Your Home and Garden – September 2019

I

t’sconsidereda greathonourtohave

yourgardenselectedforGarden

Marlborough,a renownedgarden

tourthathastakenplaceannuallyin

theMarlboroughregionforthepast

25 years.Lastyearwhenthishonour

wasbestoweduponLaurenandMikePricefor

thefirsttime,thecouplewereunderstandably

nervous,despitethefactthatLaurenis a very

experiencedgardener.“It was a big learning

curve,”sheadmits.

Whileeverythingwentwell,withlotsof

admiringvisitorscomingtothegarden,a

commentmadebyoneofthemstrucka chord

withLauren.“HetoldMikehethoughtourswas

‘agardenoftheheart’.AndI dobelievethat’s

whatgardensshouldbeabout,”shesays.“I

wouldadviseanyonestartinga gardennotto

followtrends– plantwhatyoulikeandmake

thegardenforyourself, not for other people.”

THESITE

MikeandLaurenliveatTuamarina, 10 minutes

northofBlenheim.Theyboughttheirhalf-

hectarepropertyin 2009 duetoitsflatnessand

thefactit wasvirtuallya blankcanvas.

“Therewasa 1980shousebuiltofOamaru

stone,andreallyonlya coupleoffruittreeson

the property,” says Lauren. “I saw the potential

toexpandthegardenbydevelopinganempty

paddockonthewestside.Wedidn’thaveto

starttotallyfromscratchbutit wasnicetohave

anundevelopedareathatI couldmakemyown.”

Anotherbigpositivewasthefactthatthe

areawasnotasdryasBlenheim,withmore

rainfallduetoit beingclosertothehills.“Ithas

a highwatertablewhichmeansweneverhave

towaterthelawns.Buttherecanbeanissue

withdrainageandheavysoil,”sheexplains.

THELANDSCAPING

Laurenhada clearaimforthedesignofher

futuregarden.“I wanteda romanticgarden

withwhitestructuresthatI knewwouldwork

wellwiththepalestoneofthehouse.A garden

doesneedtocomplementthehouse.”

Constructingthevariousstructuresinthe

gardenwasnota problemasMikeis a very

capablebuilder.“I amthegardenerandheis

theDIYguy,”Laurenjokes.“I tell him what

I wantandhebuildsit.”

Thefirstmajorstructurethecouplecreated

wasa whitegazebo.“Wepositionedit where

wecanlookatit straightoutfromourdining-

roomwindow.Oncewedecidedonitsposition,

everythingelsefellintoplace.It setthetheme.”

A longpergolawasalsobuiltononeside

of the garden and bedecked with metal

FARLEFTInthe

sunniest,northwestern

endofthegardenthe

bedsarefilledwith

floweringplantssuchas

lilies,foxgloves,roses

andlupins,withgrasses

addingstructure.

LEFTMikebuiltthe

woodenbridgeoverthe

‘dryriverbed’,which

drainsthepond,as

wellasmanyother

structures in the garden.

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