/minus.svg) ![](/themes/custom/b_three/images/icon-svgs/plus.svg)  

- Viburnum
- Gaura
- Swan plant



 

 

 

 

 

  

 

## Products to try

### The 50L packs used in Full Circle

Daltons Garden Mix and Daltons Commercial Potting Mix come in 50L bag packs of 1m³ (20 bags) or 2m³ (40 bags), available from our Daltons Landscape Supplies yards. Ideal for filling raised beds and potting up plants.

[**Shop 50L packs at Daltons Landscape Supplies**](https://daltonslandscapes.co.nz/collections/garden-mix-compost-soil-copy)

### Add a layer of mulch

Help keep moisture in the soil and weeds down by adding a layer of [Daltons Premium Mulch & Feed](/products/daltons-premium-mulch-feed) or Daltons Black Mulch to your garden beds.

  
**Full Circle was supported by:** [Daltons](https://www.daltons.co.nz/), [Ekodeck](https://www.ekodeck.co.nz/), [Bunnings](https://www.bunnings.co.nz/), [Apperleys Timber](https://www.apperleys.co.nz/), [Rahim Projects Limited](https://www.rahimprojects.co.nz/), [Amber Garden Centre](https://www.ambergardencentre.co.nz/) and [Straightcurve Garden Edging](https://www.gardenedging.co.nz/).

Follow Kaylee's growing at [Thyme with Kaylee on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thymewithkaylee/).



    [ ![](/sites/default/files/styles/product_filter_listing_320/public/daltons-commercial-products/Dec%20pebble%20Fine%2015L%20vis%20C%20FLAT.jpg.avif?itok=GN1xJWF-) 

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