>*Mark van Kaathoven has created some amazing gardens right in the middle of Auckland city.*
>*He’s sent no more than four bags of green waste to the tip in the last 15 years – instead using that waste to make sponge gardens.*
>*Apart from reducing waste, they’ve also protected his home in drought and flood.*
>*During Cyclone Gabrielle, many of his neighbours’ homes were drenched but his sponge gardens absorbed all the extra moisture and kept his home safe and dry.*
>*He talks to Mihi about his unconventional approach to gardening and why he believes everyone should do the same.*
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**SS:** Description from the RNZ site :
>*Mark van Kaathoven has created some amazing gardens right in the middle of Auckland city.*
>*He’s sent no more than four bags of green waste to the tip in the last 15 years – instead using that waste to make sponge gardens.*
>*Apart from reducing waste, they’ve also protected his home in drought and flood.*
>*During Cyclone Gabrielle, many of his neighbours’ homes were drenched but his sponge gardens absorbed all the extra moisture and kept his home safe and dry.*
>*He talks to Mihi about his unconventional approach to gardening and why he believes everyone should do the same.*
If you search [using his name](http://www.google.com/search?q=Mark+van+Kaathoven) Google turns up a number of articles about his approach to gardening, his battle with the local authorities to [plant the berm / mow-strip](https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018904788/unashamed-berm-grower-on-his-mission) outside his property, and his work to take his methods to public reserves.
You can see some photographs of Mark’s garden here:
* https://www.aa.co.nz/membership/aa-directions/home/an-urban-garden-oasis-in-auckland/
* More about Mark’s “bermaculture” here:
* https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/494711/leafy-berm-lauded-by-one-council-agency-another-threatens-to-chop-it-down
Roadside photo of Mark’s garden here:
* https://maps.app.goo.gl/iNVo1oDEPRWVTyd86?g_st=ac