Located just off Te Henui Walkway, The Vicarage garden embraces history, hues and harmony.
Encircling the early colonial building is a wide variety of colourful annuals and perennials that create a restful experience. The Vicarage itself, built from Taranaki andesite in 1845, is one of the oldest surviving stone buildings in New Zealand. It’s also home to the New Plymouth Pottery Club.
Free public garden.
Nestled below the Kaitake Ranges, this one-acre garden with coastal views has been developed from a bare paddock (Te Pātiki) over the last seven years. Formal lines of hedging and shelter contain informal lush plantings of flowering shrubs, perennials, herbs and fruit trees.
Other features include a walipini (sunken-earth greenhouse), a small pottery studio and a wall garden.
On the outskirts of Hāwera, Steve and Kerry Christiansen have created a semi-formal garden with manicured lawns and shapely hedging of many varieties. This one-acre garden, less than five years old, is dotted with rustic garden art, including Kerry’s birdhouses made from recycled materials. You’ll also see an avenue of espaliered fruit trees, a quaint black-and-white craft shed and greenhouse. Christmas crafts and garden art for sale.
Inside the roadside fence is an enchanting garden embracing the past and present. The old Magnolia Campbellii and huge-trunked Rhododendron Arboreum Tomentosum are part of Sir Victor Davies’ original plan. Around the house, the old garden has been rejuvenated as a woodland. The new garden leads to a figure-of-eight path around a stream and features ornamental specimens and native plantings. Beechwoods is named after two ancient native beech trees, uncommon in Taranaki.
Adrian McLeod is the former owner of Fairfield Garden Centre.
Stratford’s King Edward Park is a gem in the heart of Taranaki, showcasing the area’s unique history, a colourful array of plantings, and the Pātea Awa. Take the Three Bridges Trail spanning the river, wander along easy walkways of mixed exotic and native gardens and enjoy the McCullough Rhododendron Dell.
Remember to visit the Malone Memorial Gates, built in 1923 to honour local Gallipoli hero Colonel William George Malone, who also invented the lemon squeezer hat.
Free public garden.
Event: La Mer Jazz in the Gardens. The French café-style music of La Mer will float through three gardens during the festival. Pack a picnic and head out for gypsy swing classics led by vocalist Dominique Blatti. La Mer’s line-up also includes Bernie Schmid on guitar, Malcolm Alder on bass, Helen Griffiths on violin and Aaron Bosch on piano accordion. Find out more on the event page