"My wife and I had been self-touring in the south of France and we loved the courtyard cafes," Thomsen said.
"I thought 'I'd love to do that', and we bought this house on that basis, really.
"Part of the courtyard was already in place, so, with the help of friends, I rebuilt the shed and then put walling in to make it an enclosed garden. The pond is the centre point, and the sculpture ('Infinity') is by Steuart Welch."
After exiting the courtyard you can venture down to the retreat, which features a hammock and one of five sitting areas on the property. Photo / Bevan Conley
There were five sitting areas dotted around the property, Thomsen said.
"It doesn't matter what conditions are like, I can always find somewhere to sit.
"We've had quite a lot of small events as well. Different societies that I'm a part of have their end of year functions here, and there's plenty of room."
When visitors leave the courtyard and venture further into the garden, the first thing they are greeted with is Thomsen's new "Bromeliad Tower", that stands guard over the tree ferns, flowers, and a sculpture made my his late wife Rosalind.
"I saw the idea on a Youtube video from somebody in Thailand, and I thought I could do a similar thing," Thomsen said.
Visitors are greeted by Thomsen's 'Bromeliad Tower' when they exit the courtyard. Photo / Bevan Conley
"I made it out of galvanised grid steel which I bent using my car. I should have got engineers to do it, but it worked alright in the end. When I got it into a 'U' shape I put it against my front wall and 'backed it into shape' with the tow bar on my car."
Thomsen said he had divided his property into "garden rooms".
"The front is an entrance room in a sense, then there's the courtyard, then the retreat at the back. There's a utility area beyond the raspberries, with a clothesline, compost bin and raised gardens for vegetables.
Phil Thomsen's property is divided into "garden rooms". Photo / Bevan Conley
"It's nice to have plants that are a little bit different from the ones you find in an ordinary garden centre too. I'm always looking for something that'll create a point of interest. I'd search out specialist palm nurseries, for instance, and the bright green tree ferns come from a place near Levin called Ferns of Manakau.
"I spend around 10 hours a week in the garden, but it was far more than that when I was building it."
• Six finalists in the Whanganui's Most Beautiful Garden competition will be featured in the Chronicle between January 4 and 9. Pick up a copy of the paper to vote for your favourite.
