Katie's New House Visit

Katie C's

Mt Maunganui

08 May 2014

 On a lovely autumn day we gathered at Katie C’s new home to marvel at the joy of a blank canvas. Those of us renovating someone else’s garden to make it our own could see how wonderful it must be to just assess a plot of dirt and map out exactly where you want to plant. The house is exquisite – it’s such a lovely home. 

The 6.5x5.5m magnesium filter pool is a major feature of the back yard, and the moat around it has gifted Katie a patch of garden in which she plans to create her more high-maintenance garden. To satisfy council pool regulations, she is not allowed to plant anything which grows higher than 1.2m and it must be a soft plant (no trunk or hardwood on which a child could get a footing). It’ll be in this garden that Katie will potter away in the gorgeousness of cottage perennials on a sunny day while the kids are in the pool. Around the perimeter of the section, she’s planting a screen of pleached olive trees which she will underplant with something (suggestions welcome!). In a raised redwood garden-bed on the deck, she will plant an ornamental pear and create four mini-gardens mixing ornamentals with edibles. 

At the front of the property, a striking fence has been built using 110 sleepers stacked horizontally. Inside the gate is a courtyard where she will sit raised rectangular vege beds. Around the courtyard she plans to plant miniature feijoas and lomandra.It was such a lovely visit (great smoothies) and wonderful to see the garden in its blank canvas state. It’ll be fascinating to watch as Katie’s vision for it takes shape. 

Keri

Wonder Around the Elms Garden

The Elms
Mission Street
Tauranga

27 March 2014

A bit of Garden History …

Many of the English trees in the gardens were planted by missionary Alfred Brown in the 1830s. An acorn carried from England in 1829, has grown into a fine specimen on the north lawn (pic below, note the post holding up one of the limbs). Norfolk Island pines were favoured by missionaries for the Christian cross, renewed in each year's new growth.

New Zealand trees and shrubs were planted in the early twentieth century by the second generation of the family to occupy the property.

There are also fine examples of unusual trees, such as the bunya bunya pine.

During the 1950s a fire cleared the garden in front of the library.

Duff planted all the trees on the library lawn, and in front of the building. The remaining fruit trees, citrus, apple and pear, date back to his era.

The Tea Garden, with seating surrounding a graceful palm tree, owes its name to Gertrude's efforts to help the family finances. Visitors were able to order afternoon tea by ringing a bell. 

Alice and Ediths garden. After the death of their mother, Euphemia, in 1919, her daughters went to the East Coast for a holiday. They were able to indulge their interest in New Zealand plants by bringing back small specimens of rimu, totara, miro, tawa and the native maidenhair fern. The sisters supplied flowers and foliage to Ruby Norris, a local florist, and raised funds to help soldiers during WW I by selling bunches of violets. They also raised some much needed income by supplying flowers and foliage to a local florist.

The Elms was once famous for its hollyhocks, which grew to an amazing 16 ft in height. In the 1930s a couple employed by Alice to help with the property obtained seed from a gardener at Buckingham Palace from the splendid hollyhocks that grew there. For years they self seeded in The Elms garden.

The last of the original elms planted by Reverend Brown was felled in the 1950s but one tree remains on the north lawn, grown from a sucker from one of the originals. It was planted by Alice Maxwell about 1945 in order to retain one of the trees after which the property is named.

Emily’s Boscabel Garden

Emily’s

Boscabel

30/01/2014

We arrived at Emily’s house after driving through the tree lined streets of Boscabel and then down a driveway flanked with agapanthus.

The house is about 9 years old and built in a villa style. The section is bordered on most sides with huge avocado trees. When Emily first moved in she said there were a lot of  pretty fussy gardens which they are slowly removing and replanting in a NZ native theme. 

There are newly established pohutukawa on the back lawn and manuka and native hibiscus at the back door. We stopped to nibble at the cranberry/Chilean guava which was covered in hundreds of gorgeous looking miniature red berries. 

Out the front of the house are lavender and techrium hedges leading us onto the swimming pool.

Once again native plantings have been established with a stunning mass planting of flaxes down one edge of the pool and native blue grasses and lancewoods at one end.

The garden then terraces down to established cherry, magnolia and more huge avocado trees with underplantings of hellebores, Japanese windflower and  liriopes. Emily has been interplanting with more natives such as rimu and miniature kowhais.

We finished off with a delicious morning tea and a swim for the children.

Thank you Emily for a very relaxing morning.

Vicki

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.

G3 Weekend Away to the Waikato

Chiddingfold
Karapiro

This property is full of history having been owned by three governor generals and one British high commissioner from the Fergusson family dating back to the 1800’s.

After driving up a tree lined avenue we were greeted by a very engergetic and enthusiastic Sally who quickly launched into the history of the garden.

There are many large and magnificient trees here, Californian Redwood, English Oaks, Douglas firs, Magnolia Grandiflora, Kauri and Camelia. 

We wandered down a sidling which is a terraced garden that slopes down towards the road. In here there are Gingko, Scarlet oak, Maples, Avocado, Feijoas and even a Kiwifruit vine. This is all underplanted with many perennials and shrubs, many self seeding for Sally’s floral art. 

There is also a large rose garden in front of the house that Sally grew for her  floral art competitions, although she no longer competes. These have been interplanted with garlic by Sally’s husband.

This property has a swimming  pool, tennis court and a bush garden. There is also an old school on the property that had been relocated.

After marvelling at the Kauri planted in 1963 by one of the governor generals in memory of his grandfather we headed off for our next garden.

Vicky

Clay and Earth Gardens
French Pass, Cambridge

Eunice Martin’s Clay and Earth Gardens was an education: from the delicate Princess of Wales clematis on the outdoor restroom, to the working olive press, to the doves in baskets, to the practice of ecostacking (leaving branches/twigs/trees to lie where you cut them).

The tour began at her rammed-earth home – a pioneering construction which was the first of its kind in the Waikato. Eunice and her husband moved to what was once the old French Pass sand quarry in 1994. On it, they’ve built  a four-acre sanctuary boasting an olive grove, a striking Pacific Blue lavender bed, an outdoor kitchen, a pristine vege patch, a mosaic studio in an old barn, and a surprising and (as Mel said) whimsical flower garden supported by a dense backbone of established trees. In the early days, it was a bare plot of land and Eunice – then a novice gardener, now an encyclopaedic authority – had to employ a pick and shovel in order to plant trees in the rocky terrain.

These days, she plants 20 eucalypts as firewood trees every year. She harvests them after five years. She has tanks to collect grey water and a tap which draws sparking water from an underground stream 100ft down. Eunice uses feng shui principles to great effect. It was fascinating to feel the slowing effect of the circular lawn structure, designed to make the energy flow more slowly through the garden.

Eunice and her husband use scavenged concrete to create recycled retaining walls. Even though she’s 70, she clambers up ladders and steep banks to plant 30 camellias every year.

She and her husband are slowly rebuilding following devastating floods which ran through their home and stripped a planted gully 18 months ago. But the damage hasn’t dampened Eunice’s enthusiasm for the extraordinary. She has a tree dahlia, a mannequin called Mildred, vanilla essence she makes herself, and tabletops made from drain covers. The garden was a delightful spot to linger while we ate and we all learnt a huge amount from our ramble through the garden and, even moreso, from Eunice.

TOP TIP:

Traps for coddling moth:

Create a pheromone mix from molasses, ammonia and white vinegar. Put it in a bottle end and hang upside-down from an apple tree.

Keri

Gail Ebbett's
Thornton Rd
Cambridge

David Irwin

Matamata

When you arrive at David Irwin’s Matamata house you can’t help but be impressed by the angular topiared Buxus hedges.  They were planted some 10 years ago and look amazing, spanning across the whole front of the property.  Positioned at the entrance making a stunning feature is the beautiful Cornus Controversa - wedding cake tree as it grows in layers.  Planted as the ground cover for the hedges is a beautiful purple Ajuga flower with pretty crimson/green foliage.  

Covering the neighbouring fence on one side is Ficus Pumila (climbing fig).  In front are 5 upright Hornbeam trees.  Positioned opposite is the garage which has Ivy covering the outside wall and planted in front are 3 substantial Jacquemontii Betula trees (type of Beech) which have a beautiful silver and white trunk.

As you walk down the property to the middle section you come to an alcove on the left with a collection of Bay, Buxus, Hornbeam, Viburnum, paving and ground cover.  On the right are espaliered Crab Apple trees.  Under them are manicured Corokia Mangatangi clipped tight.  This type is popular as it doesn’t get woody. 

At the end of this area standing as a gateway to the back part of the garden are two Leyland Cypress trees.  This opens out to a very special circular garden which has many pathways designed to lead you through the remaining parts of the garden.  On the left you have a most spectacular exotic Hydrangea Nigra lylad with low Buxus hedging. In the middle are manicured Hornbeam trees surrounding a statue.  At the back right are edibles; a large vege patch, green house with grapes on top, lemons positioned at the front of an entrance to a Summer house.

The Summer house is covered in Boston Ivy creating a large ball like effect from a distance.  At the entrance is paving surrounded by Mondo grass.  This is such a serene space to relax.  When you are sitting inside there are little openings (like windows) to look out with different views; Blueberries, Christmas Lillies, Weeping Swamp Cypress.

There are just so many delightful areas to this garden with many hidden gems.  Overall we were highly impressed and it seemed to touch each of us and we just wanted more.

Monique

We finished our fantastic and informative weekend off with lunch and a wonder around the Plantation garden just outside of Matamata. 

Two Gardens in One Day

Hawkridge

28/11/2013

We met our host Cheryl in the parking area in front of the Hawkridge garden and homestead.  Although the house looked like it could have been there for many decades we learned that it was actually built in 1996.  The original homestead was bequeathed to Tauranga Boys College and is able to be seen in the school grounds from Cameron Road.  

The entrance path had a cottage garden feel with tall pink hollyhocks grabbing our attention, The white rose, Avalanche flowered profusely. Walking through to the back of the house two large topiaried Lilli-Pilli overlooked a formal rectangle pond.

The front garden was formally arranged with buxus hedges surrounding white Hydrangeas beneath a large covered verandah.  We sheltered on the verandah when it began to pour with rain and Cheryl told us the biggest challenge is the garden had been fitting the design around some very large pre- existing trees including Oaks and Chestnuts.  She had used her own design and then worked with Mark Cashmore to "pull everything together".

Once the rain eased we continued to explore the gardens, including rose beds that were situated on the far end of the property.  Cheryl has two part time gardeners to help tend this three and half acre garden.  She described how they composted on the property and used twelve compost bins.

A large immaculate lawn anchored the house with the addition of a new Cabana for entertaining.  One of the memorable trees in this area was a large Ash.  We were delighted by the pet Chinese Silkies hens as we stood on the lawn.  The sun appeared and it was instantly hot and steam began to rise around us from the outdoor furniture and Cabana roof tiles.

The scale and grandeur of this garden was almost surreal especially when combined with the unusual tropical weather.

Garden of Michelle McDonnell 

28/11/2013

The next stop was the property of Michelle McDonnell.  We began in her newest garden, which she had been inspired to create a year ago after a solo visit to France.  A wall was quickly removed and a new walkway and court yard created.  The colours under the pleached olive hedge lining the walkway were vibrant blue with one of my favourite cottage plants, Centaurea Cyanus (cornflowers).  The new courtyard was small but perfectly formed with buxus balls and an elegant table and chairs to finish the picture.

Passing espaliered Star Jasmine and its fragrance, we got our first view of the tranquil main garden. A lush green rectangular lawn is the centre piece. There were several different types of hedging plants utilised to give form and structure Euonymous formed a 'knot garden' close to the house.  Corokia, Chilean Guava and Tuecrium Fruticans, were all used in different positions within the garden and Ligustrum Rotundifolium was attractive and a specimen I have not come across before.  All of these hedges can be used as alternatives to Buxus. Michelle described trying to minimise Buxus hedging in this garden due to the devastating effects of Buxus blight.

Hydrangea Trophy was a feature of the back wall planting and green Hostas.  A weeping pear tree was an attractive specimen with its distinct slivery foliage, as was a small pleached hedge of Portuguese Laurel - Prunus Lusitanica.  Michelle explained how it  was originally used to screen the  children' s trampoline and that a small garden may only require the pleaching of three or four specimens to create a clever effect.

I certainly was inspired to see what can be achieved in a smaller scale garden,  similar to the size of my own, and I went home with lots of ideas to think about.  Thank you to Cheryl and Michelle for hosting us in their lovely gardens.  We were very privileged to see them both.

Paula