When Jenny and Ken bought the land their foremost thought was ‘family.’ Their kids were young so they fenced off the two-hectare gully because it was very steep. The area is now a magnificent stand of bush with a QE II covenant protecting it. There are walking tracks through the mature trees including cherry trees, rhododendrons, magnolias and many varieties of deciduous trees.
‘From the house we can look down on the bush, says Jenny. In autumn it provides a wonderful display of colours and great contrast of green hues with the native trees,’ she says.
After they had fenced off the gully they set about planting the south-west aspects of their building platform to provide shelter from the wind. They also excavated the land to create a site so the house would be nestled into the hillside.
When the Horner's engaged architect Paul Seton to design their home they wanted to preserve the magnificent views of Mount Taranaki and the inland Taranaki view up the Mangemange river valley. ‘We did not want to compromise our outlook,’ says Jenny.
With the shelter around the house creating a little micro- climate it was perfect timing for establishing and nurturing a garden.
Jenny and Ken wanted a lawn in front of the house. This was laid before the planting began. ‘We started planting the garden around the sides of the house, say Jenny and it really evolved from here’.
The garden planting is a mix of natives, rhododendrons, roses, shrubs and perennials. While Jenny says she like flowers, it’s the texture and shapes that are more interesting. ‘The flowers come and go, but the shapes and colours stay’, she says.
Within the garden are a number of smaller gardens, which blend together with the wide lawns and grass tennis court creating a seamless flow. In the edible part of the garden and herb area, box hedging is clipped into crisscross borders, while elsewhere hedging is less conspicuous.
Jenny is also a native plant lover and says she uses them whenever she can. With ponga fences, lancewood, rimu, kauri, cabbage trees, totara they are plentiful in her garden.
