People & Places
Gardeners' new world
Anne and Bo Ackerman take us on a tour of their Kiwi garden
We live in Nelson which is a town of 44,000 population and situated at the top of the South Island. It sits in the edge of Tasman Bay, surrounded by mountains. It has its own micro climate and can be dry and hot for weeks on end in the summer with very little rain. While Marlborough can boast of many wineries Nelson and Tasman districts can boast of 22 wineries, and is producing some gold star wines from small vineyards because of the temperate climate.
We find that there is a need to choose plants and shrubs that can survive these warm dry conditions. In winter the temperature drops in evening with frosts at sea level, but warm sunny days can usually follow. Our garden seems to have colour in it all the year round. We do find it difficult to differentiate between the seasons because there are so many coniferous varieties of trees and there is always a mass of green and colour!!
All plants grow profusely providing they get sufficiently watered; and the fast growth of course is due to the warm climate. We do have to choose carefully where we plant new flowers or shrubs, taking into account if, if they like full sun, if they like a sandy rather than a clay soil of if they are frost tender. We are fortunate where we live because we are about 400 feet above sea level, and rarely affected by any frosts. Our local nursery man thinks that it is the British migrants who buy the plants and landscape their gardens; 'they take more pride in their gardens.' And to some extent this could be true, as living the outdoor life in the various sporting activities takes up much of their time, and in Nelson, where everyone is on a water meter, some people are reluctant to keep watering their gardens in mid summer, as of course the lawns become very dry. I am only speaking of what I have seen in Nelson. In Christchurch, which is known as the 'Garden City,' I think this statement would upset them, and quite rightly so.
We love the flowers, and we still get bluebells, daffodils and lilies in the spring, but bear in mind that the seasons are the reverse, so it is September/October when these flowers appear. I have noticed, especially in Canterbury and Otago that and lupins in all shades of the rainbow grow wild in large masses.
Lots of South African and South American plants grow well here; we inherited three varieties of Protea, and bougainvillea. And the Protea produces its beautiful flowers in April (equivalent to U.K. October). We have planted in our garden Bird of Paradise, which is going to flower in its first season, and a large number of Aloes. Ferns thrive here, provided they are planted in more shaded areas of the garden, and of course, grow wild in native bush.
Fruit we have in abundance, with so many varieties of apples. However, the one apple that we do not get, at least have never seen, is the Bramley. Apple pies don't taste quite the same. Citrus fruit is plentiful, though not throughout the country. As a community we pick our surplus lemons and send them down to Southland, where they cannot be grown. We have inherited a grapefruit tree, numerous lemon trees, that latter of which have three stages of production on the tree simultaneously – blossom, small green lemons and then the mature ones. It is great to go down in the morning and pick your own grapefruit for breakfast, and the lemons of course make wonderful marmalade, not to mention a necessity for the occasional gin and tonic!
In addition to the fruits we get in Britain we also have a good supply of Kiwi fruit and the more exotic fruits from South America, namely the Tamarillo, Passion Fruit, and Feijoa. The Feijoa is sometimes known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen. They are ready for picking in the autumn months.
The trees are very similar as we have the favourite birch, oak and weeping willow trees as well as the pine trees of course. Nelson is a busy port, and exports huge amounts of logs all over the world. The native trees Rimu, Matai, Totara and Kauri can be found in the North and South Island.
We are becoming more self sufficient through growing some of our own vegetables. Last year we planted a variety of lettuces, in planter boxes and we have had a constant supply ever since, with no need to supplement them with bought ones. We are now going to be a little more adventurous and have planted capsicum, tomatoes, beans, beetroot and spring onions; all produce that we could grow in England. Yams, sweet potato (or kumera as it is known) tofu are widely available here.