When you drive up to the Oamaru stone house at the Wairongoa Rd property of Peter and Joy Horrell, a peaceful ambience embraces you.
It has an English country garden feel, which is complemented by large white urns filled with red geraniums and white Victorian-style seats enticing visitors to different viewpoints around the garden.
But seven years ago, the garden looked quite different.
When semi-retiring from their farm in Tuatapere, the couple were reluctant to leave behind the plants in their well-established garden.
Mrs Horrell’s mother was a collector of plants and the couple had many of her plants growing in their garden which they did not want to leave behind.
The dilemma was one many keen gardeners face when moving properties. Will the new owners treasure the garden, or will they not care for it at all?
So, when the Horrells found an 11ha North Taieri property with about 3000sq m in garden, they knew they had found the right place.
"When we were looking for a property, we could have bought a spec home and started from scratch, but you don’t get the big trees," Mrs Horrell says.
Mr Horrell agrees, pointing to a Wellingtonian.
"We were very lucky that the people who built the house in the mid-80s had the foresight to put the big trees well back from the house."
The North Taieri property was originally more of a woodland garden.
The previous owners, who had been there for 10-11 years, had "created a beautiful garden", Mrs Horrell says.
"We’ve just added the layers, given the garden depth.
"The taste and the way they had set it out was absolutely lovely. All we’ve really done is put our own touch on it."
During this time, they decided to move as many plants as they could from their Southland property.
The big advantage of taking a year to move in, Mrs Horrell says, "was we could come and visualise how our plants at home [in Southland] ... were going to work here".
They used a furniture truck and many ute and tailer loads.
As the end of each growing season approached, they made the seven-hour return journey taking a selection of plants, mainly bulbs, bedding plants, fuschias, camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons, but still leaving the structure of their existing garden intact.
"When we moved in, we made temporary beds for our plants and a year later, when conditions were more desirable and the garden layout had been planned, we transplanted them in to the main beds. This was just as Covid lockdown was starting," Mr Horrell says.
"So now, when you walk around the garden, you’ll see layers."
"You’ll see a 40-year-old planting, and then you’ll see probably the previous owner’s [plantings], maybe from 16 years ago."
It was a wet area, Mr Horrell says, "so we built up the garden height, so the plant roots did not sit in the wet ground".
The garden normally looks its best in October when the bulbs, azaleas and rhododendrons are out, Mrs Horrell says, but at this time of year there is still plenty of interest.
They asked other avid gardeners about fuchsias and the reply was "Oh, they might frost ... the rabbits might eat them, but if they don’t ..."
The Horrells took the risk and moved their fuchsias, which are now thriving in the North Taieri garden, despite the rabbits.
"They provide the colour when the rhodos are all gone."
And the Ericas, although not flowering at the moment, are eye-catching. They have been meticulously trimmed and are spaced out around the border in circular mounds which are a blaze of colour from autumn to spring.
"They are probably about 40 years old," Mrs Horrell says.
"They were a big mass coming on to the lawn, so Peter, having a tractor, was very handy. He got the forks underneath and lifted them up like a carpet." The plants were then chopped right back and replanted.
"Unfortunately, the rabbits are a problem ... they come out and nip at those Ericas."
But the couple have found a dosing of blood and bone helps repel the pests.
Gardening in North Taieri is a bit of a cross between Southland conditions and Central Otago, Mr Horrell says.
"Southland farm soil was amazing — we were spoilt," whereas the North Taieri soil is more challenging. But they have brought in soil to help build up the ground.
"It swings quite hard [ground conditions] you can be working your garden and within a fortnight it’s like concrete."
They are lucky to have a bore on their property which they use for irrigation, shifting large soaker hoses around the garden and hand-watering where required.
In 2021, the Horrells opened their garden as part of the Dunedin Open Garden Association and named it Church View because of vistas of the North Taieri Presbyterian Church across the road.
"And that’s worth a visit too, Mr Horrell says.
"It’s older than Knox [church]".
