Before expanding to Wanaka and Queenstown, Goom Landscapes was started by local landscaping legend Chris ‘Goomsy’ Goom in Christchurch in 1981. 

Now on the cusp of celebrating its 40th birthday in March 2021, Goom Landscapes has a history of receiving an impressive array of awards at the Registered Master Landscapers ‘Landscapes of Distinction’ Awards each year, taking out 7 Gold awards across construction and design categories as well as Best Construction Project Of The Year at the most recent awards. Covid has meant this year’s awards are postponed until March 2021 but with a number of entries submitted, the team is expecting to continue its winning streak!

Image:'Tait Electronics' multiple award winner, for design, sustainability, horticulture and construction  Source: Goom Landscapes

Chris’s son Tim Goom started with Goom Landscapes in 2004, becoming a director, though with landscaping “in his blood”, he had been landscaping since 1999, overseas and in NZ on his own account, moving from landscape construction into design.

Image: Tim Goom   Source: Goom Landscapes

Outside of the business, Tim loves being outdoors, and spending time with his young family. Goom Landscapes has recently acquired the Christchurch dealership for Compass Pools and with a Compass Pool currently being completed in his own backyard he’s anticipating spending lots of time around and in the pool with the kids over the summer. 

Image:Pool design and construction    Source: Goom Landscapes

WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke with Tim about the business of garden design.

With the synergy between its construction team and designers Goom Landscapes offers a unique service of design manage and construct in a one-stop shop for any size project. 

A fundamental part of our ethos is if you design a landscape, it has to be practical to build, and stand the test of time in terms of the design aesthetic and the construction quality.

Image: Lyttelton Fire Station, multiple award winner for design and construction.  Source: Goom Landscapes

Goom Landscapes was started by your father, Chris who some say coined the word, ‘lifespace’ in the 80’s and you took over as director in 2004 on his retirement. What inspired you to choose on a career in landscape design? 

I’ve always loved being outdoors. After a dalliance with farming and fishing guiding, I returned to my landscaping roots. Rather than walking straight into a role with Goom, I carved my own path in the industry from the bottom up. My first landscaping gig was lawn mowing and maintaining a subdivision! – I worked for myself for the first 4 years. Goom Landscapes originally offered design services only. When I returned from overseas, I came on board as the first member on the construction side of things and then grew the team from there. I started as a ‘doer’- then evolved into design, just like my father. This is a fundamental reason for our practical designs - it’s in the DNA of the business! We design plans which are buildable!

Image:"We design plans which are buildable!"   Source: Goom Landscapes

The design is a stepping stone to completion, you need both design and construction elements for the end result. Unless the design is achievable from a build perspective, it is nothing more than a pretty picture. Likewise, if the construction isn’t of the highest quality and using the appropriate techniques, the end result is unlikely to stand the test of time. In my mind, design and construction are completely interwoven. 

Image: Standing the test of time, Manuka Point, landscaping by Chris Goom. For Sale by Mike Freeman and Debbi Freeman of Ray White Next Step Realty.   Source: Ray White Next Step Realty

What do you enjoy most about your profession? 

I love the variety. When you take a lead, or you are contacted, you never know what the scope of the project will be - it could be massive high country station or a small urban backyard, residential or commercial. There is potential for a huge variation in size, scale, location and you don’t really know what it will be until you walk up the driveway and meet the client. I love meeting a new client, and interpreting their requirements. Often initially a client won’t know what they need in their landscape - the concept is created through communication and refinements until we’ve accurately captured the client’s vision. It is always rewarding to come up with the design and construction process which is flexible and fits the client’s desired outcome. 

Image:"I love meeting a new client, and interpreting their requirements."   Source: Goom Landscapes

Your website states that Goom Landscapes creates extraordinary spaces and experiences outside. How would you describe your aesthetic? 

I always begin each project with a clear intent to listen to the client and help them realise their ambitions in their backyard rather than imprinting my aesthetic on their landscape. Having said that, if I do have a style - it would tend towards timeless and functional design, solid long-lasting construction and low maintenance. This is the premise underpinning both my father’s and my designs.

Image: "We would both rather be enjoying our backyard rather than worrying about whether the weeds need pulling! "   Source: Goom Landscapes

Ironically, we’re both about minimal gardening – for landscapers, we’re not big gardeners! We would both rather be enjoying our backyard rather than worrying about whether the weeds need pulling! Our designs are known for being inspired by the natural world, they align with nature rather than distracting from it and this flows through into plant choices, scales and groupings.

How does your one-stop shop approach benefit clients? 

Our DMC approach minimises stress and ensures consistency from conception to implementation. The design team and construction team know exactly how each other works. Because of this synergy, it also means we don’t have to draw everything to the nth degree. If there is a query - this can be clarified efficiently internally - which results in cost savings for the client. Clear easy communication between design and implementation is a hallmark of the Goom approach.

Image: "...consistency from conception to implementation."   Source:Goom Landscapes

What advice would you give to anyone requesting a garden design? 

Carefully consider and understand what your overall lifestyle needs are. I find people usually start small - roses, colour of plants etc but really you should look at fundamentals and the big picture from the outset - how do you want to live? Generally, the answer is ‘in the sun, out of the wind’. We build functional outdoor spaces to be lived in, not pretty bits of garden art to be observed. Obviously, a big landscaping plan can come with a price tag. With our approach, we can design so that implementation can take place in phases over time, as your budget and lifestyle changes.

Image: Multiple award winner for design and construction, Queenstown.   Source: Goom Landscapes

What is the most interesting brief you’ve been given by a client? Did you take it on? 

The interest comes out of the logistics - where is the project and what are you trying to achieve? I love the challenge of a concept that at first glance seems impossible - at the moment we’re installing a pool in thin air- up on the hill! Figuring out how that can be achieved is incredibly rewarding and interesting. We’ve cantilevered pools over the sea because the terrain makes it impossible to construct in the ground. We’ve flown in plants because that was the only way to access the site. We’ve even installed a Fireman’s pole (in a residential garden- not a fire station!). I love the engineering side of things. 

Image:    Source: Goom Landscapes

Consistently recognised in the ‘Landscapes of Distinction’ Awards for projects, which project award has meant the most to you? 

The horticulture awards mean the most to me - we have a longstanding history of success in design and construction, Horticulture awards are harder to come by in the industry. Last year Goom’s George Trower won the Young Landscaper of the Year award from a very formidable shortlist of contestants.  I was incredibly proud of his accomplishment. I also felt it was an accolade which demonstrates Goom Landscapes provides an environment which nurtures our talent.  

Image: 2019 Young Lansdcaper of the year, George Trower    Source: Goom Landscapes 

In the whole world, which is your favourite garden design? 

In terms of international gardens, the gardens at the Getty Center in Los Angeles are mind blowing. Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire is equally impressive for its vastness and the vision of its architects. I’m always amazed by the commitment of a landscape designer who designs a project or plantings knowing it will only reach fruition after they themselves are pushing up daisies!  Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Pennsylvania is definitely on my (post Covid) bucket list to visit.

Related reading:

One of New Zealand's foremost hunting estates is on the market