Step into Amberley’s beautiful wild garden filled with sunny perennials and mature trees

In this excerpt from A discovery directed to gardeningNew Zealand designer, artist and writer Julia Atkinson Dunne paid a visit to The Blue House in North Canterbury, a romantic and lively garden that has inspired her own style of gardening ever since.

I planned my first visit to…
Jenny Cooper and Chris Rutland’s Garden in Amberley will be a short garden, and will be the final stop at the Hurunui Garden Festival in October 2021.

I heard “Blue House” muttered among the crowds during the four-day event, and during my visit, in the low, late glow of spring dusk, I felt like screaming with delight. The amazing creative haven I found myself in was worth much more than vague praise and a passing visit. Here was a garden, hidden from passers-by, that answered my long-standing desire to see natural-style farming locally. She inspired me immediately and has continued to do so ever since.

She finally finds the opportunity to return and spend more time with gardener/visionary Jenny Cooper, holding her wisdom and wit hostage even after dark. As I got to know Jenny, I found a deep connection to her planting decisions and her aesthetic. Her particular journey in creating this garden was not clear to me at first, as I was simply drinking in the refreshing bounties she offered in every corner of the property. But hiding behind the romantic conclusion is a long journey of determination and discovery that saw Jenny bend the environment she was creating and learn an entirely new approach.

“My previous gardens were city gardens with fences, endless free water and standing trees of about 800 square metres. “I took these things for granted, because I didn’t have to sit and notice until I found myself without them.” “I got used to them.” I mulch and feed to the maximum with six inches of fine, homemade compost every year. Eventually, the garden beds will lift off the ground and fall forward onto the lawn because there is too much mulch.

In 2013, Jenny and Chris bought this barebones property, measuring 4,600 square meters (just over an acre). They reached an average rainfall of just 650mm per year, combined with the heat, cold and treacherous north-westerly winds north of Canterbury. They faced the challenge of creating a new house and garden out of lean sheep pasture with wire fences and a single fence for protection on the east side.

Her favorite palette of shade-loving plants had been blown away or burned (due to the extreme lack of shelter), with the rich earth she had created making everything so lush and soft.

“The old way was exhausting and unrewarding,” she says. “However, I was vaguely aware of other gardens that had survived in such extreme conditions. And so began the journey of discovery that I am still on, and which is one of the most enjoyable and valuable things the garden has given me.”

Turning to the Internet and the library, she traveled the world in search of information about gardening in wind and drought. I delved into horticultural research on water absorption, how to plant effective windbreaks, no-dig methods, plant nutrition, gravel gardens, exposed rooting and mycorrhizal fungi. Even now, during our regular conversations, my mind wanders to the extent of her knowledge and ability to apply it in building and caring for the garden we see today.

Jenny and Chris implemented a massive shelter planting program using seven mixed-species windbreaks spread across the property. Trees are also spread throughout the garden beds. I’ve learned that if you can’t give a plant water, give it shade.

Investing in the long game, all trees (and perennials) are planted as small as possible to ensure they adapt and grow to withstand their environment early on. Lured by articles and photographs featuring the work of Piet Oudolf, Olivier Philippi, James Golden, Charles Dowding, Dan Pearson and New Zealander Joe Wakelin, she became aware of a relaxed, alternative approach to creating a beautiful garden in contrast to her initial traditional garden. Ideals.

Where her previous garden style was neat and tidy, the Blue House beds reflect her pursuit of gardening that doesn’t always bother the gardener. There is wildness, where the plants are left to express their natural character with little disease or need for stabilization. This was achieved by strictly planning and maintaining the areas within its space, planting plants with similar needs together and culling them the moment they could no longer adapt.

Despite this critical planning, aesthetics prevail and the less knowledgeable visitor will not believe the science behind the creativity on display.

When Jenny talks about seduction, I can also relate to my reaction to the Blue House. I chose to shoot amidst the gloom of late summer, seeking to capture the feeling of the place I created. Light shines through soft grasses, spiky balls and gentle colours, drawing the eye through the leafy frames created by the trees.

As an award-winning painter, Jenny’s planting areas reflect her eye in both color and texture. They range from lush, glossy beds shaded by mature trees to sunny stands of mixed perennials, gravel beds of architectural succulents and clumps of bronze grass that stir in the wind.

Like all gardens, the Blue House is a moving work that provides any visitor with a sense of calm, underpinned by the potential to translate these ideas into our gardens in the future.

Extracted from A discovery directed to gardening By Julia Atkinson Dunne. Published by Koa Press. $50 from all good bookstores.