A selection of NZ gardens to visit
The latest garden to list on the site is Cottonwood, a 2 hectare garden set in rural Mid Canterbury, lovingly developed since 2005 by its current owners. Designed to be explored, the garden unfolds through a series of formal and informal spaces connected by winding paths that invite discovery. Visitors are guided through diverse plantings of both native and exotic species, with thoughtfully chosen combinations that provide year-round interest in colour, texture, and form. A Rhododendron walk, an organic kitchen garden, espaliered fruit trees, a gently meandering stream, and a pond are among the garden’s highlights.
View garden...
Anne and Ron a quick thank you for providing Somerfield Garden members with such a wonderful visit to your amazing garden (the tulip tree was a very special topic of interest and discussion) and also for the lovely home prepared lunch. You are getting a well deserved reputation for the quality of your delightful food and I have to confess that personally I ate far too much as I could not resist a second visit to the table.
We were lucky enough to stay 3 nights in the B&B cottage on site at Aramatai Gardens (highly recommended!). Jill is a wonderful host and her garden is beautiful. The ponds, lovely trees, seating areas, and naturalistic pathways make this a very restful garden. We also enjoyed seeing the white geese waddling about, cute piglets in the adjacent paddock, and friendly farm dogs who greeted us warmly from over the fence. Jill’s garden is well worth visiting and I’d love to see it again in November/December, when the peonies and roses will be doing their thing.
"Jon & Shirley, Thank you for letting us view your wonderful garden. It is an inspiration to us all as well as a testament to your vision and hard work.
It’s not until you tour a garden such as this that you realise how much more you can do with your own garden. Full of sculptures, art work, mirrors and flowers. There was so much to see that it was impossible to take it all in on the first round. Mary and Mark have made use of every inch of their garden. It’s a small garden and you really need at least an hour to take it all in. You will leave inspired with so many ideas. Mary answered all our questions and was very friendly and informative. Thoroughly recommend touring this garden
I visited Woodside for a friend's wedding and was blown away by the beautiful gardens. I've lived in Hamilton for many years and can't believe I've never seen this place before. Les, the owner, gardener, host and self-proclaimed comedian hehe... was so accommodating and friendly. We loved the place so much that my fiancé and I will be back here next year to have our wedding too!
Thanks for having us!
"Thank you so much for giving us your time to visit your beautiful garden. Our ladies enjoyed listening to how the garden has been established. Much appreciation from Kotuku Garden Club."
We visited after Mark spoke to our garden club the previous Monday.
Everyone was absolutely blown away by the thought and expertise that went into this exceptional garden....full of plants + wonderful areas which made us all want to explore more. Almost too much to take in with the one tour....I had to go round 3 times just to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Skillfully laid out- making the most of all areas with the use of mirrors a standout. Really clever the way the big water tanks were camouflaged...hardly noticed them.
What a garden - we all loved it.....and slunk away to check out our own gardens to see how we could measure up!
"Thank you very much for hosting the Matangi Garden Club yesterday in your gorgeous garden. Members loved the calm soothing environment. the space and the beautiful plantings. From the number of photos taken, you've inspired quite a few people with good ideas. You turned on a perfect day as well."
Gardens to visit is a collection of New Zealand's most beautiful gardens that open to the public.
