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 21st 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.