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GARDEN LIFE OCTOBERWe invite you to come along as a guest to our flagship event, Garden Life, a two hour programme of gardening tips, horticultural speakers and a social get-together.
Tuesday 1 October 1pm & Wednesday 2 October 6pm
Main Speaker: Elizabeth Wilks
CHS Avebury: A climate resilient garden
In the grounds of historic Avebury House CHS is creating an ornamental garden. CHS Avebury aims to showcase how gardeners can cope with projected climate change in Canterbury in a sustainable way.
The NIWA predictions indicate that by 2040 the intensity and length of droughts in Canterbury will increase. Summers will be drier while winter rainfall will become more intense, but infrequent. As gardeners we each have a choice in how we respond to this climatic reality: we can either continue to irrigate or we can garden for climatic resilience.
The CHS Avebury garden design is plant-driven with a complex blend of climate resilient native and exotic species. The main axis is defined by Fibonacci proportions, clipped spheres and strategically placed obelisks which echo some of the historic Avebury garden features. This subtle structure is designed to counter-balance the loose, immersive and naturalistic planting style.
The Designer: Elizabeth Wilks
My training and career is in environmental science, but I am a life-long gardener and garden designer. I am fortunate - my mother and grandfather initiated me into the joy of observing and growing plants from a very young age. I grew up in Africa, the UK and South East Asia and arrived in NZ in the early 1990s. NZ has been my home ever since. My home gardens have ranged from a tiny balcony with pots in Wellington, via a quarter acre in a rural Otago township to 5 acres of windswept Hawkes Bay hillside. I now garden a quarter acre in Christchurch, a site which I have designed to feel like a woodland glade. From a design perspective, I find each site has challenges to embrace while identifying natural assets to enhance.
My garden designs always start with place. For a garden to resonate with me it must reflect its location – its climate, environment and soils; the history and current usage. Plant choices are driven by Beth Chatto’s concept of right plant, right place. My environmental background leads me to design plant communities – densely vertically layered associations where individuals mingle and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Mini Speakers: Ben Alder, Envirohub (Wednesday)
Jane Cowen-Harris, Friends of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens (Tuesday)
The Kiosk, Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Armagh Street car park footbridge
Tea, coffee and biscuits afternoon
Cheese, crackers and a glass of wine evening
$5 ($10 Non-Members)
Keep an eye on our website and Facebook for updates.
We love to hear from our gardeners, especially any niggling problems, be they edible or ornamental!
Bring questions to Garden Life, post them on HortTalk or email Michael Coulter [email protected]
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Canterbury Horticultural Society, Botanic Gardens-North, Christchurch Central, Christchurch 8013, New Zealand,Christchurch, New Zealand
