Plant It Up Design

15/05/2026

We have been busy!

We removed the weedmat that had done it's job, placed some branches for a temporary retention wall, marking the layout of the terraces, holding the earth that was getting moved and aering and feeding the soil slowly.

Then we brought the digger.

Sometimes it is an investment that skyrockets the speed of the evolution in our landscape.

Dug the paths, directed the water runoff, flattened some terraces and layer woodchips for the mounds, where the trees will be planted, and gravel for the paths.

The bottom section has some surface waterlogged soil, so the mounds are extra high there, and the paths are carved on an angle and filled back with drainage rock and gravel ontop.

That steep and muddy paddock is now a network of paths, terraces and mounds, featuring oxygenated soil that is protected from the elements by woodchip mulch and gravel.
It is supper inviting to wonder through it and it hasn't got any trees yet!!!

Now we are ready to
🌱🌴🌿🌳 PLANT IT UP!!!🌲🌴🥀🌱 ̇gn

16/04/2026

This project is exciting!

The client has great motivation and the place amazing potential.

Above you can see some raised beds being brought to life with a series of layers that will enhance fertility, structure of the soil and moisture retention for years to come.

Also some areas that have been temporarily weedmated, to be turned into food forests and hugel kultur beds and for an area of smaller size perennial edibles (berries, fruit shrubs and more), included in the zone 2 of the permaculture zoning method.

You can also see a small pond that has been planted up with Thithonia diversifolia cuttings to improve the conditions for future planting of native wetland plants and some tropical and water demanding edibles.

The last to videos showcase a little example of an exciting project: the homestead is surrounded by fully grown trees, making it harder to stablish anything else underneath, so we are going to our Syntropic agroforestry toolbox to reset the system and retrofeed with more diversity of species. Medium size pohutakawa, large Norfolk hibiscus and developed bottle brush trees are being heavily pruned to re-cycle the Mauri (life force) of the system, which will surely bring a vigorous growth response from the cuts, aiding the macroorganism to thrive and host more diversity.

13/03/2026

Syntropic agroforestry intro!

Do you want to turn your land into an abundant agroforestry system that keeps on evolving?
̇gn

21/02/2026

A pūriri patch emerged from the side of our driveway after the earthworks altered the soil. They where way too close to be able to develop into mature trees.

Though the eye of a kid, they seemed like a fun place to play and the thick leaf cover made it cozy and hidden.

We have started a living tree house! Weaving together the young flexible stems into a dome-shaped little first storey.
As years go and the trees grow bigger, we will weave the walls thicker, and possibly add more stories to it.

It will be a fun little sculptured play tree that keeps on evolving alongside our children.

Follow us for more ideas and updates.
it.up.design

21/02/2026

The first action we are taking on this land is a gentle trim of the weeds and covering up the area that we are working on with this breathable, high quality weedmat for 3 to 5 months. This shades out most of the plants that have been softening, enriching and bringing this paddock to life, without affecting the soil's health noticeably. The vegetal matter soon becomes food for the millions of beings that remain alive under the mat.

When this fase comes to an end, we will remove the weedmat and start from a fertile soil that is pretty much like a blank canvas.

Follow for more ideas and updates!
it.up.design

18/02/2026

17/02/2026

An important and exciting part of the process of the dialog with the landscape is the design.
Design starts by standing on the land, observing the existing features, plants, elements inside and outside of the area of work, and letting intuition bring some things through.

Simultaneously it begins by listening to the stewards of that land: their visions, needs, challenges and dreams.

Then, mind and intuition can play together to come up with creative options that fit the conditions and feel aligned with both land and human dwellers.

Here are some sketches for our first project, depicting the layout of contour terraces, paths that wind at gentle gradients and areas of vegetation with different themes (conifer forest, food forest and rare botanical collection and wind shelters that merge with these areas) and outdoor living areas nestled in amongst the vegetation.