For Sherryn Bryan, of Oamaru, moving to a smaller property three and a-half years ago meant starting from scratch with bare ground around her new house.
Sensibly, she began with a planting plan.
"I drew a plan to scale," she explains.
Looking at high, dark-coloured solid fences on neighbouring properties, Sherryn opted for a more open look, so put a bed of roses and perennials, with Cornus "Eddie’s White Wonder" and "Greenvale" for height in front of the house. There is no street fence.
A low gate leads to the side garden - "This says welcome" - and has an arch over it for climbers.
White and pinks dominate the colour scheme. There is low-growing white "Bridal Wreath" (Francoa) in a potentially awkward bed against the house, white wisteria and gladioli along the back fence, while a line of silvery Teucrium under a window keeps to the colour palate.
"I have white lilies everywhere," Sherryn says, "and lots of white and pink paeonies".
In spring, "Thalia" daffodils perfume the air. This old variety, sometimes called the orchid narcissus, was bred in the Netherlands in 1916. A shorter cultivar with several flowers to a stem, it is a beautiful milky-coloured daffodil that fits well into Sherryn’s colour scheme.
Then there are her roses. She is a member of Heritage Roses NZ, so understandably loves old varieties, although she has some newer roses, including white "Tranquillity" and David Austin’s soft pink "Mary Rose", which Sherryn says is "fantastic".
"Everyone should have a ‘Mary Rose’."
"This is the fourth garden I have had it in," Sherryn says.
Another pale pink is hybrid musk "Ballerina", dating from 1937, while "Louise Odier" is a fabulously perfumed Bourbon rose, dating from 1851.
Black spot and mildew can be nuisances but Sherryn prefers not to spray, saying, "I just live with it [disease]."
Not everything is pink and white. For example, there is a yellow tree paeony at the back.
"It’s a single and it’s beautiful when it’s out."
Potted plants include touches of scarlet from geraniums and deep blue lobelia but a red lily in the front garden gets the thumbs-down.
"It’s got to be moved," Sherryn says.
She is less than happy with an aubergine Astrantia in the same bed, so it may be on the move, too, but a purple-and-white penstemon will stay.
Vegetables are important to Sherryn and two small raised beds give her plenty of produce almost all year round. The trick, she explains, is to fertilise the ground and replant as soon as one crop has finished to give continuity.
A "Tumbling Tom" tomato, a gift from fellow North Otago Garden Club member Jill Buckingham has been a hit. In March, she was picking "a cupful a day" and there was masses of new fruit forming.
The decision to downsize may not have been easy, but Sherryn has taken it as an opportunity to create a lovely garden in a smaller space.
