Field of Vision
The sixhectare garden at Kakahu Farm is thriving through the generations
There’s no dignity in haste, and after nearly a century the six-hectare garden at Kakahu Farm is responding beautifully to a third generation of the Hargreaves family and their children: forward-looking, practical people keen to open new vistas for sunlight and fresh air while treasuring the plantings and collective growth of decades.
KAKAHU DISTRICT IS SETTLED INTO THE FOOTHILLS
southwest of Geraldine – the name means ‘laughing owl’, a bird once found all along the eastern foothills of the South Island from Otago through to Marlborough and Nelson. Twice the size of the morepork and possibly last seen in this area during the 1930s, the owl was once hunted by
Māori when they travelled through the area, using its softly patterned plumage in feather cloaks. Their charcoal and red ochre rock drawings remain in the hills, on the walls of limestone overhangs and caves – South Canterbury is rich in Māori rock art. The owl preferred open rocky habitat rather than forest, and particularly limestone country. Limestone is part of the interesting local geology, which includes some of the oldest exposed rocks in Canterbury, silica sand and traces of gold. A lime kiln built in 1882 burnt the soft rock for fertiliser and building mortar; Ravensdown currently still operates a quarry on part of the farm. Marble has been mined too, and clay for the Temuka pottery.
Kakahu was part of a 10,000-hectare sheep run, first taken up by Captain Richard Westenra in 1853. It changed hands five times until it was subdivided in 1890, and then farmed by John Studholme, followed by his second son William, who studied at Magdalen College and graduated in law honours at Oxford. The Studholmes farmed around 15,000 sheep on nearly 5,000 hectares, and around 1896 they had the foresight to plant additional deciduous trees, for future generations to enjoy in maturity – they’re now a feature of the homestead garden. There’s the magnificent English oak avenue Quercus robur along the driveway which has by my count over 120 trees in total, two European limes or lindens Tilia sp., a massive copper beech Fagus, and what is believed to be one of the largest English oaks in New Zealand. The trees were grown from seedlings specially brought out to New Zealand from Suttons Nursery in Reading, and planted out before the new homestead was completed. The 1903 Canterbury Cyclopedia of New Zealand described how the ‘Kakahu
Estate [sheep] flock consists chiefly of English Leicester and Merino crosses. Kakahu abounds in limestone, which yields ninety-eight per cent of pure white lime, and there is also an abundance of coal clay and good building stone ... The improvements on the property include a new dwellinghouse, outbuildings, plantations, gardens, lawns, and eight miles of wire fences’. Changes to land tax and other legislation in the late 1890s led to gradual selling off of the land, in common with other large Canterbury sheep runs at the time. After two more changes of ownership the Hargreaves family bought the 450-hectare property in 1924 – trees planted by previous families over the years included a hazelnut walk and rare weeping Oregon pines, establishing a basic garden structure.
Kenneth Hargreaves ran the farm, and in 1954 started an Angus cattle stud, which has become nationally respected in recent times; this classic breed of black cattle was first introduced in the early 1860s. Kenneth’s son Gerald took over the reins in 1966, and a trip to the United States in the early 1990s with other New Zealand Angus breeders was a game changer for Kakahu Angus. Gerald’s focus on breeding top
quality cattle for the high-end meat market has resulted in the property now holding the second largest annual Angus stud sale in New Zealand each June, central to the farm’s business operation. The property has been gradually increased in size to 1,200 hectares.
As the farm was gathering momentum Gerald and Sue were raising their three children, Belinda, Fiona and
Tom, and Sue was developing her interest in the garden’s rhododendrons, first planted by Diana, Gerald’s mother. She added more, and in 1984 expanded the area to include the pond, bog garden, and new beds of young rhododendrons growing on for sale as larger grade specimens.
Kakahu receives more rainfall among the foothills on average than the plains, as drizzle and cooler air cling to higher ground. The garden’s soil contains enough clay particles to hold moisture, but also drains well – particularly important for rhododendrons with their shallow densely fibrous root systems. Topsoil was pushed around the new garden areas under Sue and Gerald’s watchful eyes to form a balance of woodland beds and gently contoured open lawns. The result is park-like – a sequence of pictures and viewpoints through the garden and out across the home paddocks. The stature of those majestic lime, oak and copper beech trees planted in the 1890s strengthens the effect, along with evergreen conifers such as Oregon pines – a pair near the driveway are called the Twin Towers. The garden has height as well as width, giving it good proportions and a sense of enclosure.
Rhododendron numbers in the stock beds and homestead garden approached 8,000 plants at one time (some stock beds
have been returned to trees and pasture) and nearly 40 years later are reaching their mature size of well over three metres tall in some cases. The name rhodo-dendron from Greek means rose tree, and in their natural environment in the eastern Himalayas some tall rhododendron species are the main forest tree. At Kakahu their names are a masterclass of classic hybrids which are proven in Canterbury conditions, including ‘Pink Pearl’, ‘Loderi King George’, ‘Venus’, ‘Horizon Monarch’, ‘Kaponga’, ‘Pawhuska’, ‘Princess Alice’, and ‘Irene Stead’. Slightly frost-tender varieties ‘Danella’ and ‘Felicity Fair’ are hybrids from exotic large-leafed species Rhododendron nuttallii, lindleyi, and the shiny-leafed Maddenia group.
Many are strongly fragrant – some of the best tree-sized larger-leaved rhododendrons for Canterbury are in the Loderi Group (hybrids of R. griffithianum and fortunei ssp. fortunei); lavender-pink ‘Irene Stead’ was in full flower last year at Kakahu and scenting a whole corner of the garden.
There’s a tapestry hedge of English beech, and groups of smaller deciduous trees planted in the 1980s and ’90s for light woodland shade, autumn colour and spring flowering. Birches, maples, Amelanchier and Halesia, and the Mt Peel lily Cardiocrinum giganteum are thriving. These are all good indicators that the garden is sheltered, with moistureretentive soil, and has relatively higher humidity as a result – appreciated by rhododendrons and camellias, and maples with their delicate pointed leaves. The garden still extends around some of the original stock beds of large-grade rhododendrons once intended for sale; now fine examples of the principle of mass planting multiples of the same variety if space allows.
A 15-metre-long drift of nearly three-metre-tall whiteflowered ‘Everest’ rhododendrons is truly spectacular!
Another generation is making their mark on the farm and garden: Gerald and Sue’s son Tom, his wife Anna and their family. They have gradually taken over the day-today running of the farm since 2012, and developed a real affection for the garden. It’s familiar ground for Tom of course; however the process is a team effort – respecting the structure and planting Sue has developed while realising the couple’s own distinctive vision. Tom and Anna are both trained designers – they met while completing design degrees in Christchurch – and run their architecture business in addition to the farming operation.
Proportion, structure, form and balance are principles shared between different facets of design: interiors, architecture, graphic design and landscape architecture; and
The garden’s soil contains enough clay particles to hold moisture, but also drains well – particularly important for rhododendrons with their shallow densely fibrous root systems.
they do influence one’s outlook. It was clear from chatting to Anna as we explored the garden last year with young Francesca and Louie that good ideas rest on a practical basis, and she’s keen to absorb more plant knowledge to complement her design skills. She’s a firm believer that plants need to stand on their own feet and not be overwatered or mollycoddled – the strongest do survive! Part of the driveway has been redesigned to allow lawn right up to the front steps of the house, and aside from the lawns (which can take around seven hours to mow) she and Tom are planning a crabapple avenue Malus ioensis ‘Plena’, and are enjoying the ongoing process of pruning. After four decades of growth, many of the rhododendrons and understory shrubs need thinning to let in light and air. There’s a knack to pruning these mature plants: clearing out dense twiggy growth from the inside out, and from the base of the tree up – a mulcher deals to the prunings. This process removes dead wood, opens up vistas through the garden for transparency, preserves healthy foliage and flower buds in the canopy, and makes a feature of winding trunks and branches. Anna’s brother Chris is also keen on gardening; together they enjoyed watching their grandfather at his Christchurch property, and working in their family garden once he’d retired. Their parents are good gardeners too, and regular visitors to Kakahu. Expertise from the farm is valuable – long-term members of the team naturally watch for damaged limbs on the big trees, and can transplant heavy rhododendrons with machinery on-site.
Tom and Anna see themselves as caretakers of Kakahu for future generations, as do Gerald and Sue who are developing their own new garden close by. They’ve taken proactive steps to protect the environment, such as fencing off waterways and extending waterside plantings to capture silt and nutrients. The garden’s rich and layered plantings offer protection and food for insects and birds including bellbirds and kererū – birdsong is a constant around the homestead. For this beautiful garden, time does tell.
Tom and Anna see themselves as caretakers of Kakahu for future generations, as do Gerald and Sue who are developing their own new garden close by.