COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | Gordon Collier’s 3 Gardens

Three memorable gardens designed by legendary New Zealand garden designer Gordon Collier

Few have advanced the art of gardening in this country as much as Gordon Collier. New Zealand’s most passionate plantsman and garden designer extraordinaire needs no introduction to garden lovers, but in this beautiful celebration of three of his most famous gardens friends, colleagues and fellow gardeners pay tribute to the man behind the legend.

Tītoki Point, Anacapri and The White House gardens perfectly display the talent and vision of Gordon Collier down the years as he worked tirelessly to create living works of art. The sheer beauty of his work on display here will undoubtedly further inspire creative gardening in this country and become an important reference for students of garden design.

As the man himself has said, a good garden should be judged not by the rarity or the expense of the plant inhabitants but by how those plants are assembled, one with the other. And how that was done in these three memorable gardens is nothing short of magical.

 Gordon Collier MNZM, AHRIH was born in 1935 on the family farm forty kilometres west of Taihape. After school he went on to attain a Diploma in Horticulture with Distinction from Massey Agricultural College, which lead to a lifelong interest in plants and gardening.

Most of his early working life, however, was spent as a shepherd and in his spare time over thirty years he converted a sunny clay hillside into his garden, Tītoki Point, which became internationally known.

He began publishing garden books and also wrote about gardens for many magazines during this time, eventually being appointed gardens editor for NZ House & Garden magazine.

After retiring to Taupō he assessed gardens all over New Zealand for the New Zealand Gardens Trust and spent many years working on the garden at the National Trust, Eastwoodhill, Gisborne. He regards his time advising Sir Michael Hardie Boys, the Governor- General from 1996 to 2001, on the restoration of the Wellington Government House garden as the pinnacle of his horticultural career. Gordon is currently patron of Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust.

Although he has been gardening for as long as he can remember, Gordon says each of his three better-known gardens is different in style and in planting. While design is important, Gordon maintains he doesn’t want his gardens to look like a dentist’s waiting room.

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