Q&A with Rosie and Pete, Barewood

Barewood is a garden many people feel a strong connection to. What first drew you to it, and what made you feel it was the right next chapter for you?

Well I think we can all agree that Barewood is just pure magic! Imbued with love and passion that you can feel from the moment you walk through the gate. We took a leap of faith, knowing from previous experience that taking on an older house and a large garden would require a different level of input, but the impending workload never intimidated us. In all honesty, we didn't know about Barewood until we saw it come to the market and I believe that probably helped not muddy or intimidate our instincts. We viewed it in the middle of winter and immediately felt drawn to it. Fires crackling in the homestead and the bare bones of the garden allowing us to imagine all the possibilities it held. The home and garden that Carol and Joe created here is a true extension of themselves as people. Warm, characterful, positive and safe. Barewood presents a perfect platform to allow our interests and strengths to weave together, whilst building a meaningful life together

One of the greatest joys of having a garden is being able to pick flowers and foliage, create arrangements, and bring a little of the garden’s beauty indoors. Yet, because my garden is often open to the public, I’ve always been a little reluctant to cut flowers from the borders and displays. I love sharing the garden at its best, and didn’t want to spoil it for visitors.

There is something irresistibly evocative about a stumpery. Part sculpture garden, part forest floor in mid-revelation, these arrangements of upturned roots and weather-worn trunks speak of age, decay, and renewal all at once. Long favoured by Victorian gardeners seeking drama and naturalism, stumperies are quietly re-emerging in contemporary gardens—yet with a distinctly thoughtful, garden-led intent.

Changeable and destructive, with winds reaching the highest ever recorded. Multiple trees toppled, broken canopies, limbs off – one resulting in loss of life. Not only ground-drying wind but then too hot, too cold, and too much rain. Altogether too much. This was the Spring that was.

The New Zealand Gardens Trust is delighted to announce Terrace Station at Hororata as the very first member of our new Collections category.

The British Library at Kings Cross, London recently held an unusual exhibition in its exhibit rooms, about the transformative power of gardening.

As the Trust announced in April at the annual conference in Auckland, we are now ready to launch the Earth Star initiative. You might recall that this came about as a way for members to engage in environmentally sustainable practices in your gardens. The award of an ‘Earth Star’ will be made if you meet the target points as set by the Trust.

But why do we conference?  It’s no small thing to step away from normal life for four days, leaving homes, work, family (and gardens ). It doesn’t matter where we are in our gardening journey, how old or young we are, or what we believe outside the garden – for those four days, we get to be absolutely unashamedly garden-loving-geeks. We are connected by a simple love of growing. 

We often say that it all started with just one flower, and that flower was planted, of all places, in the vegetable garden. At the time, we felt a bit cheeky about it. Steph even asked permission (a rare moment!) to sneak that single bloom into the raised veg beds. And so it began.

As I scroll through my Instagram feed, the Chelsea Flower Show takes over right now. Frothy, wild-style plantings spill across my screen, nestled in artfully placed boulders and bordered by natural stone crazy paving (yes, it’s back). At a glance, these gardens appear to be in harmony with nature. But the irony isn’t lost on me: these ephemeral creations, built at great environmental cost, are some of the least sustainable landscapes around.

An odd heading so please bear with me! One of the most essential elements if not THE principal element I consider when planning a new bed, a new garden, or the renovation of an existing one is the place.  The genius loci.

I thought it would be timely to write about two lesser-known plants which are most suited to hot dry situations. I have grown both in my gravel garden for about thirty years.

Mauri tū! Mauri ora!

New Zealand Garden Trust gardens are the pinnacle of New Zealand horticultural expertise. The gardens pioneer designs and ideas which filter through to create trends in private gardens both within New Zealand and beyond. The species we showcase and the plant communities we create others aspire to. Our gardens are role-models. As we increasingly focus on climate resilience and environmental sustainability, we encompass Beth Chatto’s right plant, right place, reducing inputs of water and chemicals while improving plant health. On the surface this is positive; but herein lies a dichotomy: exotic species which thrive in Aotearoa without human intervention have a higher risk of invading wild ecosystems. Our good faith efforts to increase garden resilience may result in the obverse for the wider environment. This leads me to question whether the English phrase which has guided our gardening for over sixty years is still appropriate for New Zealand. I would like to suggest a more nuanced kaupapa; one which recognises the impact our garden plant choices can have on fragile endemic ecosystems.

NZ Gardens Trust member and creator of the Urban Jungle, Mark van Kaathoven, presented to the 11^th World Green Infrastructure Conference at the University of Auckland on 4 September.  He talked about his creative use of green waste to reduce landfill, restore healthy soil dynamics and to protect against drought and flood. 

It was nearly Spring, so why not …. 

There is plenty of advice around which tells us when and how to move a plant, which for whatever reason, is in the wrong place. For trees, the big ones – well, best left to experts. But as I’ve discovered, smaller trees/shrubs are fair game for a gardener like me, who struggles ‘placing’ a plant. In other words, for a gardener like me who prevaricates.   

Fortunately much has been written about Jo’s sustainable garden in Central Otago. Her vision has caught international attention, and the garden appears in the acclaimed book ‘Wild: The Naturalistic Garden’ by Noel Kingsbury, with photographs by Claire Takacs.

My name is Tracy Brown and I am the distance coordinator for the NZ Heritage Rose Society. I took this role on in October 2023 as I thought it was a good opportunity to get know other old fashioned rose lovers and learn from those who are much more knowledgeable than me!

Many of us working in the Horticultural and Agricultural sector may carry out our work like it is second nature and come to rely on instincts and experience to carry out our tasks. This can come after years of study, training, hours and hours of trial and error and practical ‘hands-on’ work in the garden and on the land.

Jenny did not install irrigation – doing so just freezes the garden in time and makes plants and gardener dependent on this scarce resource.

The Trust with the Institute has fostered a strong sense of belonging, has enriched our horticultural experiences, we are engaged in a positive and healthy culture and the Trust promotes special friendships and connections… not only that, but the business of gardening heals us, keeps dementia at bay (did you know that) it feeds our souls and raises our spirits so let us now stand, raise our glasses and toast the TRUST’S 20 SUCCESSFUL YEARS to date.