There’s no better way to celebrate New Zealand gardens than to visit them. So gather your friends and book a wild girls’ weekend away over spring. Select from one of the many garden festivals on around the country or tailor-make your own itinerary from the wonderful selection of New Zealand Gardens Trust gardens nationwide (visit www.gardens.org.nz). All the main festivals have added extras, including guest speakers, jazz music and wine tasting. often there’s a spectacular garden party – a great opportunity to give your best frock an airing!
Formal Elegant, orderly and often grand, formal gardens create instant impact on a small or large scale. Straight lines and strict symmetry, punctuated with water features, statuary, topiary, hard landscaping and simple planting effects, produce a calming ambience. Long vistas terminating in a central focal point are designed to draw visitors into the heart of the garden.
Subtropical Northland and Auckland boast some of the most spectacular subtropical gardens in New Zealand. But you may be surprised to find microclimates in other parts of the country where this flamboyant style, exploding with luxuriant foliage and exotic blooms, makes a statement. The beauty of subtropical gardens is that they get better as the season progresses, always looking stunning come mid late-summer.
**Small Gardens
**While large gardens are impressive, small gardens are inspirational. on a scale most of us can relate to, there are plenty of great ideas to be gleaned from visiting smaller suburban gardens. Clever use of space, well-placed focal points, interesting hard landscaping features and complementary planting schemes are among the things to observe and note as you wander around.
Large Gardens oedium-sized gardens, by New Zealand Gardens Trust standards, are those over 0.5 hectares. Large gardens cover more than 5ha and recommend a minimum visit of two hours to get around the entire garden. oany invite visitors to bring a picnic and extend their stay. These large gardens are generally divided into different areas and vistors are taken on encyclopaedic tours through potagers, wetlands, herb gardens, rose gardens and native bush walks. The large scale allows for awe-inspiring grand planting schemes and big garden features, such as lakes and orchards, to match.
Native Who said our natives are green and boring! An overview of native bush does give that impression, but a visit to one of New Zealand’s most outstanding native gardens will change the mind of the staunchest cynic. While flowers might not abound – they are there. And plenty of colour can be added with grasses and other foliage. our natives are subtle in appearance, but full of texture and character in shape and form. And to be fair, some native plants do produce the most stunning flowers!
Japanese Creating an authentic Japanese garden takes a great deal of skill and knowledge of the many principles involved. one of the best examples in New Zealand can be seen at Ngamamaku, Taranaki. The garden was created by an authentic Japanese landscape designer, Seiju Imamura, who worked with owners Tony Barnes and John Sole to ensure correct protocol was followed. The garden is of the karesansui (garden without water) style, which was developed in Zen temples in the late 15th century.
**Water Gardens
**From practical irrigation channels to watercourses symbolising the beginning of life, then the ostentatious fountains of 17th century France and Italy, water has been used in many useful and decorative ways over the centuries. More recently, water features have grown in popularity to become an important element of the contemporary garden. Even more impressive are the large-scale ponds and lakes featuring beautiful lotus and water lilies that grace many of New Zealand’s best gardens.
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