Our Glorious Garden winners revealed

What a weekend I've just had, in between visiting each of the finalists in the garden competition I went to the Rose of Tralee Ball at the Stratford War Memorial Hall. Sunday morning was spent picking pinot noir grapes at Jocelyn and Colin Clark's Kairau estate. Jocelyn and Colin have the honour of producing Taranaki's first commercial grape wines and as this estate develops we are in for some delightful treats.
Anyway, to the gardens. It was a difficult choice, each garden has its own special character and flavour.
Selecting a winner was a bit like being in a restaurant and trying to select your main course from all the dishes that you absolutely fancy.
Some may say that autumn is a tricky time to look at gardens, but to me it is probably the most fascinating of seasons; some plants are preparing for their winter rest, others are developing buds and promise for the next season, fruit is ripening, seeds are drying and the garden has the feeling of a job well done.
Putting a garden into a competition is quite a courageous move for the gardener, sort of akin to walking naked down Broadway showing your warts and wrinkles as well as your fine points.
My judging journey took me out to Marco School and once again I was reminded of just how amazing our Eastern High Country is. The Forgotten World Highway is truly a garden path of great wonder. Marco School is one of many treats along the way.
The school's motto is "I can and I will" and the school is indeed a cheerful place.
The garden work that the students are doing as part of being a sustainable school is a real credit to them. One of the features of their gardens are some amazing tomato canopies, an idea I certainly will be trying this coming year.
A fruit forest follows the fence line and herbs grow in brightly painted tyres.
Produce from the school and community, which is not consumed fresh is preserved. All planting is carried out according to the phases of the moon, but rather than just follow the moon the students trialled different planting patterns and found following the phases of the moon gave the best yields. The children are so committed to their school gardens that they roster themselves to care for the garden right through the holidays.
Another garden I found particularly cheerful was Irene Blair's garden Cordelia Street. When you arrive at this garden you are greeted by some lovely, smiling sunflower faces. This garden features lots of colour dahlias and penstemons were still putting on a bright show. The front garden features straight line shapes and curves with a trade me bargain in the form of a large diameter hawser making an attractive garden edge, Spider was even spotted climbing a piece of hyper tuffa.
Several gardens featured interesting solutions to problems. The Heal family have used their half round drive to be the rim of a wagon wheel with raised beds being the spokes and a gazebo forming the hub. In the raised beds flowering plants and vegetables thrive side by side. A glorious display of sweet peas is just coming to an end. Each of raised beds has a wide edge so that the garden becomes a full-on party area, The garden is particularly productive with cabbages in excess of six kilograms being the norm rather than special occasion. With 24 ducks, slugs and snails should not be problem in this garden.
The next garden should go under the grand title of Zoological Garden, Stoney Oaks is best known for its amazing collection of animals. I had to be very firm with myself and not get distracted by the animals although the vast array of sounds that greet you as you approach this garden gives a special dimension. A piece of regenerating native bush with its walkway is a special treat and one could imagine children having adventures in this wood. Not quite a forty-acre wood. Along the way there are special places to sit and enjoy the magic. Many of the flower gardens have been planted in memory of some of the animal personalities that have been a part of Stoney Oaks, including Pumpkin the pig and of course, McGillie, the Highland Steer that was Taranaki's mascot in many events especially rugby until someone in the rugby union decided plastic was better.
Another garden that holds a lot of memories is Noel Petrie's garden, featuring a beautiful pond with a dramatic backdrop of trees and shrubs with a Rimu center piece. Noel's display of begonias is just about over, but there are quite a number of flowers to enjoy. The frosts of last week have not affected his plantings of marigolds and impatiens, but autumn colours are starting to appear in his deciduous trees. The first thing you notice when you arrive is a beautiful spreading cherry. As a an owner of Bedfords I couldn't help myself and admired Noel's immaculate CA Bedford.
As you approach Andrew Bevins's garden you can not help being impressed by the low green Akeake hedge (Dodonea). Often this is grown as a tall hedge, but seeing it square trimmed to around 900mm gave me food for thought. Andrew's pond corner is a newly established garden that is going to be a real feature of this developing garden.
A pond is one of the many features of Neville and Ruth Clealand's garden. To me, design is one of the real features of this garden. The entrance to the property features a successional flowering programme with a Grevillia about to burst into flower replacing the summer flowers. But the real design becomes obvious as you step through the gate and the sloping section drops away to the pond. I really appreciate the way that this garden blends with the neighbours' gardens giving a feeling of community.
When I selected Donna Busby's garden for the finals, I was intrigued by some of the camera angles used in the photos. This garden has lots happening in it and one can see the end of a colourful summer. This garden features a large pond and some stunning framing of the Mountain. A row of large white Hydrangeas are still in peak condition and give a nice contrast to some new red growth coming on the Photinia hedges. This is very much a garden that the whole family can enjoy, as it incorporates a rope swing, a little rustic cottage and lots of places to sit and enjoy.
Well, that's the gardens folks and I must thank the Stratford Press for initiating this competition and express the hope that maybe it will become an annual event.
Anyway who won? The decision was very tough to make.
1st prize went to Neville and Ruth Cleland - Good design, the feeling of lots happening, the sense of community and plant choice all stood out.
2nd prize went to Donna Busby this garden is in a word, magnificent - the hard landscaping goes well with the plantings and there is really good use of plant material.
3rd prize went to Stoney Oaks. I enjoy the way that the garden has become an extension of the animals that are the main feature of Stoney Oaks.
Where the first two feature good design it is also nice to see how nature goes about designing an area, and the bush walk has been left to nature to choose the plants that grow and where they grow.
Marco School represents something special and, of course, our future so to this end the Taranaki Garden Trust organisers of the Fringe Garden Festival have decided to make a special award to Marco school of a $150 garden voucher.