Family papers include not only a coloured concept plan drawn up when Alfred Buxton was commissioned to lay out the garden in 1937, but also a black-and-white drawing of where plants were to be sited.
Perhaps most important, though, are plant lists and receipts for landscaping (551-8s-5d) and plants (160-1s-9d), as they give an invaluable insight into trees, shrubs and flowers favoured by the man considered to be New Zealand's most influential landscape gardener.
As well as the early documents, there are photographs taken by Frank Neate, one of the three men who worked with Buxton on the project, while George Scott has photographs taken when he was a child, including some with the rose garden in the background.
Four generations of Scotts have farmed the property, George's great-grandfather having bought it in 1910 when he moved from a farm nearer Waikoikoi.
The original house was replaced in 1935 and Buxton was engaged to lay out a garden suitable for the new home, built on a rise with splendid views to the west.
The project was expensive: George estimated it probably cost his grandfather the equivalent of two farm workers' wages for a year, no light undertaking when the country was just emerging from the Great Depression.
Euphemia was a very enthusiastic gardener, so may well have had some input into the choice of smaller plants such as roses, but apart from that, it seems the landscaper was given a free hand, for the garden is typical of Buxton's work, with a shelter belt on two sides, a semicircular drive, specimen trees, an orchard, an area for soft fruit (currants and raspberries), vegetable beds and a rockery close to the house.
The rockery is significant for two reasons: it reflects Buxton's increasing use of the medium in his landscaping work, and the rock was from the Pukerau area.
Mary Scott understands the rocks, many of which have fossils in them, came from the farm itself.
Some fine trees remain, including a scarlet oak, a large copper beech, a pair of silver birches by the entrance gates and a pair of weeping plums.
Beech trees on the Scott list cost seven shillings and sixpence each, the same price as the rowans used to screen the orchard.
Changes are inevitable in a garden and the Scotts' is no exception.
Because Buxton seemed to have underestimated the size some of the trees would reach, it has been necessary to take out several crowding the house, and George believes the ornamental wooden gates will have to go, as they are very dilapidated and no longer able to keep out stock.
But the essence of the garden remains and Alfred Buxton would still recognise his groundwork.
About Buxton
• Born in England, Alfred William Buxton (1872-1950) came to New Zealand when he was about 14 and was apprenticed to a Christchurch nurseryman before setting up his own nursery and landscaping business in 1893.
• He vigorously promoted the idea of a landscape designer being as important as a building's architect and was responsible for laying out more than 500 gardens, a significant number in Otago and Southland.
• Do you have a Buxton garden, know of one in Otago or Southland, or have photographs of one? If so, please contact Gillian Vine by emailing gillian.vine@odt.co.nz or writing to her at Otago Daily Times features department, PO Box 181, Dunedin 9054.
