Taihape garden designer Gordon Collier, 88, shares tips for new growers

Garden designer and author Gordon Collier, 88, will speak at the Whanganui Literary Festival. Photo / Paul McCredie

Gordon Collier’s 80-plus years of putting his hands into the soil have seen him turn gardening into an art form. The award-winning gardener will discuss his book Gordon Collier’s 3 Gardens at the Whanganui Literary Festival on October 1. He shares advice for beginner gardeners with reporter Eva de Jong.

When is the best time to begin a garden?

“Probably in the autumn because that’s the best planting time; it gives the plants a chance to establish before the winter. But, of course, a garden is not done overnight and planting will continue right through the winter until the late spring.”

Collier said space shouldn’t stop anyone from creating a garden.

“A garden can be as big as a window box. I’ve done gardens in London where that was all the space they had - if you’re interested in plants you’ll find a way to grow them.”

However, if you want a serious garden you have to be committed.

“Gardening is not like putting wallpaper up in a space and it stays there; a garden needs a lot of time and attention.”

An hour a week would be enough to maintain a suburban garden, he said.

“I don’t have a lawn, that’s my biggest tip. I just plant into the gravel.

“Tidiness is important but it’s not everything. If you’ve got a lawn, you have to keep your lawn mowed and your hedges trimmed, and you can use lots of annual flowers that will be helpful and colourful in the early spring.”

A view of one of Gordon Collier's gardens. Photo / Naoki Uehara

What to plant

Collier said his biggest tip if you’re new to gardening is to look around at what other people in the area grow.

“Say, if you’re in a very frosty area, that’s crucial for knowing what you can and can’t grow.”

He said Whanganui had one of the best climates in New Zealand, and perhaps in the world, for growing things.

“You’ve got a maritime climate and it doesn’t have big highs or lows in temperatures, and you’ve got good soil of course. Even if you’re out in Castlecliff on sand, there’s plenty of plants that love that sort of condition.”

He used annual flowers - which have to be replaced each year - and vegetables everywhere in his gardens.

“I think vegetables don’t necessarily need to be relegated to a vegetable garden. I use red lettuces, chard, silverbeet, leeks and spring onions, and I mix them through the flower garden wherever I can find a spot.

“Parsley makes a good ground cover, pumpkin leaves are highly decorative and corn is a marvellous grass.

“I don’t see why they should be banished to one corner of the garden.”

Collier says tidiness is important, but it's not everything in gardening. Photo / Paul McCredie

Gardening as a life’s work

Collier began gardening around the age of 4.

“I was born like this, just like how I have two right feet, I’ve always been gardening.”

He said his first childhood garden was a little patch within his family’s big country garden.

“In my own little garden, I planted strawberries and pansies.

“Even at primary school, we had vegetable gardening on the curriculum.”

Gardening was very individual, he said.

“I like having my hands in the dirt, I like collecting plants and showing them off and I like people to see my gardens.

“Vegetable gardening is very popular but that’s only one facet of gardening, I’m interested in the whole caboodle, but everyone has their own tastes.”

He said he didn’t like how private gardens were often closed off to members of the public.

“In my Taupō garden, I took the hedge right out and opened the garden on to the footpath for other people to enjoy. I also needed more space so I moved on to the berm on the other side of the footpath.

“In America, generally speaking, they often don’t have fences or hedges in front of their gardens, the whole place is open and the lawns.

“It’s a different attitude altogether.”

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.