Friday 25th September, 2026
Hi
A garden is always changing and evolving, and as a gardening business we are evolving too. The gardeners have just finished renovating the display garden by adding new plantings and removing some older plants. Shortly, we will also be having a bit of a refresh for our advertising and our website. The Wairere business has been around for a long time (around 35 years) and began as a roadside stall selling herbs. Over the years Lloyd's vision for creating a manmade lake and garden out of what was basically a swamp has been realised. I have been trawling through the old photo albums to get a glimpse of the hard yakka which went into the imagining and development of what is now a stunning display garden, board walk and nursery.
I have added some of the photos here and there will be more on the new website once that is up and running. Basically, there was a big ditch where the carpark is now and around the year 2000 it was filled in so that there would be space for customers and they would no longer have to park on the busy Gordonton Road. The nursery itself has had changes over the years and if you are a regular you would have seen the removal of the avenue of Awanui Cherry trees last year. We still have some Awanui on one side of the nursery, and also a row down near the lake. If you haven't been before, now is a great time to visit as they are coming into flower. There are also plenty of other plants on display to excite and inspire you.
Potager development from 1992 to present
Digging the lake to present day view
Present day
Cytisus/Broom
I love the way the English language has come together from a large number of individual parts. Someone recently in the public eye referred to it as a "bastard" language and to be fair, it is a real hotch-potch of everything under the sun - Greek, Latin, Old French, Norse, and many other cultures. Take the word Broom for example, from the old English brōm, this is what these plants were used for - bundled together around a central pole and used to sweep away dust and dirt from homes and businesses. Another word for this tool is besom - a name for a traditional broom and incidentally this is also an informal term used for a cheeky, mischievous, or ill-behaved girl or woman in Northern England and Scotland. So if someone calls you a besom - you know how to respond!
Back to the plants, with origins in Scotland you would expect
Broom (Cytisus) to be on the hardy side and it is extremely tolerant of frost and poor soils. It is part of the legume family so it is one of the plant world's heroes in that it fixes nitrogen from the air (78% of the "air" is nitrogen) because otherwise this nitrogen is unavailable to plants. If you know your stuff you will be aware that nitrogen is responsible mainly for the leafy growth of plants - super important for photosynthesis which keeps them alive. Modern broom hybrids are bred to be sterile, so they won't cover your land like the wild ones cover the highlands. Plant in full sun in soil which is not waterlogged and on the acidic side.
Water plants
As I noted above, Wairere is built on a swamp. Plants which tolerate and thrive in water are very useful for such places, and that has been an ongoing learning curve for us; working out the best plants to go around our lake, stream margins and wetlands. There are many ornamental exotics and natives which love these damper areas, so to celebrate the arrival of spring I will mention some which you can use in your garden for these places.
Trees: Specific trees for wetland areas must include
Taxodiums,
Nyssa Sylvatica,
Kahikatea,
Kowhai and the clump-forming
Cornus alba siberica (included in this list despite not having the form of a true tree). This Cornus is great for pond edges with its bright red stems and fresh green leaves. Cut back hard in winter to produce vivid coloured growth in spring.
Shrubs and grasses: Many native shrubs and grasses thrive in wetland areas as originally, the New Zealand landmass was around 10% wetland. Due to European activity this has shrunk to around 1%, but wetlands still play an important part in filtering the water systems around our urban areas. You can read about how council workers and volunteers working at Lake Waiwhakareke, a Natural Heritage Park near Hamilton Zoo, are trying to recreate what was lost
here.
Coprosma propinqua,
Phormium Tenax (also known as swamp flax),
Oioi,
Coprosma Robusta and
Carex Secta are all great native options for these areas. Exotics that thrive in wet places include
Miscanthus,
Juncus and
Acorus.
Little pretties: There are a range of cute little ornamentals, both native and exotic, for your pond or wet area. We stock these generally in spring and summer, as many die down over winter. Some of the varieties we have in stock flower, others are great ground covers or are gown for their interesting foliage. Some examples are pictured below. You can see all our water plants
here.
We also stock
Waterlilies - best to come and browse these in store as they are often snapped up before we can get them online.
Pieris or Lily of the Valley Shrub
Lily of the valley shrubs (Pieris) are acid loving medium-sized shrubs with flowers that are delicate bells which hang from the branches. The flowers are often white, pale pink or darker pink. New growth is bright red, which adds to the colour in spring as they are late winter-early spring flowering. Easy to grow in areas away from the full force of the sun. Prune after flowering to activate the new growth at the tips. Confusingly, these have the same common name as a perennial (
Convallaria Majalis), which we are expecting in November (hopefully). While the two types of lily of the valley are unrelated, they have somewhat similar dainty, bell-shaped flowers.
Kumara plants are coming
Kumara slips will be making a short but popular appearance
from around Labour weekend. We hope to have all three varieties Gold, Red
and Orange and the plants are sold in bunches of 25 for $22.99. We will not hold
orders longer than the 8th of November, so they need to be collected promptly.
Plant kumara slips in extremely well-drained soil in full sun where you can
make a mound over a denser pan or compact layer (so the kumara don't go too
deep). Lay the slips on the prepared beds, about 50 cm apart, place 2
fingers about 2/3 of the way along the slip, press it down gently into the
ground, creating a U shape, cover with soil and tamp down lightly by hand.
Garden Events coming up soon
It's that time of year when the garden rambles are starting to be advertised. For inspiration, or just a lovely day out, they are the best. Check out these up and coming events:
Franklin Hospice Garden Ramble: November 14th and 15th. Tickets on sale
here, or at the following venues: Mitre 10 Pukekohe, Paddock to Pantry, Wild Rose, Franklin Community Hospice Op Shop or Franklin Hospice. 15 gardens, some houses & the Karaka museum, will be open to ticket holders from 10am – 4pm both days. Spend the weekend exploring gardens and homes in Karaka, and at the same time you will be supporting the Franklin Hospice which provides compassionate care to those who need it.
Centuria Taranaki Garden Festival: 30th October - 8th November.
I am sure that the gardens on these rambles will be looking a lot nicer than my current bombsite - a work in progress that's for sure. Have a great weekend. Regards, Tracy.
Cheers from Lloyd, Tony and the Wairere team.
