Palms and pōhutukawa thrive at this Doubtless Bay garden.
This garden owner’s search for the perfect spot ended on the shores of Doubtless Bay
Aguy returns to New Zealand after years abroad determined to put down new roots. He explores the country, rediscovering old haunts. He rules out cold places, recalling that when his parents swapped Wellington for Queensland, they added many happy years to their retirement. A warm climate can do that.
But the perfect roost – clement, close to water, not too isolated – eludes him until he takes a road trip to the Far North. Reaching Doubtless Bay, he drives through Coopers Beach then on to Chucks Cove where he spots a property for sale. He takes a walk along its beach boundary lined with ancient pōhutukawa and tōtara, curious tūī providing the soundtrack, and Bruce Abraham is smitten.
“How could you improve on such a view,” he says, pointing across his garden to the bay’s sparkling waters. Old pā sites overlook the cove. Nearby is Butler Pt, with its early settlers’ cottage, garden of national significance and whaling museum. Also on the doorstep is charming Mangonui village, and Kerikeri is only a 45-minute drive away.
So began the creation of a new life, business and glorious hectare or so of subtropical gardens on the
property Bruce has dubbed Sanctuary in the Cove. Not that he knew in 2002 that he was about to embark on an 18-year project transforming paddocks into garden. Nor that, he readily admits, he was all that mad about gardening, though he always had a soft spot for planting trees and building waterfalls.
Bruce is used to being busy, using his brain and living in cities. A maths whiz who worked for many years in investment management, he’s made homes in Wellington, London, South Africa and Melbourne. So by the time the six-month settlement was due, he’d bought an apartment in Wellington and was taking another couple of university degrees, spending half a year in the capital.
Once the Far North deal was complete, Bruce walked around his new place and thought “what have I done?” A local real estate agent who brought him a cheese platter to welcome him to the area, was naturally curious about his plans. “I’m going to plant trees,” he announced, somewhat to his own surprise. Then he met retired botanist Ian Shoosmith, now living in Mangonui, and together they hatched a planting plan. Bruce also hit the books, learning all he could about things botanical. “I was about to invest a lot of money in plants and so I needed to try and understand what that meant.”
That first September, Bruce, his brother from Australia and other locals pitched in to plant the first tranche of 500 or so trees before the weather became too dry. Existing trees and plants were either
cut down or transplanted under Ian’s guidance. The new trees were mulched and watered by hand every day, to help them take root. “At the end of that first summer we adopted the principle that if a tree could not survive in the climate [without watering], then it didn’t belong in my garden.”
Planting and property development absorbed Bruce during the following years, ending in 2009 with the waterfall garden project. This leafy heart of the garden has palms, a wide variety of flowering plants and a water lily pond fed by the waterfall.
Designed by Kerikeri landscape architect Christine Hawthorn, the new feature replaced a farm cottage that the Chuck family occupied in the early 1900s. “As luck would have it, the garden was completed just as the worst drought in the past 30 years began – one of Doubtless Bay’s longest dry spells.” Daily watering using movable irrigation meant the garden survived with few casualties.
Bruce began living full-time and running his new accommodation business at the property by 2008, having renovated the farmhouse for himself and adding two cottages for short-stay guests. It’s been a busy time. “I came here to start a new adventure, but it took on a life of its own.” Though he baulks at using the R word. “Retirement? You never retire from life until you’re dead,” he says. “Whatever I do, I don’t brand it as work or a holiday. I’m just living my life doing different things.”
Bruce loves his trees, especially the pōhutukawa
when they flower. He’s fond of his tall coastal gums (Eucalyptus botryoides) too, which are “a magnificent backdrop to the waterfall”.
There’s one old tōtara “that I just stand under and marvel at its size and strength”. A Norfolk Island hibiscus near his house is said to be among the largest in New Zealand but his favourite is an Indian lilac bead tree that he shifted from another part of the property when it was just 1m tall. “Each time I mow, I rotate around this tree on every run. This might involve 10-12 bypasses, so I’ve had plenty of time to observe the tree grow.”
Some trees remind him of people. He named a transplanted butia palm after his favourite botanist. “It reminds me of Ian who’s still working in his home garden at Mangonui despite the frailties of age. Ian gave me so much encouragement and advice in those important early years.”
As for Bruce, “I’ve become a keen gardener,” he says, though he’s quick to share the credit for his growing work of art with colleagues and friends. “All I’ve tried to do as the custodian of this unique property is to take it back to nature.” He couldn’t be happier that visitors find it a place of peace and serenity too.
Q&A
The thing I’ve learned about gardening over the years: How rapidly trees grow in Northland. Our subtropical climate with long warm summers and plenty of winter rain encourages extremely fast growth. This has meant the constant use of arborists to keep my boundary trees maintained to a height that does not upset my neighbours (too much).
Hours spent in the garden: At least two hours every day. There is always something to do, and my to-do list on the kitchen bench is a constant reminder of work outstanding.
Climate: No frosts because I’m so close to the beachfront. Summers tend to be dry and warm, winters wet and cool. Perfect for fast growth of trees, palms and lawns.
Soil type: The flat land along the waterfront and extending back for, say, 50-75m tends to be sandy loam with some very rocky ridges (ancient lava as Doubtless Bay is an extinct volcano) that extend out into the cove. The soil on the sloping land that runs up to the highway is clay with a narrow band of topsoil. Great for the kikuyu grass lawns that are ideal for our subtropical conditions. Bruce Abraham