Garden sanctuary a labour of love
Most Beautiful Garden finalist transforms ‘blank canvas’ in six years
Six years ago, Christine Walker’s front and back yards were nothing but grass, dirt and agapanthus. In those six short years, Walker has transformed her backyard into a paradise of colour, nature and art that she admires from her kitchen window every morning.
“In the first couple of years, it was absolutely mad. It was just a bank with agapanthus.”
Walker moved into her Gonville property six years ago after moving from Auckland, looking for a lifestyle change in Whanganui.
“I’ve always liked Whanganui. I like the history, the arts and to be honest I didn’t actually even check the climate particularly.”
The deal was soon sealed when Walker came across a property in Gonville.
“When we came here with a real estate agent, I just went ‘bingo’. It was just a blank canvas.
“I had to learn how to garden on this sandy soil here in Whanganui, but in Auckland it’s quite different. It was a bit of a learning curve having to deal with sand that’s got no oomph in it really.”
When we came here with a real estate agent, I just went ‘bingo’. It was just a blank canvas.
Christine Walker
Walker said that practically all of the garden was put together by her and her husband over many months, from using spare bricks to create paths, to commissioning sculptures that peer from the foliage.
The garden is home to hundreds of different plants, with very little of the blank canvas remaining; there’s growth or some form of life within every nook and cranny of the garden.
Walker said gardening has been a lifelong passion.
“Even when I was a kid, I could tell you what people had in their gardens. My mother always had a big garden.
“It’s great, we’ve got a lot of birdlife here. You open the blinds and there are just birds everywhere. It’s gorgeous.
“It’s magic to see your garden attracting so much life.”
The garden isn’t without its problems. Walker’s vegetarian puppy Missy creates many a headache, pinching fresh apricots or plums from the garden, and bits of driftwood used as decoration rarely stay in one place.
The wind also causes havoc, spreading the lawn and driveway with red velvet droppings from a gigantic pohutukawa tree that overlooks the property.
But despite the minor headaches, Walker says it’s her sanctuary.
“It’s just a lovely place to be. I’m proud of what we’ve done.”