Three Memorable Gardens

Gordon Collier’s talks about three memorable gardens created in his lifetime.

Although I have always been interested in plants and gardens, my horticultural career has had a checkered existence. It began in 1963 when I enrolled in a two-year full-time Diploma course in Horticulture at Massey Agricultural College, as it was then. Graduating with Distinction, two years later my very first job was at Tupare, New Plymouth, still one of New Zealand’s foremost gardens. While working there I became interested in making my own garden, so I returned to the family’s Taihape farm where I worked full-time as a shepherd for the next 30 years.

In 1965 I began converting a boggy gully and the adjacent 5 acres of steep clay, sunny hillside into a garden; this became Titoki Point. Thirty-five years later it had been visited by thousands, the subject of many magazine articles, books and overseas film crews. Looking back, I wonder how I did it as it was all made in my ‘spare’ time, without any money, while having my wife, Annette, and my family to care for. A highlight was being commissioned by John Blackwell of Moa Beckett to write a book on the garden; Gordon Collier’s Titoki Point, resulted. Photographed in 1992 over Spring and early Summer by Michael Smith who travelled most weeks over the spectacular Gentle Annie Road from Napier, it was published the following year.

To begin a garden, a collection of conifers was planted as a background to the two acres below which were later intensively gardened. I always maintained big is not necessarily beautiful. However, when we retired in 2000, we left behind a garden still remembered by many. It’s best not to go back though; gardens are not pictures hanging on a wall, and time marches on.

The next garden was in Taupo to a small pumice and sand, bare section near the lake. This garden was very small with two ponds and was very intensive, but I was able to indulge my love of rare and unusual plants, as well as growing common ones and sometimes, weeds. A number of endemic Chatham Island plants, gathered on my frequent trips there, were gathered in a corner I called ‘Going Bush.’ During this time, I was also writing articles about gardens for various magazines. This involved a great deal of time traveling all over New Zealand, and later as Garden Editor for NZ House and Garden magazine, finding suitable gardens, writing, proofing and editing all written material. At the same time I was traveling with Beverley McConnell and assessing gardens all over the country, for the NZ Gardens Trust, taxing my endurance and horticultural judgment to the fullest.  Meanwhile I was assisting with the restoration of the garden at Wellingtons Government House; a special privilege.

My Taupo garden was awarded 6 stars in the NZ Gardens Trust highest award. As Annette, my wife had passed away, I sold and moved yet again to my home town, Taihape. Here I bought an old cottage with more space and started again. This garden is quite different to the others, with a purple and black colour schemed area at the entrance. Gravel, instead of lawn, and a modernistic steel sculpture by Steuart Welch of Marton, dominates the other roadside area. The rear of the garden is completely different, where a conventional ‘cottage’ with an extensive wood-land lies on the gentle slope behind.

Design has been very important in all my gardens. This is often neglected, but while embracing this I don’t want any of my gardens to have the charm of a dentist’s waiting room. My tips? Look at other gardens in your area  and at the plants growing there; plant a specimen tree and use plants that look good all year round. If need be, get professional help before you turn a sod.

What’s next, I hear? My daughter, Meredith Carpenter, herself a keen and qualified horticulturist declares, ‘Dad! No more books.’ Though now in my 89th year I admit ‘Never say never,’ leaving room for hope.

Gordon Collier’s 3 Gardens: Titoki Point, Anacapri, The White House, Quentin Wilson Publishing, RRP $59.99