The Head Gardener

My name is Mary, though my children call me Moosey (don't ask why!). For months I've tried to ignore this, but I've finally given in and started answering to this name.

I'm fifty something years of age, and I'm a passionately obsessive gardener. Of course, that's only one part of my life. I have three children, all grown up, who come back home occasionally to save money, then leave again to go adventuring. Currently my daughter is working in the Maldives and younger son (a musician) lives here with his wife. Older son is my London webmaster, making up for forgotten birthdays and long forgotten teenage angst by designing this website - originally my Mothers Day present for the year 2000.

I'm a musician, too - I play classical piano, mainly Brahms and Bach. I've also made a bit of money playing easy-listening jazz. I used to teach senior Mathematics and Music at a high school in Christchurch. Mathematics and Music are my two intellectual interests, and listening to cricket matches a favourite leisure activity.

Stephen, Cats and Dogs

We have six cats and a young dog, Rusty. Taj-dog was our first Moosey dog - an Alsatian Labrador cross. He thought he was a sheepdog, though usually had to be shut in the car whenever the sheep were on the move. Now the new dog Rusty (a red border collie) has taken over. He adores non-gardening partner Stephen. Rusty is kind to the cats, and great fun in the garden.

The six cats provide great cat-company in the garden, too. Inside the house, Stumpy the grey is every visitor's best friend. Her sister Jerome is less pushy. Little Mugsy loves sitting on laps or legs. Tiger the fat-cat loves hiding underneath blankets and rugs. The two newest cats, Fluff-Fluff and Beige-Puss, are supreme gardening cats.

There was another cat once called Big Fat Sifter. When he lived with us he was guided only by his stomach. He would stay inside just long enough to check out food possibilities, and was the champion killer of hay barn rodents and rabbits in the back paddock. Is he still out there, cruising?

It's hard to write about one's personality - how do people who advertise in dating columns do it? I'm not even sure how to start. I know that I'm a compulsive rescuer, and have effected some very impressive rescues - ask my students! Or ask the cats! (well, better to ask the birds, actually). Or ask last year's excess lettuce seedlings (over two hundred of them), all neatly pricked out in cat food pottles. Discarding simply wasn't an option...

I guess I'm happiest talking about the garden. I love roses, perennials and sweeping lawns. I love foliage plants, particularly New Zealand natives. I don't like 'garden rooms' or controlled vistas - they may photograph well for the glossy gardening magazines, but they bring out the rebel in me. I try to be organic - for the sake of my ladybirds, bees and spiders.

I'm always dreaming, digging, planting, making big plans and bigger mistakes! Who says I can't have two ponds, if I've got the space? A rose avenue through the middle of the orchard? Shouldn't be a problem. I hope you'll enjoy reading about my experiences of gardening in New Zealand.