Tag: garden

Clare Gleeson (author of The Fairer Side of Buxton: Alfred Buxton’s Gardens and the Women Who Loved Them, The Cuba Press)

Alfred Buxton created gardens throughout much of New Zealand, as far south as Invercargill and as far north as the Waikato.  During my research for The Fairer Side of Buxton: Alfred Buxton’s Gardens and the Women who Loved Them, I compiled a spreadsheet of all the Buxton gardens I discovered and was staggered at the number involved.  With the earliest of these gardens created over 120 years ago, many no longer survive and those that do are generally significantly altered from their original design. 

Since my book was published I have spoken to several garden clubs and horticultural societies and as a result have been made aware of additional Buxton gardens – some current owners or descendants of past owners even have the original plans!  Other people have asked me if a particular property had a Buxton garden, or if a forebear commissioned one. 

As I believe it is important that a complete register be kept of gardens created by such a significant figure in New Zealand’s horticultural history, I have built a publicly accessible directory of gardens created by Alfred Buxton at alfredbuxton.com.  Gardens are listed within geographical divisions by the name of property, or who owned it if the property did not have a name, its location, who commissioned the garden and the date.  The website has a search function so it’s easy to find the garden or person the user is looking for.  A comprehensive list of Buxton gardens is an important part of New Zealand’s garden history and for this reason I ask anyone noticing any errors or omissions to contact me so the directory can be as accurate as possible.