Labour of Love
“The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies, but grows to the enduring happiness that the love of gardening gives.”
Gertrude Jekyll
Gardening has always occupied my life. It has always been such a happy thing for me. My grandad Hopper was a huge influence. He was a great rose gardener and plantsman - everything I know about gardening I learned from him. I still use his spade, rake and hoe. If we weren’t potting up in the greenhouse, we would be tidying up the shed, sorting out seeds, labelling packets, cleaning garden tools, mowing the lawn and composting.
I’ve learned along the way, celebrating the triumphs and failures, and being able to feed my family. I love pollinator friendly planting and live by the simple ethos ‘that we’re all in this together.’ I have frequent explosions of excitement when surprises pop up, and oh my, does my garden keep on surprising me!
I mentioned in last week’s post that we’ve been living in rural Waikato now for just over two years. It’s a good life, slow and steady. Our property sits deep in the historic Waignaro district, which is famous for its 1880’s hot springs, and early stagecoach routes. The area itself is known for beef, sheep and dairy farming, which are suited to the rolling, rugged topography of the Waikato.
We acquired the property through the Farmer’s Association. The garden was love at first sight. It’s actually a 372 hectare rural farming property, and the garden covers just over a hectare maybe more. The day after we moved in, I cracked on and got stuck in on in the garden. I couldn’t help myself - far better than unpacking boxes - there was no hurry, the house could wait.
The beds and borders were chaotic and loose with a living carpet of yellow arch angel and ivy and their invasive roots. The bain of any gardener’s life. Both are rampant, and have the ability to grow everywhere and anywhere. Once they get hold, they grow upwards choking anything that’s in their sight. Clearing would take time. Lots of time. Amongst the clearing popped up many surprises, such as hydrangeas, citrus, roses, quince, honeysuckle, camellias, canna lilies, a silver teapot, dogs balls, old bricks, even a wooden gate, which my dogs discovered while sniffing in the undergrowth, steps leading down to a wee bridge, which crosses over a trickle of a stream that runs alongside the driveway into a woodland area! I can’t tell you how many varieties of hydrangea and roses I’ve uncovered, which makes me think that the garden in its hey day, may have been a once loved heritage cottage garden - the type of heritage cottage garden with a jumble of hardy climbing, and clumping ground covering plants, flowers and shrubs, a natural spectacle!
I could see that the garden itself didn’t need a makeover, but lots of love, and I felt that being its new custodian, I should revive it, and at least try bring it back to its former glory. I have a picture in my mind of the garden being once a magical space. I could also see that the garden had many ‘rooms’ which gave the notion of intrigue, and an element of surprise from the outset. An area for seating, a kitchen garden, flower beds and borders, a path with a gate, which from the kitchen window, is now a focal point, and a wide variety of planting of agapanthus, iris, daisies, wild garlic, Japanese maple, gladioli, hellebores, blossoms, magnolias, kowhai and harakeke . Being in the garden, strolling around with a cuppa in the hand, is a journey from one distinct area to another, which enables one to experience and enjoy the other individual parts, that make up the whole. The outdoor space, seems relatively larger than it actually is, as you move from room to room, while appreciating its diversity along the way.
Clearing is ongoing and at times tough, but the rewards and joys are abundant from season to season. I’m doing it myself with the knowledge and stories given to me by the original owners, of how the garden once was - games of summer family cricket on the lawn with a broken window or two, a family wedding with blousy hydrangeas, roses and humming bees.
Thankfully, I have the freedom for it to evolve organically, with the beauty of time as an added bonus, but I have to admit, it’s easy to get carried away with lots of imagination and creativity. I’ve given the climbing roses some support helping them to ramble, and added seasonal planting such as daffodils along the driveway and main top beds and borders. A friend of mine gave me some bluebells last year, which I planted under the big beech tree. They’re just popping up now. There are still parts of the garden which I’ve left wonderfully wild. The woodland area remains quite shady with filtered light, leafy plants and a canopy of established redwoods, deciduous trees, Silver Ferns, natives and moss covered fallen logs. The deciduous trees make for excellent leaf mulch, which is so essential to a woodland environment and welcome wildlife by keeping the leaf matter damp and very deep. Just by uncovering and nurturing, the garden is slowly becoming one big pollinator pad. I can imagine that in its hey day, the garden was a sanctuary beloved by bees and other beneficial bugs and pollinators, but also a sanctuary that was lovingly created, to provide a peaceful escape from the demands of daily farming life.
My grandad Hopper once said to me, “a garden is something special. The more you love it, the more it will thrive. The more we are connected with nature, the more joy it brings.” Labours of love! Thanks for joining me. Until next week!
