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By Helen Williams |
The annual Maniototo Garden Club Open Garden Tour was again an opportunity during the summer holidays in Central Otago to go gardening!.
This year nine gardens featured in the tour around Patearoa, 15 minutes from Ranfurly and inland from Dunedin (1 ½ hours from Dunedin and 40 minutes from Alexandra, Central Otago). This year the proceeds of the garden trail went towards the local hospital.
These gardens enjoy one of the toughest climates in New Zealand, the altitude of around 425 metres (1400 feet) above sea level and the continental climate making for challenging gardening. Extremes of cold, frosts and snow in the winter followed by heat, drought and drying winds of summer have to be taken into account - tender, delicate plants simply do not survive here where hoar frosts are not uncommon in winter and weeks of rainless 30 C degree days are not unkown. | |
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Large rural gardens with sweeping vistas |
Roses thrive in the Central Otago climate | |
| The gardens visited were a range from "young" gardens to the well established Clachanburn. Clachanburn was endorsed as a garden of national significance in 2006, and is registered with the NZ Gardens Trust. This large garden of over 5 acres has continued to change and develop as all good gardens do. The new areas and makeovers repeat plantings from the orginal garden and several plants of the same species give good continuity. Water conservation as always was a feature and in the new rose garden "turned earth" was placed to collect water at the base of the rose plants and garden edge. This time-honoured method of water collection is very inexpensive as it requires the gardener's energy only. |
Vegetable garden
Campanula glomerata |
Large rural gardens give the gardener plenty of scope and in the first garden visited the layout showed an excellent sense of proportion whilst optimising the panoramic Maniototo landscape. On sale was the "Maniototo Gardeners Book", full of local knowledge.
A new garden not yet three years old was described by its owners as work in progress. One suspects that they will soon discover that gardens are always works in progress! The landscaping plan had attractive mass plantings of beds of sedums, coprosma, tussocks and ericas. The ericas, however, did not look at all well in the very dry arid soil. Hard landscaping was evident in many gardens with pots, schist walls, gravel paths and seats which added structure, form and texture in the extremes of climate.
Vegetable gardens were evident in all the gardens visited and this one particularly showed that sustainability and artistic flair can be combined very simply with a brustic fence and annual flowers. The brustic kept out the wind and rabbits and provided a support for the sweet peas. The vegetables looked lush and ready to eat.
Roses thrive in this climate as do many perenials. One perenial that caught the eye was Campanula glomerata superba. Clumps of this spectacular blue campanula were 1-2ft high. Other perenials included penstemon, astilbe cultivars, Phlomis russeliana and hosta cultivars. So, if you are in Central Otago next summer, make sure you catch the Maniototo Garden Trail or look for one in your area.
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