Christmas Special

Mayston Orchards

Plummers Point

12/12/2013

Jenny's garden is nicely tucked away amongst a kiwi fruit orchard. With lovely established trees down the long driveway. The garden is 35 years old and was a wind swept bare paddock when they first arrived. Jenny does the whole garden on her own with a bit of help from her husband to mow the lawns.

Up the drive, planted under the shade of a large Pansy tree is Clivia's, massed green Mondo grass and a new planting of Star Jasmine. Jenny pins the new shoots of the jasmine down with wire hooks to help it to spread. 

Around the front entrance of the house is a Rata clipped hedge which has also decided to make its way up the house along with a ficus, which have happly mingled together. 

You then come around the corner of the house to a lovely sweeping lawn and cottage garden. The garden has a great mix of plants, from a potted Verea (Shepherds Warning), miniature astramerias, a large area of perennial lobelia, Roses and many many more. Jennys tip for astramerias is to pull the flower out not cut them as it will make it flower again. The cottage garden has an amazing backdrop of upright holly trees which give it a great balance of height.

A sheltered court yard has been made much more interesting with a array of pots at different heights.

Jenny uses over head irrigation in her garden, as she finds if you have it to low the plants grow up around it and it becomes very ineffective. She found last season that the day lilies ended up with rust which is a new thing to NZ and has yet not found a solution for it.

The hedge of white hydrangeas (Annabel) made a great statement. The dainty flowers start off lime green then turn white then back to lime green again. The only thing Jenny warns is there stems are quite weak.

Jenny loves the different textures of plants and feels they are just as important as flowers and colours. This is evident as we wondered around her tree covered bank under planted with maples and star Jasmine.