A piece of 'wild NZ' receives significant accolade

NIC GIBSON/Taranaki Daily News

GREEN SPACE: Valda Poletti and David Clarkson on their New Plymouth property which has named a 'Garden of International Significance'.

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In 1972, Valda Poletti and David Clarkson had a half-acre section of New Plymouth wasteland covered in gorse, blackberry and fennel.

Today they have a "Garden of International Significance".

Their garden off Awanui St, Te Kainga Marire, is one of four New Zealand gardens selected for the New Zealand Gardens Trust's new garden category.

Ms Poletti said they knew what they hoped to achieve with their garden right from the very start.

"The theme is to recreate a piece of wild New Zealand to live in in town and we never lost sight of that vision we were creating," she said yesterday.

Ms Poletti said they wanted their garden to blend in with the surrounding Te Henui valley and attract native birds by providing them with sources of their natural food.

"Now, 30 years later we've achieved all the things we set out to do."

She said both she and Mr Clarkson were overwhelmed when they found out their garden had been selected as a garden of international significance.

"Slightly overwhelmed but delighted," she said.

"My first thought was `this is great for tourism for Taranaki'."

The garden is made up of a mixture of wild New Zealand plants - coastal, alpine, wetlands and ferns.

Ms Poletti said she thinks the award reflects the creative skills and hard labour she and her family have put in to making their vision come to reality.

The other three gardens of international significance are in Auckland, Wairarapa and Dunedin and Ms Poletti said this is fantastic because it gives garden tourists a path they can travel from one end of the country to the other.

"It's doing what Venture Taranaki is trying to do - bring people down the west coast, bring people down the Forgotten World Highway."

She says it will also help move Taranaki's annual Rhododendron and Garden Festival to an international level.

Already Te Kainga Marire has featured on the BBC's Around the World in 80 Gardens.

"In its own way it's ticking away, putting Taranaki on the map," Ms Poletti said. "And it's fun to be a part of.

"I can look out any door and any window and feel good. It's nice to come home to and it reflects wild New Zealand at every turn."

- © Fairfax NZ News