5 minute read
12 FREE Gardens
NORTH ISLAND
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KERIKERI MISSION STATION
Here 200 years of cultivation have come to fruition. These heritage gardens with their country roses, cottage garden flowerbeds encircling the homestead and a 100-year-old mulberry tree are all part of New Zealand’s oldest European garden.
BOTANICA WHANGĀREI
This gem of a garden is deceptively bigger than you’d think. With a fernery of natives housed in three shade houses, a small outdoor section, a room specialising in desert succulents and a conservatory housing beautiful floral displays, you’ll need some time to enjoy it in full. Have a seat, linger and enjoy the tranquillity and peacefulness of these well laid out gardens; if it’s a chat you are after, the staff here really know their stuff.
DOMAIN WINTERGARDENS, AUCKLAND DOMAIN
Botany was all the rage in the Victorian era and glasshouse envy was real. The Domain Wintergardens will transport you back to a time of fainting couches and velvet drapes, while the rare and spectacular plants will make you feel like Alice in Wonderland. The two massive, barrel-vaulted glasshouses face out on to a shaded courtyard and sunken pool. One house is heated and shows off lush tropical plants; the other displays temperate plants changing with the seasons.
AUCKLAND BOTANICAL GARDENS
She’s big and she’s beautiful! This Manurewa-based garden covers a staggering 64 hectares and has an eclectic offering: the purists will enjoy the Rose Garden and the Native Forest with a 2-hour loop track, while the Children’s and the Edible gardens will really get you thinking outside of the planter.
HAMILTON GARDENS
Get some globetrotting in with these themed gardens spanning a wide variety of cultural influences and time periods: from the Italian Renaissance, Tudor and English gardens to the Chinese, Indian and Japanese-themed gardens. They have recently revealed a fabulous new Egyptian-themed temple instalment, based on the Middle Kingdom period of 2040 BCE to 1782 BCE.
Ancient Egyptian garden © Hamilton Gardens
BASON BOTANIC GARDENS, WHANGANUI
You’ll know you are in the right place with the distinctive steel and glass archway welcoming you in. The architecturally designed conservatories were built using recycled bricks from a city theatre and now stage tropical plants, begonias and a collection of cooler climate orchids. Check out the very cool brick barbecues; they look almost too nice to use. From July to October the ‘Spring Garden’ is flush with daffodils, magnolias, rhododendrons and azaleas.
PUKEKURA PARK, NEW PLYMOUTH
This scenic sanctuary can trace its genealogy back to over 100 years ago when it was founded from 2000 trees gifted from Christchurch. Deep deposits of volcanic ash (courtesy of Mt Taranaki) combined with even rainfall, mild winters and warm summer temperatures assist with the flourish of features this park can boast. A beautiful lake, formal gardens, bush walks, children play areas, fernery and display houses span a whopping 52 hectares. Boating on the fern-fringed lake is a romantic perk.
Rhododendron, Pukekura Park, New Plymouth © Adobe Stock
SOUTH ISLAND
MIYAZU GARDEN, NELSON
Designed to celebrate Nelson’s sister city relationship with Miyazu in Japan, the gardens first impression is one of tranquillity. Meander through pavilions and pergolas and along the crafted pathways that connect ornate pools. Spaces are unified with plantings of New Zealand native plants and Japanese species, with cherry, wisteria and iris complementing flax, hebe and beech.
CHRISTCHURCH BOTANIC GARDENS
The glorious Christchurch Botanic Gardens is situated right in the heart of the city teaming up with the poetic Avon River. Welltended, century-old trees are superior and rule alongside rhododendron and shrub borders, while an excellent formal rose garden featuring mostly hybrid tea roses are at their best in December. On a cold day you can keep cosy in the tropical plant conservatory with the ferns and cacti.
Christchurch Botanic Gardens © Welcome Aboard Tours
TIMARU BOTANIC GARDENS
These gardens are full of surprises, housing endangered plants from around the world, a woodland garden with collections of maples and a formal rose garden, plus heritage buildings and structures dotted throughout. At the heart, you’ll find a large stretch of water in the form of two ponds where the bird life waits patiently for their next visitors.
DUNEDIN BOTANIC GARDEN
As New Zealand’s first botanic garden established over 155 years ago, it’s had a good head start. If you can’t go past the classic beauties, then the extensive Rose Garden and the internationally recognised Camellia Collection are great places to start. The Rhododendron Dell covers four hectares and contains over 3000 rhododendrons. Leith Stream and Lindsay Creek run through the middle dividing the garden, creating two split levels to discover.
Dunedin Botanic Garden © DunedinNZ
