Silkwood Lodge Garden is a small native and sub-tropical Balinese style oasis, showcasing wider vistas and secluded seating areas.

The first view of the garden is from the street, where a deliberate effort has been made to include the road edge beyond the property.

Local moss covered rocks, sculptures, South Island schist pavers, tile steps, hardwood fences, hedges, wooden decks and ornate gates from Nepal, Java and Bali are all important aspects, giving structure to the garden. Mass plantings of clivia under nikau trees, crocuses, bromeliads and vireyas help to compliment the view.

Many sculptures and ornaments feature in the garden and there are many spaces to wander through and soak up the wonderful views. Mixed shrubs and herbaceous plantings with roses are found through the entire garden.

Wharepuke means ‘house on the hill’ in Te Reo Maori. The owner Robin Booth has a wealth of experience as a nurseryman and landscaper. He began developing the garden, which sits in a valley running down to the historic Stone Store in Kerikeri, in 1993.

The Quarry Gardens are a spectacular sub-tropical oasis in the heart of Whangarei. Since the 1990s it has been transformed from an abandoned commercial quarry into the flourishing garden it is today because of the dedication of local volunteers and gardeners. As an ever changing community project it continues to grow and offers new experiences with every visit.

Managed by the New Plymouth District Council, Pukekura is a nationally significant park with a large exotic specimen tree collection inter planted within a margin of luxuriant native bush. The park has been continuously developed since its inception in 1876. Its north south linear shape follows a natural stream valley where a series of artificial lakes have been created by damming the flow at various points.

Hlomo Hlomo is a Zulu phrase, meaning "I stuck my spear in the ground and claim it as mine." The development of this garden started when the family home was built in 2002, evolving from the bare paddock it was then.

The homestead was established in 1939 with pohutukawa planted around it. Moreton Bay figs and ngaio were established to shelter the homestead with bougainvillea, hibiscus and jacaranda planted on the eastern frost-free side of the house.

Pukeiti is located adjacent to the National Park - on the slopes of Taranaki. It features many kilometres of well-formed tracks for either a garden walk or a longer adventure into the rainforest. Wonder at the beauty of the world-class rhododendron collection, sense the history and learn the stories of the land.

This extraordinary garden is a plant lover's paradise, featuring rare beauties and the clever use of the more commonplace. Unique topiary hedges, oversized wooden steps, platforms, and pergolas provide definition and inspiration.

Paripuma is a large 20 year old garden developed from a barren, windswept beachfront; and based around a formal design and vista across Cloudy Bay.

Butler Point hosts a secluded waterfront garden which is the legacy of retired whaler, Capt. William Butler and the second owner Hubert Dacre. Present owners have been in residence since 1972. A traditional cottage garden surrounds the old house (1840s) which is open to visit. It sits between the harbour edge and a bank of native bush.

The Sky Tower peeking over the palms is the only hint of urban life in Mark van Kaathoven’s dense if diminutive rainforest in Freemans Bay, just 10 minutes’ walk from the central city. Skinks scurry up palm trunks and the chirrups of small green frogs harmonise with birdsong in a backyard that is teeming with life.

Italy is the inspiration behind this grand formal garden, with its statues and fountains, and Corinthian columns reminiscent of Tivoli. Brick walls and hornbeam hedges create many garden rooms, featuring old fashioned roses, citrus, lavender and olives, alongside an English orangery.

Nestled in the vineyard five hundred metres away from her sister garden Welton House, is Eliza’s which, after a decade of carefully thought out restoration, is ready and open for garden visitors. But better still - stay overnight in the award winning three bedroom cottage and enjoy the garden and swimming pool in total privacy.

The gardens of Government House Auckland are a rare survivor from the era when many large New Zealand city estates had landscaped grounds.

Bradleys garden is a 5-acre country garden with our Paddy Hills Farm as the backdrop. It is a garden of rooms that will surprise and delight you on your journey. Linked by stone pathways, each space creates a different feel, feature, or purpose.

This dramatic highly structural garden by designer Lyn Eglinton is resplendent in straight lines with ‘rooms’ in perfect sync providing balance, serenity and calm. Visiting in any season has it’s rewards.

20 minutes North of Dunedin is Doctor’s Point Garden, the area named after where Dunedin’s Doctors used to holiday at their weekend cribs. The 1 ¼ acre plant collection has over 1300 species and cultivars of native and exotic plants, many very rare or commercially unavailable. Dunedin’s climate is maritime with microclimates enabling sub-tropical plants to be grown alongside hardy species, Bananas to Trilliums, native alpines to carnivorous Sarracenia, continental Chinese trees to Cacti and succulents. The large selection of hardy trees are displayed in an arboretum setting with beds containing woodland plants and shrubs, a fern and Rhododendron dell sweep back to the house where alpines and sub-tropicals are found.

The garden has an enchanted wood feel attributed to its many shaded glades of Hellebores, avenues of bluebells, knot gardens, wandering Peacocks and the lake which was featured in two Lord of the Rings films.

Begun in 1902, to a design by surveyor / engineer Henry Climie, King Edward Park is based around two intersecting grassed avenues. Planned for promenading, the park was also intended to be a source of inspiration for local gardeners, exhibiting collections of plants suitable for growing in the town and surrounding district.