Xanthe White
Xanthe White, host of Ultimate Garden, gets as much joy from the people she meets through her work as from the gardens themselves. "I love that part of the job, because I respond to peoples enthusiasm," she says.
Xanthe established her own landscaping company soon after completing a diploma in Landscape Design at Unitec in 1997. Last year she took away a prestigious silver medal at the Ellerslie Flower Show, then won a major commission to design 38 gardens in Japan.
"Travelling overseas made me realise what creative gardeners New Zealanders are, and how free we are to play with things," says the 28-year-old Aucklander. "You drive down a road here and everyone's doing something different. And that's a great thing, because in a way gardens are an extension of ourselves. Every garden should reflect the personality of the people who are in it."
Not in real-life and on the show, Xanthe sees gardens developing in similar fashionday by day, and it's the most satisfying parts of her job. "If you're having to stay within a tight budget, rather than compromise your garden, I often suggest breaking the job down into stages, while working towards getting the garden that you want. I'm really excited to see what the contestants on Ultimate Garden are going to come up with, because after speaking to them I can already see these little ideas starting to be born."
"Ultimate Garden's weekly challenges will allow the audience to see four different ways to attack the same challenge," she says. "The show will also offer the chance to learn more about key garden concepts, for example the importance of soil, light, texture and perspective.
"On the show I'll definitely be supporting the team-members, and offering them advice along the way - even on an emotional level, because it's going to be pretty stressful."
Through her landscape design and maintenance company Earthroom Landscapes, Xanthe continues to design gardens both big and small. She also writes regularly about the topic, and her garden designs have been seen in a variety of New Zealand publications from the Sunday Star Times to Horticulture NZ.
Xanthe is blown away to be working on Ultimate Garden with landscape experts Jon Lambert and Hamish Moorhead, who both have many years experience in the field. "There's no flies on those guys," she laughs.
Xanthe is a strong believer in the idea that gardening should ultimately be about creativity and fun. Her gift for celebrating homespun Kiwi creativity could be glimpsed at Auckland's Ellerslie Flower Show, which she entered for the first time last year. Xanthe's silver medal-winning garden included paua shell inlays and baked bean tins plus balls of number eight wire, rolling across the lawn.
