IN A COUNTRY GARDEN

Sally Brown’s home is a characterful disused tram; her garden is simply magical

IF THIS GREEN-FINGERED DUNEDIN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT HAD HER WAY, THE ENTIRE WORLD WOULD BE A MASSIVE GARDEN WITH FLOWERS BURSTING INTO BLOOM ALL YEAR ROUND

THREE DECADES AGO — and quite organically — Sally Brown’s parents Mark and Clare Brown established a business at Waitati on the southern shores of Blueskin Bay. Little by little Mark, who had a diploma in horticulture and a liking for plants, grew his garden-maintenance set-up into a flourishing plant wholesaler while Clare, a chemist by profession, tested her retail skills by selling plants from a house along the main road. Today, Blueskin Bay Nurseries includes a garden centre, a café and a function venue as well as the original wholesale operation.

Back in the day, observers said the couple were mad to establish a garden centre so far from the city (Waitati is nearly 20 kilometres north of Dunedin) and predicted they’d have trouble attracting customers. But on clement weekends, the Browns would give their best petunias to be a whole lot further from the city. Anything to slow the relentless stream of traffic turning into the carpark.

“On a sunshine-y spring day, the world turns up here,” says Sally. “It can be mad.”

Little can be left to chance now as the three linchpins of the venture, one of the larger employers in the East Otago coastal area with up to 20 permanent staff, whirl about the property keeping it all ticking over. Mark, Claire and Sally — who, like her parents, is obsessed with all things green — work together on the expanding business and venue, a restored 100-plus-yearold deconsecrated Catholic church used for lectures and public classes and surrounded by vegetable gardens that supply the café daily with greens.

From a very young age, it was clear Sally would be a gardener and these days she wields a pair of clippers with confidence. “I am not afraid to prune roses back hard; it opens them up and helps them perform better.”

Sally Brown’s garden is planned like a colour wheel so that something is in bloom every season. Here the blue ceramic ball draws the eye past the border of pink roses, salvias, delphiniums and petunias.

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE: The tram’s entrance was moved to the front so visitors would immediately know they were entering Sally’s home; lilacs from the garden make for pretty picking flowers; white Hydrangea macrophylla and Hydrangea arborescens are planted along the south side of the tram. “In winter, the white looks good in the shade — it brightens up a dark corner.” OPPOSITE: Feathers and hawthorn flowers in the sunroom create an exuberant display.

THIS PAGE: The kitchen is the hub of Sally’s tram- cum-house; it’s also where the driver once sat. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A botanical painting by Audrey Eagle; the map of the London Underground through the tram window reminds Sally of her years living in that city; doing up the tram has been a joyful experience. “A lot of thought has gone into the placement of things. Titivating is so exciting;” a collection of vintage china, including Wedgwood, is displayed throughout, including in the kitchen.