Branching Out |
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The saying goes, plant a garden and sharpen your axe – that’s my theory anyway,” says Sara Grigg. She should know, for her 3ha showplace garden, Surrey Hills, at Mount Somers in Canterbury, is testimony to 20 years of dedication and hard work. “It’s a full-time job but very rewarding,” she says. Over the years, the fences have been shifted and then shifted again as the garden has grown. Now it’s been named a Garden of National Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust for its outstanding beauty and its exceptional tree and shrub collection.
 Sara and Paul Grigg’s Canterbury home; among the trees surrounding it are, left, a horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and, right, a flowering cherry; climbing the house is Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’.
Sara and her husband Paul took over the Grigg family homestead in 1990. It was designed by architect Heathcote Helmore and completed in 1929 for Paul’s grandparents. With the recent Murchison earthquake fresh in her mind, Grandmother Mary Grigg, who was supervising the construction, insisted on deep foundations. In last September’s Christchurch quake Paul says the house “really rocked” but escaped with only a few cracks. Fortunately, the second earthquake caused no further damage.
Surrey Hills, lying against the foothills of the Southern Alps about 30km west of Ashburton, is approached through park-like farmland; planting trees has been part of the family ethos for three generations. The entrance is understated, marked by urns planted with Marlborough rock daisies. At the rear of the imposing home there is a colourful mixed border positioned above a generously proportioned paved area where the family can relax.
Left: An unnamed rhododendron with fern.
Right: Sara and Paul Grigg with Harry, who they describe as “a typical Lab, greedy and indolent”.
All Sara’s perennial and rose plantings are near the house. These borders are labour-intensive and, “We get wind that thrashes them and whips them to bits,” she says. Mingled with the roses are many perennials Sara has traded with friends – penstemons, bearded iris, astrantia in white, pink and red shades, cranesbill geraniums – G. pratense and G. x magnificum – peonies and delphiniums. Her David Austin roses include ‘Emanuel’, ‘Leander’ and ‘Charlotte’.
When the Griggs’ daughter Gemma was married in the garden in March this year, they’d hoped to hold the service in front of the abundant ‘Princess of Wales’ roses. Rain fell, however, and the ceremony took place in a marquee. Sara was grateful the showers held off while everything was set up, limiting damage to the expansive lawn, which reaches away from the house on two sides to the woodland.
Left: Sara and Paul’s daughter Gemma was married at home this year to Hamish Guild, but it was so wet there was no chance of garden photos. Wedding photograph by Jemima Helmore.
Right: The garden has many dogwoods such as Cornus kousa ‘Moonbeam’
Originally, there was lawn only to the north where Paul’s mother, Philippa, planted the first woodland. “Philippa was an incredibly good gardener and an avid collector of plants. She left us a fantastic collection of rhododendrons and trees to which we have added the smaller shrubs – I actually didn’t know what a rhododendron was,” says Sara.
A qualified botanist working for the then DSIR, Philippa created a woodland filled with choice plants and giant Himalayan lilies (Cardiocrinum giganteum) brought from her former home. She was also instrumental in introducing a practice that was years ahead of her time, in New Zealand gardens at least. Philippa mowed her grass at two different heights – the lawn proper was mowed every 10 days at the prescribed length while the grass around the shrub and woodland area was mowed every other week at an increased height. Her daughter-in-law continues this practice.
Away across the lawn from the house, past the now grassed-over asphalt tennis court, the first of three large man-made ponds comes into view. Like the others, this pond is planted simply, allowing the water to reflect the trees. A large tract of variegated Acorus calamus (sweet flag) makes a bold statement at one end; often mistaken for an iris, its “flower” or spadix is the give-away. In season, Japanese irises make a show at the far end.
The classical lines of the house are best viewed across the expansive lawn.
The woodland, greatly expanded since her mother-in-law’s time, is Sara’s first love and she has planted skilfully under its canopy of “forest” trees.
There you’ll find a careful selection of rhododendrons, maples and magnolias. About 20 dogwoods are also planted around the garden, including hybrids of Cornus kousa from Korea and Japan; the ghostly white bracts of ‘Moonbeam’ are stunning. More easily obtainable are the two outstanding hybrids of Cornus capitata, the Himalayan dogwood ‘Silver Lining’ and ‘Greenvale’.
“I tend to limb my trees up rather than take the tops off them,” Sara says. “It is opening up the vistas. When we moved here we couldn’t see through the trees.”
Sara does most of the pruning. She was given a chainsaw on the proviso she never reached above her shoulder or used it while up a ladder. But Paul came home one day to find her up a ladder with the chainsaw firmly stuck. Ashburton arborist Lyall Jemmett does a brilliant job of bigger tree work. The Griggs are also pleased they’ve managed to get aluminium Lifetime labels from Cross Hills Gardens and Nursery on all the trees and shrubs.
Though the Griggs say they haven’t done much to the house, they’re happy with their home. “It’s such a lovely place to live,” says Sara. “I’m so lucky that Paul is so supportive.” Glancing across the lawn, she exclaims, “I’m dying to get the chainsaw out and cut out that amelanchier in front of the golden elm.” There’s a fair chance its days are numbered.
Story: Gordon Collier
Photographs: Paul Mccredie
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