A state of flux - Lang's Beach

She has tried growing a lot of things on the property, starting with herbaceous borders (the plants sulked in the clay), conifers and camellias (many of which have since been deleted) and her present mix of subtropical, native and bold structural plants that has been refined with low maintenance in mind.

One factor that has been a constant is her delight in experimenting – trying new plants and varying looks.

“I love the challenge of creating a totally different effect without altering things significantly,” she says.

“Gardens are wonderful because they’re all about change. As plants grow a garden moves into varying phases. It’s an ongoing canvas with no limits to what you can do.”
Viv’s speciality is creating a series of tableaux that define the areas of the garden and then tweaking them to achieve contrasting effects. There’s a little pergola tucked into a corner at the front of the garden that has gone through a series of transformations as she’s painted it successive colours (black, blue, red, silver …) and reinforced the theme with different coloured pots and cushions.

At the moment it’s white and surrounded by a dramatic planting of tufty green mondo grass, lined with the shiny dinner plate leaves of Ligularia reniformis interlaced with the lime green fronds of hen-and-chicken fern. Clipped balls of Pittosporum ‘Golfball’ stand like sentries either side of the area.

“I’m a big believer in the power of a pot of paint,” says Viv laughing. “You create little scenes with plants and then you can keep playing with them. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.”
Visiting the garden is an adventure in itself, with gravel paths navigating around the property in twists and turns, revealing a table for enjoying the view, a gazebo with chairs and table framed with white drapery and little still life pictures created from clever combinations of pots and plants, driftwood and rocks.

As a backdrop to it all is an expanse of white sand coastline and blue sea reaching as far as the eye can see, with the slumbering shapes of the Hen and Chickens islands moored centre stage.
Viv opened the property to the public for many years. What started as a trickle of local gardening groups grew significantly as keen gardeners returned several times a year to see what she was up to next.

“I’ve never been one to visit other people’s gardens and I think that the fact that there is no garden centre near here has meant that I’ve had to rely on my own resources and use my brain to work out how I can use things differently.”

The secret to this changing display is a background of strong structural foliage.

“You need to experiment with different textures and foliage shapes. Plants that retain their form such as pukas and palms are great as a backdrop. Conifers such as Thuja occidentalis ‘Pyramidalis’ work surprisingly well with sub-tropical plants.

“And I love the effect of the odd clipped plant. You get very shrewd after years of gardening and if you choose the right plant there’s not a lot of work involved in keeping them in shape. Natives such as Coprosma ‘Cappuccino’ and ‘Mangatangi’ will naturally grow into a ball and only need the odd snip to keep in shape.”

A dramatic area at the front of the house with two water-lily ponds shows this theory in action, with the soaring spiky forms of yukkas offset by mounds of Hebe topiaria and scleranthus, with bromeliads providing colour and the planting backed by the varied forms of tree ferns and conifers.
A small courtyard behind the house is typical of Viv’s unique flair. She has planted an old claw-foot bath with a mini water garden of oioi and waterlilies. A pot of the succulent Echeveria elegans and a large white jug seem suspended on top of the water and a concave mirror on the wall behind adds dimension. In front of the bath she has surrounded mirrored tiles with mondo grass, so that at first glance this looks like another small pool.

This unusual combination of plants is what Viv excels at and she’s been able to experiment with growing a wide range of material in the frost-free conditions.

She’s also a huge fan of using container plants to create instant effects – and the pots don’t have to be flash either.

“I just buy plastic pots and pile rocks around them or bury them in the soil. Bromeliads are wonderful because you can pick them up and move them around like an armchair.”

That’s just as well because after decades of gardening here Viv and her husband Daniel are contemplating a move to a new, smaller section near Whangarei.

“I’ve been blessed with this garden,” she says. “I’ve made lots of friendships I wouldn’t have otherwise, but it will be interesting to start a new challenge.”

Story: Sarah Beresford Issue: June 2006 Photographs: Sally Tagg