Celebration of colour in award winning garden

Press, 23 February 1989, Page 23

Celebration of colour in award winning garden

“If garden judges lifce it, that is good. If they do not, then it is too bad,” he said. But although he gardens for his own pleasure and take pride in his magnificent display of shrubs and flowers, his efforts appealed to the judges of the recent summer garden competitions. His Wainoni garden won the Canterbury Horticultural Society’s Mrs A. C. Johns Challenge Trophy for gardens up to 750 square metres with no hired labour and the Christchurch Beautifying Association’s Fitzroy Cup for streets with underground reticulation. The horticultural society judges the entire property while the beautifying association judges the garden’s street appeal. Mr Crouch’s garden has won a well-earned reputation for its fine displays and several times has won the coveted premier award. This season has been frustrating for Christchurch gardening enthusiasts, first because of the hot, dry north-westers and then hosing restrictions. Mr Crouch’s garden belies any difficulties, all the beds ablaze with colour. His favourite colours flower in profusion, carefully selected to blend in with the strong, natural colour of the brick house. Red, flamboyant begonia alternating with variegated geranium Madame Selroy and Flower of Spring — form a colourful border in the main garden. Behind yellow and white Clips begonias fill the middle of the bed while tall dahlias such as Park princess complete the effect. Blue lobelias and yellow limelight marigolds add to the profusion of colour.

Camellias, rhododendrons and conifers are permanent features that add colour and texture.

Although Mr Crouch has no favourite flower, he says he prefers

strong and brightly coloured ones, while his wife, Gladys, prefers pastels. “I might change the colour scheme next season to feature more pale colours. I might alter the layout too,” he said. Where Mr Crouch has planted, everything has been carefully planned. He uses what he calls a dish effect, placing the taller perennials such as dahlias at the back, medium height dahlias, cornflowers or asters in the middle and the short red, blue, silver, white or pink border plants in the front. A pond in the front garden, complete with bridge and paving is

the focal point. A maple and rock plants create pleasing forms. Behind, a pergola with hanging baskets containing fuchsias, clematis and asparagus ferns balances this corner of the garden. To the side a Swains gold conifer and an Irish yew soften the house. Mr Crouch describes himself as an amateur gardener, but he designed and created this area and all his gardens. The garden bordering the driveway is also devoted to display. Here lilium aeratum, asters, dahlias, yellow heleniums and silver Centaurias Candissima are evidence of his life-long love of gardening.

‘I plan my garden to have as much colour for as many months of the year as I can. There will be colour right through until autumn, though if I want a spring garden I will have to start taking plants out before they have quite finished flowering,” he said. Mr Crouch propagates all the plants he can, taking cuttings and gathering seed, ready to use next season.

Mr Crouch’s beautifying efforts are not confined to a display garden at the front of his property. The back garden is an excellent example of

indoor/outdoor living, enjoyed by both Mr and Mrs Crouch. A shade area houses ferns. Next to it a paved area leads to a patio with plants in containers and hanging baskets. Plants such as Sheer Madness petunia growing in patio pots add dashes of brilliant colour.

Another landscaped pond forms a focal point in the back garden. Behind it a pergola covered in nylon shade cloth is an attractive and cool place to sit on a hot day. Begonias hang alongside lavender verbena. Fuchsias abound, both hanging and upright, with exotic sounding names such as peppermint stick, cotton candy, igloo heirloom, Winston Churchill and Beauty of Bath. No Christchurch garden is complete without a vegetable plot, and Mr Crouch’s, garden contains an appetising selection of vegetables.