Rachel Callaghan Landscape Architect, NZ

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Early Days of Spring At Last

September 04, 2017

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Dwarf Kowhai - Sophora 'Dragon's Gold'

This gorgeous small tree is extremely adaptable - topiary, hedging, shrub, or a small spreading tree. It all depends on how you train it. The best thing about the Dragons Gold is the fact it flowers over winter, and the waxeyes and fantail birds love it. It flowers from about April right through until September, whereas the full- sized kowhai (microphylla and tetraptera) only flower in one big show in late spring. It flowers for about 6 months I have kept the trunks clear, training these to be wonky standards Piwakawaka (fantail) flittering around the trunk These are some examples I have growing at my office. Some (above) I am training to be wonky standards, that will join to form a cloud formation in the middle of a circular garden. Just a bit of randomness! A taller standard kowhai, in a pot close to a window, so the birds can be seen from close-up Keeping this one trimmed as a ball. Then this hedge (below) I saw at the hockey grounds in Palmerston Nort...

MY OWN GARDENS

These days I am leaning toward a more natural and loose garden style, definitely influenced by the New Perennialist Movement from the Northern Hemisphere, and my undulating site. The style suits the site we have been on for 2 years, compared to the more conventional formal gardens and hedges at our old house. Add to that the fact I cannot access the vast majority of the garden with any form of water other than that provided by Mother Nature! So tough, beautiful, drought and wind proof are the main prerequisites! Plus STRUCTURE STRUCTURE STRUCTURE!! Doesn't matter if it is hedges or evergreen shrubs, the garden has to look great 12 months of the year - and preferably with seasonal variation. Here are a few snippets from my nearly 2 year old garden nearest our wee house (hut). Main structure is Muehlenbeckia astonii balls, Astelia, Miscanthus, Calamagrostis, Stachys, Phlomis, and Libertia grandiflora. Then seasonal variation from Scabiosa, Strawflowers, Achillea, Bearded Iris,...

Violets as Groundcover

For shrub gardens under deciduous trees - nothing beats the simplicity of the good old fashioned Viola - Violets. The glossy heart shaped leaves just look so lush 12 months of the year, with the added bonus of the very fragrant tiny flowers in winter and spring. I don;t know what you you buy them as these days (maybe Viola odorata?) - I have always just yanked mine out of my own or someone else's garden, and poked them in the ground. They can be a little invasive of smaller plants - so let them fill a large area between shrubs is best. Easy! The tiny flowers are gorgeous in a delicate little vase, with a few leaves poked in to surround them. Very fragrant. They come in many shades, but the strongest seem to be purple and white. They are a generational plant, too. I have some that were my grandmothers, and my mother-in-law has probably 20 variations in colour, with shades from salmon pink to bright pink, white and various purples. Gorgeous as little posies to give as a gi...

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Early Days of Spring At Last

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