Kings Ridge ‘a garden for all seasons’

Open every last Sunday in the month 1 to 4pm $20 per person

Interested – contact Johanna@kingconsultants.co.nz or 021 570 474

King’s Ridge gardens sits in a natural amphitheatre, its gentle slopes bounded by a ridge providing stunning westerly views of the summer blue or winter white Ruahine Ranges and eastward to the green ‘shires’ of Wapawa. All agree it’s a truly magnificent site. Many visitors find it hard to believe that just seven years ago a sheep paddock occupied the site of these now well-established gardens.

Two historic houses threatened with demolition were relocated to the property in 2017, a 1900’s villa from Fielding, the other a tiny 1865 pioneer cottage from Hastings.

Using recycled materials left over from the house renovations the garden now features a purpose-built art studio, a picturesque alfresco Bath House and a tiny Flower House and.

Each Spring pink blossom dresses the Awanui Flowering Cherries which mark the driveway approach to the gardens. In summer a spectacular show of tall blue agapanthus edged with smaller Blue Ice, dress the right-side bank. At the top a pair of black wrought iron gates mark the formal entrance to the Ridge House and Gardens. Facing them on the ridge crest are the Ridge House and Studio. Anniversary Cottage, a charming B&B sits behind a black picket fence, its archway entrance smothered in old roses. Beyond the gates the gravel driveway encircles a lawn with tall trees. Between the villa and the studio is a pergola walk dressed with Sally Holmes roses and two ornamental grapevines.

The pergola walk screens the Italianate courtyard behind with its tall cypress and outdoor chessboard. This area invitingly catches the last rays of the setting sun.

Above the courtyard on the crest of the ridge is the veranda entrance to the Studio and the Victorian Parterre Vegetable Garden.

The vegetable garden features raised beds of seasonal kitchen vegetables, strawberries and asparagus, a row of magnificent rhubarb, four Ballerina variety apple trees, a trellis bean frame, grape arbour, compost bins and liquid fertiliser barrel. It is a very productive area for a relatively small space.

To the right a red painted grape arbour frames the path to the ridge with its stunning views. Lavender arcs mark the slope on the left side. The wide central walk leads down to the cottage and its own sheltered gardens.

Garden visitors are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy the surroundings.

A private conducted tour of the cottage is possible, once B&B guests have departed. An additional charge of $10pp applies for this tour.

The Ridge House Gardens

The gardens around the Ridge House were designed by Johanna, a Landscape Architect, prior to the relocation of the two houses, specifically suit the era of the houses, their aspect and outlook. Her husband Andrew built the unique woodshed with its doors made of old garden tools and the delightful Flower House The Long Lawn enjoys the mountain views, these are framed by a closely clipped teuchrium hedge which provides shelter from the prevailing wind which protects the Flag Iris and Hemerocallis lilies behind it. The plinths for the classical pots were made by Johanna herself, mixing the concrete for each in a wheel barrow. The partially enclosed veranda on this side of the house creates a sheltered conservatory containing a collection of white flowering plants. It also serves as an outdoor dining and BBQ area.

A large pergola dressed with Jacqueline du Pris roses and ornamental grapes covers the courtyard and lime grit paved walk area. Standard syzygium Burgundy Glow underplanted with blue pulmonaria line the walk. Three steps lead down to the croquet lawn and its formal border. Here the garden harks back to the 1880’s with topiary of clipped yew, berberis and puttosporum. Behind it is a row of 7 liquidambar Worpleston treated as a ‘managed’ French hedge, behind them a hedge of corokia.

The Background Story

The vision for Kings Ridge Gardens began in 2017 as a swansong house and garden project designed, implemented and built by a Landscape Architect and a Structural Engineer, couple.

From the first viewing of the property in April 2017, despite the 3ha of steep paddocks and tired 1980’s bungalow they immediately saw the potential that lay in its location on a ridge, its orientation, the dozen or so mature trees, its wonderful western and eastern views, the rich untilled soil and its proximity to the historic village of Waipawa.

Purchased in July 2017, work began immediately on possession on firstly the landscape design for the property and then the soon to be relocated historic houses. The first renovations began with the existing bungalow (now a BnB) and its gardens and orchard. This extensive work took just four months. In October 2017 the two historic houses were moved onto the property, an 1860’s cottage and a 1900’s villa and the project began in earnest.

By mid-2018 the 1865 cottage was structurally repaired and renovated, inside and out. The cottage has now been carefully furnished with antiques, original artworks, as well as modern comforts. The cottage’s now extensive gardens were created to provide a garden setting commensurate with the age of the cottage. Plants popular in the 1800’s have been chosen. Old roses, (General Gallieni, Souvenir d’ Leonie d’Viennot, Souvenir de la Malmaison) penstemon, dianthus, lilies, dahlia, salvia, campanula, lavender and more. The cineraria dell and flowering cherries are especially vibrant and spectacular in early spring.

In August 2018 Stage I of the renovations and alterations began on the Ridge House, which interrupted by covid, continued until the completion of Stage II in August 2023. Meanwhile the garden was continuing to be developed and the areas landscaped and planted five years earlier were beginning to mature and look established. Today, the houses and gardens, thanks to the existing trees look as if they have always been there.

Renamed Anniversary Cottage it is now a BnB. Guests love the opportunity of a nostalgic escape from the 21^st century, to enjoy time out in peace and quiet, snuggled up by a woodfire at night and relaxing on the sunny verandas in the midst of a special garden by day.

For day visitors, by prior appointment (dependent on guests staying) it is possible, in addition to visiting the gardens, to look through the cottage. An additional $10 charge applies.