Here's my favourite garden of 2020 - the Icebreaker apartment garden. Although it started out as a simple backdrop for a photo shoot, it quickly became the Icebreaker office garden... they fell in love with the setup as much as me, and we found a way to relocate the entire garden to their Ponsonby office.

I now pop in regularly to check on the plants and plant more seedlings, and I can't wait to see how this develops in the months and years to come.

Beneficial weeds - what was included from the start?

• Nasturtiums - to trail down over the edge, attract the pests away from the precious plants, and be a spicy salad green and edible flower.
• Basil - summer means basil, right? This is an aromatic herb that will help improve the flavour of other plants, and a classic companion to the tomatoes.
• Borage - I was aiming for a blue theme, and also know that basil flowers are a real hit with inner city foodies. This garden was designed for apartment living.
• Cornflower - a pretty blue flower to attract the bees. Even in apartment settings, bees can be given spray-free organic flowers to keep them healthy.
• Chamomile - another aromatic herb, and so useful in herbal teas.
• Chives - blending herbs with flowers and vegetables is a key theme in my approach to container gardening.
• Dill - another aromatic herb, and so, so yummy added to a salad when just picked fresh from the garden.
• Fennel - this was added for height and drama, but in the long-term it's got the really deep root system that will help pull moisture from the bottom of the bed, and make it accessible for other plants. The flowers are great for the bees, and it's yummy as a leaf, bulb, flower or seed.
• Oregano - groundcover to keep the soil protected, and add a little pop of interest in meals.
• Thyme - this was planted with the hope it'll grow out and over the edge of the bed, and be something that will attract bees with the flowers, and also repel pests.

Here's the garden relocated to the Ponsonby office:

They don't show up in these photos, but there are a few extra containers on the balcony with fruit trees, so we can plant up some miniature fruit tree guilds in pots. The advantage with this in a tiny garden is really just to cover the soil and preserve every drop of water we possibly can. Groundcover is going to be key, so next time I pop over, it'll be with clover seeds, some selfheal, and perhaps even some baby dandelion plants and plantain - I hope they don't think I'm offloading weeds onto them!