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FERNSIDE

Between Featherston and Greytown lies Fernside, an historic garden of rare beauty and atmosphere—opening to the public for the first time in five years. Designed around a 1924 home by Lutyens-trained architect Heathcote Helmore, its heritage features include a Victorian sunken garden, a Lutyens-style rill, and a tranquil man-made lake fed by the Longwood Water Race—famously featured in The Lord of the Rings. Towering oaks planted in 1870, ancient native beech, and a striking weeping Kashmir cypress anchor the landscape. With shaded glades of hellebores, avenues of bluebells, knot gardens, and wandering peacocks, Fernside has an enchanting, timeless quality that lingers with every visitor.

RICHMOND ESTATE

This elegant garden offers a little slice of Europe tucked away near the town centre of Carterton—and is not usually open to the public. The 4-hectare estate was established in 1887 by Henry Wolters of Brunswick, Germany, who named it after Richmond Palace near his birthplace. Over the years, the garden has been lovingly shaped into a grand formal landscape, with topiary hedges, European beech, and carefully planned vistas designed to be admired both from the house and on foot. Today, Richmond is in the care of Tim Clarke and Tessa O’Rorke, who continue to honour its grand history while guiding the garden into a new era.

 DEAD RABBITS RUN

Nestled near Featherston, Dead Rabbits Run is a magical, slightly other-worldly garden created by conservationists Derek McLuskie and Anne Hynds—and not usually open to the public. Over 12 years, they have transformed a 4-hectare block once overrun with pests into a sanctuary where native trees and wildlife take centre stage. Visitors can explore the romantic garden around the house, with magnolias, roses, peonies, espaliered apples, and fragrant plantings, as well as the dry woodland, fernery, bonsai, and stumpery, where mosses and fungi thrive on rotting wood. The garden reflects a “braided approach,” blending native and exotic plantings with a deep love for both European and New Zealand horticultural traditions.

LONGBUSH COTTAGE

Just minutes from Martinborough and Carterton, Longbush Cottage is a modern flower-filled country garden designed around a charming 1890s cottage. Spread across a hectare, a series of colourful garden rooms radiate from the homestead, each with its own planting theme and seasonal highlights. From rose-draped borders and peony displays to late-summer perennials, grasses, and a tranquil mere, there is always something new to discover. Longbush is also home to the popular annual Tulip Festival, when tens of thousands of tulips burst into bloom, creating one of the Wairarapa’s most dazzling floral spectacles.

PARKVALE GARDENS

Nestled in the rural heart of the Wairarapa, Parkvale Garden combines pastoral charm with ecological vision. An ephemeral stream winds through the property, its banks planted with eco-sourced natives as part of an ongoing riparian restoration project that now hums with bird and insect life. Around this living sanctuary, naturalistic gardens have been created, blending plants from around the world with a deep respect for place and season. The result is a landscape that feels both resilient and beautiful—an ever-changing celebration of nature’s rhythms.