Blooming downsize

Ample harvest: There’s even room for a small orchard at the front entrance to the property with apple and other fruit trees thriving amongst the hydrangeas, pelargoniums and fuchsias.

Flat Out: Pam and Fred Brown have lived in their Blenheim flat for three years now, adding a vast array of potted plants to liven up the outside.

Peek a boo: Numerous garden statues have also found a home in the small but colourful rear garden which there’s colour throughout the year.

Nursery nook: Fred’s latest batch of plant cuttings thrive in their sunny nursery

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Home and Garden

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Not having much room hasn't stopped one avid Blenheim gardener from putting down roots. 

Where there's a will there's a way and Fred Brown has both when it comes to his favourite pastime, gardening. In the past Fred's gardening has been on a reasonably large scale, but age, health and downsizing during the last few years haven't stopped him continuing to enjoy his hobby.

Fred and wife Pam moved to a small flat in Redwoodtown three years ago, at the end of a series of larger property tenures.

Originally from England, Fred came out in 1954 on an aircraft carrier which sailed into Picton. While there the vessel was open to the public and Fred met a Picton couple with whom he formed a friendship.

"When I married and decided to come to live in New Zealand, they sponsored me," he reminisced. Working for TH Barnes and Co, he spent 34 years on the job before retiring and along the way he and Pam built and lived in a series of homes.

"We built a house on a quarter-acre section in Springlands first, then in 1988 moved to Wither Rd, then to Morrington Tce, Robalan Pl and lastly to Cleghorn St."

He's always liked playing around with flowers, and especially taking cuttings and making them grow.

"Mum had a garden and I was always out in it, although I was often in trouble for knocking the wallflowers over," he laughed.

Fred's gardening career was also assisted by an uncle who was gardener on a large estate in Sussex. He also remembers as a boy collecting seaweed in a tea chest on pram wheels and selling it for four pence a load.

"Seaweed is one of the best things you can put on a garden." A close runner-up would be his home-made mix of horse manure and water.

Nowadays Pam has her crafts and Fred has his cuttings. These he propagates with a tried and true mixture of honey and water.

"You dip the end in the mix; make sure its thick enough for the honey to stick to the cutting, and then put it into potting mix."

His mixture is about 50/50, although with slightly more water than honey.

Fred's favourite flowers are fuchsias and he has a story or two to tell about them; a story such as the time they grew so thick and strong he had to trim them with a chainsaw. He later discovered their roots had broken through into the sewerage pipes, so the plants were well fertilised. "Chrysanthemums, pelargoniums and camellias are also firm favourites; anything I can get to grow," he laughed.

- The Marlborough Express

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