WELLINGTON

How does your heritage garden grow?

In Glenside, north of Johnsonville, the Heritage Gardeners are cultivating a garden of trees, fruits and flowers that were grown in New Zealand before 1900.

WORDS: Claire Bibby IMAGES: Glenside Progressive Association

The Guelder rose, Tom Putt apple and Honeycomb flower are a few plant names that would be familiar to early settlers in New Zealand but are less well-known today. At a heritage garden on a historic reserve surrounding the Halfway House, which dates from about 1885, these names are becoming established again – along with the plants. An earlier Halfway House on the site provided accommodation for people travelling between Wellington and Porirua. In 1998, the current Halfway House had been vacant for at least a decade. The lawns were overgrown, and it was a fire risk. Wellington City Council began renovations to the house in 2012 which were completed five years later. In 2010, the City Council allowed riparian planting alongside a stream which borders the garden. The Council funded a garden landscape plan, and in 2014 Claire Bibby formed the Heritage Gardeners to implement the plan. In 2016, the group planted 16 heritage fruit trees between two surviving plum trees. The Stebbings family who farmed nearby Stebbings Valley from 1864-1979 had two orchards, totalling 70 trees. Their named varieties informed the selection of plants. We chose other varieties from the 1878 catalogue of Masterton nurseryman, William McCardle. Wellington City Park Ranger, Denise Clements, describes the research behind the plant selection as incredibly well thought out. “Everything is dated or traced back to a source. There is no compromising in what’s there,” she said. She cites a high point accompanying the Heritage Gardeners to Auckland to visit our property, Highwic, as well as Hawthorn Dene and Howick Historic Village, to learn how other heritage gardens are managed. Heritage Gardener Lorna Webb says that finding the correct plants is a real challenge. “We want to find the early versions, the right plants that were used at the time and what the colonials actually had in their gardens,” she explains.

Part of the research challenge is that the names of plants, both Latin and English, have changed over time. For example, Red Hot Pokers were marketed as Torch Lilies and only one type from pre-1900, Kniphofia rooperi, is available commercially today. Only two pre-1900 camellias could be found for sale: CM Hovey and Fimbriata Alba. Helleborus niger, the Christmas Rose, was more likely to be advertised as a powered pharmaceutical and used to protect soft fruit from insects, although in 1868, it was also recommended for brightening the garden. Gardener, Paul Bicknell, was first attracted to the garden because of the archaeology and saving the Halfway House. “I wasn’t interested in plants. However, I learned so much and it has grown on me,” he said. “The garden and the house are the focal point of Glenside. There are not too many old houses with public access.” Heritage Gardeners, Heather Bicknell and Pam Brown, appreciate being part of a group of gardeners. “We spend hours and hours working alone in our own gardens at home and it’s nice to spend a couple of hours a week at the Halfway House working with other gardeners,” explains Pam.

Her favourite areas are the native border, with the movement of its native grasses, and the colourful flower bank. On the flower bank is the old Nerine sarniensis, better known as the Guernsey Lily. It was gifted by Heritage Gardener, Claire McDonald, from her own garden when she moved into a retirement village. This year the Heritage Gardeners became an Accredited Award Provider for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, teaching the skills of gardening. It was also certified as a Butterfly Friendly Habitat by the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust. n The Heritage Gardeners have an online record of every heritage plant in the garden and where it was sourced. www.glenside.org.nz/heritagegardeners.html The historic Halfway House is leased privately, however two rooms are available for public hire, with table seating for eight people. The Glenside Progressive Association has furnished the rooms in the 1880s era. www.challenge2000.org.nz/ glenside-meeting-space/

Photographed outside the Halfway House: Jeremy Patmore, Crown Joinery; Denise Clements, Wellington City Park Ranger; and Claire Bibby, President Glenside Progressive Association and Heritage Gardens leader.