{"id":418626,"date":"2026-05-08T22:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/418626\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T22:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T22:54:12","slug":"nz-landscape-designer-jules-moore-wins-gold-at-shenzhen-greater-bay-area-flower-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/418626\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ landscape designer Jules Moore wins gold at Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Flower Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI chose the conch because of its spiral interior, symbolising the connection between the sea and the inner ear, and the way we listen to the ocean through a shell,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is reminiscent of New Zealand\u2019s coastline and the bounty that comes from the sea. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such a profound connection to the coast, and I think every New Zealander is touched by it in some way, whether it is walking along the beach, building sandcastles, fishing off the rocks or going surfing, swimming, kayaking or yachting.\u201d<\/p>\n

A week before Christmas, Moore was notified she had been chosen as one of the seven designers.<\/p>\n

In January, she made a quick trip to China to implement parts of the design to be made before her arrival and check out the trees she was also going to include in her design.<\/p>\n

Five days before she arrived in China, construction had begun on her 160sq m design.<\/p>\n

Once Moore arrived with her colleague Ru Zhang, she had 15 days to complete her design \u2013 the pressure was on.<\/p>\n

She knew her challenge was to bring to life a seaside scene featuring the legend of M\u0101ui, represented by a galvanised steel hook, p\u0101ua slab steppers and some 2500 plants that would surround the shell. <\/p>\n

Her first and biggest hurdle was getting the galvanised M\u0101ui hook through customs before it could be welded onsite by Chinese tradesmen.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, a truck with a loader crane that had been organised to lift the basic shell into place had not arrived.<\/p>\n

On top of that, because of the language barrier and interpretation, the shell that had been manufactured before Moore\u2019s arrival was larger than the measurements she had supplied and was not the shape she had envisioned.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand landscape designer Jules Moore\u2019s garden installation \u201cOcean\u2019s Edge\u201d won gold and the Best Feature Garden at the Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Flower Show.<\/p>\n

Not to be deterred, a good bit of Kiwi ingenuity and brute strength \u2013 along with some bamboo poles \u2013 helped reshape the shell and move it into place.<\/p>\n

Then it was on to visiting nurseries for plant selection, such as purple flax, lupins and succulents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t speak highly enough of the 30 women from local provinces who came and assisted with planting and helping in general,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were beautiful souls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Zealand touches, such as p\u0101ua, feature in Jules Moore’s garden design.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s waves are represented using an elaborate curved pipe and water system, as well as recycled blue glass and tiny white pebbles.<\/p>\n

When it came to designing the kina, they were lacking the wow factor. <\/p>\n

So, a quick trip to a local haberdashery store and buying nearly all of its decorated bead stock solved the problem.<\/p>\n

Threaded on to wire, the beads were the perfect finish to the woven kina.<\/p>\n

\"JulesJules Moore threads decorative beads onto the kina in her award-winning Ocean’s Edge garden display.<\/p>\n

The oyster platter also caused a challenge with Moore having to get her fingers deep in plaster, twisting and reshaping chicken wire until the plate of oysters was perfect. <\/p>\n

It was then hand-painted and adorned with pearls.<\/p>\n

\u201cOysters are both a cornerstone of New Zealand\u2019s coastal identity and a prized delicacy in Chinese cuisine,\u201d Moore said. <\/p>\n

\"JulesJules Moore sculpted an oyster platter from scratch, using plaster and chicken wire that was then hand-painted and finished with pearls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe platter pays tribute to the closeness of our two countries, particularly around our trade ties.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the slab steppers, Grouse Signage and Design printed p\u0101ua-looking pieces from vinyl, which were laid with resin poured on top. The effect was better than Moore had thought possible.<\/p>\n

\"JulesJules Moore\u2019s garden installation \u201cOcean\u2019s Edge\u201d has a distinctly Kiwi design.<\/p>\n

Moore faced long days, including one that ran to 17 hours, searing heat, fluctuating stress levels and the challenge of language barriers. <\/p>\n

Despite this, she said that if she were lucky enough to be asked to submit a design again, she\u2019d be there in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

The finished design is instantly recognisable as a New Zealand one.<\/p>\n

\"KiwiKiwi Jules Moore shows off the awards she won at China’s Shenzhen Greater Bay Area Flower Show.<\/p>\n

The panel of judges from across China was particularly impressed by the garden\u2019s soundtrack, recorded with traditional M\u0101ori and Chinese instruments, as well as whale song and vocals by Moore and her son James.<\/p>\n

Moore also acknowledged the work of her daughter, Alayna Bradbury, who co-designed the project, undertaking much of the rendering work.<\/p>\n

\"JulesJules Moore used beads found at a local haberdashery to decorate the woven kina in her garden design.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the people, especially my 30 ladies that assisted, I loved the challenge, and I loved the finished project,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKiwis are particularly passionate about their environment \u2013 we might leave our footprints on the sand, but we also leave our fingerprints in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as for the finished design, it will be deconstructed and reappear in another park for more visitors to appreciate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI chose the conch because of its spiral interior, symbolising the connection between the sea and the inner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21693,6030,12635,1975,1561,28145,36909,4241,48879,1019,47664,42899,60,111,43,139,69,31340,6358,1305,6202,80],"class_list":["post-418626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-achieved","tag-again","tag-area","tag-at","tag-bay","tag-designer","tag-flower","tag-gold","tag-greater","tag-international","tag-jules","tag-landscape","tag-moore","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-recognition","tag-shenzhen","tag-show","tag-wins","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}