Creating points of interest and sweeping vistas

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 9

Creating points of interest and sweeping vistas

When Rosa and Michael Davison moved into their Victorian homestead in North Canterbury, beyond Culverden, a number of problems about its large garden had to be considered. The Davisons decided on a plan to retain, as many of the interesting old trees as possible, yet to make the house and garden comfortable and easier to manage. One of the first alterations was to change the position of the drive, which diverged from the road at an oblique angle through a short avenue of cedars The shelter belts at the end of the garden, planted at the end of the large lawn against the nor’westers, had matured into tall pines and oaks, and these offered welcome enclosure and shade after the dry openness of the Amur! Plain. A new route was chosen, further down the road, which then allowed the drive to wind through the plantation. Some of the trees were removed to give interesting vistas across the plain to the mountains. Beneath the trees, Rosa Davison planted rhododendrons, which were impossible to grow in earlier years until a favourable microclimate had developed. The rhododendrons now thrive on large mounds built up from a mixture of rotted spruce needles, shingle and silt as the soil underneath tended to be a little sour.

Emerging .from the trees, a feeling of coolness has been continued by the construction of ponds on either side of a narrow causeway, which appears as a bridge. Beyond one of the ponds is a spectacular view towards the mountains to the north. As the second and larger pond can iffcv be seen from the house,

Michael Davison has spent time and skill sculpting and smoothing the edges with a bulldozer. Eventually, it is hoped to extend the ponds in to a series of small pools back along the natural line of the small farm creek which feeds them. The drive was also altered at its opposite end where it arrived at the front of the house, as during nor’westers quantities of dust tended to be blown from its surface into the house. The problem was solved by re-routing the drive to

the back of the house where a new main entrance was made enclosed by a courtyard. Two projecting wings of the house were connected by a high wall, and the resulting courtyard was faced with honey-coloured Oamaru stone. The new entrance lies opposite wrought iron entrance gates and along one of the wings is direct access to the kitchen — always the hub of a busy farming life.

Continuing the theme of coolness, a long formal pool containing a small single jet fountain indicates the visitor’s route to the main entrance. The courtyard is paved with old red bricks which have been laid on a solid concrete base to prevent sinkingBlue flowers, with refreshing touches of white, have been chosen for the planting scheme in the courtyard, toning down the warm colours of the stone and brick. The beautiful leaves of Clematis armandii hug the wall on one side of the gate, with the climber Felicite et Perpetudfcon the other. F .

Old roses such as R.longicuspis Celine Forestier and the hybrid musk “Moonlight” are also grown. To give height in one corner is the slightly frost-tender tree Melia azedarach, which has clusters of blue/mauve scented flowers. At ground level are the beautiful felted leaves of salvia argentea, blue tradescantia, convolvulus cnorum, Canterbury Bells, white tobacco plants, Dianthus Mrs Sinkins, blue cornflowers, and many others. From the veranda are delicate trains of white solanum. The architectural form of the pool is accentuated by a low box hedge which on warm days adds a faint musky scent to the fragrance of the courtyard. As the planting matures an interesting character is developing in the courtyard which is somewhat reminiscent of the mysteries of the Italian cloister. On the other side of the farm kitchen, the Davisons are developing an area of herbs and herbaceous plants with intersecting paths, raised brick beds, and steps. The planting here is bright, luxuriant, and cheerful, contrasting with the cooler shades of the courtyard. There are further plans to link this semi-formal area to a vista over the picturesque deer paddock nearby by means of a formal avenue of kowhais.

An interesting character is developing