N.Z. GARDEN IN YORKSHIRE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27148, 18 September 1953, Page 5

N.Z. GARDEN IN YORKSHIRE

SHRUBS GIVEN TO HARROGATE (From the London Correspondent of "The Press”) LONDON, July 27. The municipal gardens of Harrogate, the well-known Yorkshire spa, have been further enriched in the last few days by the planting of a New Zealand corner. Several hundred native trees and shrubs presented by the Wellington and Christchurch City Councils have been arranged in an attractive setting in the Valley Gardens, which stretch from well groomed lawns and plots near the centre of the town out into delightful woodlands. Sir Bernard and Lady Lomas Walker, long prominent in public .affairs in Harrogate, have been chief emissaries in this formation of a New Zealand garden in the West Riding of Yorkshire. About three years ago Sir Bernard Lomas Walker attended a horticultural conference at Nelson and, as a sequel, a gift of native seeds from the Christchurch Council’s parks department was sent to Harrogate. These have been raised into young plants and trees by Mr W. F. Bishop, plants and gardens supenintendent at Harrogate. Sir Bernard Lomas Walker was in Wellington again on a semi-official visit early this year and he brought back with him some 240 native plants as a gift from the Wellington City Council. These stood the long sea journey well, packed in a huge case that was carried in the beer store of the Dominion Monarch. The New Zealand High Commissioner, Sir Frederick Doidge, will

officially open the New Zealand garden when he goes to Harrogate to present a painting of the Wellington harbour to the town next month. He will also unveil a plague explaining the origin of the garden, which has been presented by Sir Bernard and Lady Lomas Walker.