Apple Tree Gardens Tour

The Apple Tree Gardens tour takes you past the Apple Tree Border, a foliage garden created around old heirloom fruit trees, and on to the top lawn, the woodshed with its exuberant pink rambling rose, and the potager-turned-rose garden, with pergola. Potager connoisseurs will not impressed with my vegetable efforts. Over the years more and more roses have taken over. Oops.

You'll pass a small shady garden underneath the variegated Elm tree, now the perfect spot for hydrangeas. But aargh! Those tree suckers! The gardens along the top lawn give sunny space for some brand new roses (David Austins) near the compost heap. And the brick Herb Spiral is a special (and spiritual) garden feature. As long as you don't look too closely at the Head Gardener's mortaring technique...

Hope you enjoy your visit.

Hazel Orchard Garden Henhouse Garden Driveway Garden Island Garden The Jelly Bean Borders House and Garden Septic Tank Garden Water Garden Frisbee Lawn Apple Tree Border Dogpath Garden Middle Garden Willow Tree Garden Wattle Woods
Introducing the Apple Tree GardensIntroducing the Apple Tree Gardens...
The Apple Tree Gardens are a collection of garden areas directly behind the house. The first garden in this area, the Apple Tree Border, was created back in the 1990s. I started digging around a row of fruit trees. Alas, the plum and the apricot missed out on the naming rights.
Apple Tree Garden ImagesApple Tree Garden Images...
Over the years a garden area can change so much. Shrubs come and go. Trees grow, the garden alters its sun-shade status, and plants once happy suddenly need relocating. Or the gardener changes his or her style...
Brick Herb SpiralBrick Herb Spiral...
In the late winter of 2012 I built a brick Herb Spiral in the middle of my vegetable garden. It has garden compartments in which I've planted assorted herbs. Some flowers are allowed, though, and space can always be found for other oddments like Bowles Golden Grass, scented pelargoniums, and lettuces.
Concrete cricketersConcrete cricketers...
A group of slightly over-age and over-weight concrete cricketers are busy playing a game of cricket on the back lawn. I found them abandoned at a recycling depot of the local dump - naturally I just had to rescue them.
The Apple TreeThe Apple Tree...
The Apple Tree border was dug around a row of original fruit trees. The apple tree still survives, though my pruning scheme is as haphazard as my harvesting.
No excuse needed for roses...No excuse needed for roses......
No excuse is ever needed to buy some new David Austin Roses. I have a clutch of these beauties growing in the gardens by the back lawn.
Ornamental Korean AngelicaOrnamental Korean Angelica...
Lucky gardeners have at least one plant they've brought into their gardens which visitors are amazed and stunned by. My special plant is an ornamental Angelica, which grows at the back of the Moosey wood shed.
The Back LawnThe Back Lawn...
Happy lawns are irrigated lawns - ask any golf course! And my back house lawn is extremely happy, since it gets a double dose, reached by the sprinklers over the water race as well as those which water the house gardens.
Wood Shed RamblerWood Shed Rambler...
My Wood Shed is on the top lawn. A rambling rose covers the sunny sides and the roof of the shed with apple blossom pink flowers in late spring. This rose arrived with the wrong label, so I've never known its name. I call it the Woodshed rambler.
Apple Tree BorderApple Tree Border...
The Apple Tree Border lies on a gentle slope, facing the Pond Paddock and the sun. Things have been forever changing in this garden since it was first dug. Now it's becoming much more shrub dominant, thank to the summer shade from the nearby deciduous trees. But some perennials are thriving...
Garden Rose PergolaGarden Rose Pergola...
The pergola with its resident roses has been a real success. It forms part of a natural walkway from the back of the house over Middle Bridge, leading to the water race gardens and the Hazelnut Tree Orchard.
Blue DelphiniumsBlue Delphiniums...
The Apple Tree Garden originally housed my original collection of blue seed-grown delphiniums. They were initially a bit of a flop (literally), until the trees and shrubs planted nearer to the road gave wind shelter.
Apple Tree Gardens HydrangeasApple Tree Gardens Hydrangeas...
The Apple Tree Garden houses my random collection of hydrangeas. Some were bought from plant sales, while others were grown by me from cuttings. My summer garden tends to be too dry to grow hydrangeas with confidence, but I keep a watchful eye out.
My Rhubarb PatchMy Rhubarb Patch...
Just along from the corner pergola post is my rhubarb patch. The compost heap is just over the fence, and I have to lean over the rhubarb with my food scraps. I like to use rhubarb in jams - well, that's the theory.
Banksia Climbing RoseBanksia Climbing Rose...
Early in the Moosey garden's history the fence by the woodshed was planted with pink roses, in a very narrow border. I planted a yellow climbing rose, Banksia Lutea at one end, by the washing line. Such a tiny thing, cutting-grown...
A Tale Of Two BordersA Tale Of Two Borders...
These two garden borders - the Apple Tree Border (on the right) and the Wattle Woods (on the left) both started life with large New Zealand Phormiums planted at their end points, like vegetative bookends...
Olearia HedgeOlearia Hedge...
An Olearia hedge divides the back lawn from the woodshed, and shelters the back of the house. Olearia paniculata is a New Zealand native shrub, perfect for a hedge that needs to be two metres tall. The top and sides are trimmed every year, and the trimmings burn really easily...
Variegated Elm Tree GardenVariegated Elm Tree Garden...
The variegated elm arrived at Mooseys in 2001 as a rather large tree. Firstly it was planted in the grass by the woodshed. I laid a circle of stones to show the shape of the new garden, and dug. But gardens grow, and slowly they change...
Bowles Golden GrassBowles Golden Grass...
The Apple Tree Border started life around about 1999, and was crammed full of golden foliage plants. A small beauty which still survives is Bowles Golden Grass. It makes a beautifully subtle show in spring, with purple violas and golden marjoram.
Burnaby Centennial RhododendronBurnaby Centennial Rhododendron...
I love a good British TV detective - Jack Frost, Wycliff, Morse... So when I saw the rhododendron 'Barnaby Centennial' I pounced and purchased one. Oops. I read the label wrong. It's 'Burnaby Centennial'. Never mind.
The Moosey Vegetable GardenThe Moosey Vegetable Garden...
Oh dear. I've never been very good at growing vegetables. I've tried many different ideas - potato patches in far-flung corners of the garden, tomatoes easy to reach in patio pots, and so on. The main, designated vegetable growing area has always been on the back lawn, tucked in near the Olearia hedge.
Tea Time in the GardenTea Time in the Garden...
On the back lawn by the Sleep-Out you'll see some second-hand garden furniture - a comfortable wooden bench, and a round table with two seats. For the local Garden Club visit I added a cute tea-set, to set the scene ready for summer refreshments. And hopefully amuse the visitors...
Leopards Behind the Wood ShedLeopards Behind the Wood Shed...
I've moved a spotty Ligularia (a Leopard Plant) into this narrow border behind the wood shed, and it is appreciating the shelter from the hot summer sun and the slight winter frosts. What a beautiful foliage plant this is!
Perennials and Roses GardenPerennials and Roses Garden...
Oops. The new perennials and roses garden (by the rose pergola) took over ground which was supposed to be a potager. In it I planted many budget roses with no labels, and others either rescued or given to me by friends. There was room for my ever expanding collection of perennials. Roses and perennials are good garden companions.
Kitten in the WoodshedKitten in the Woodshed...
In the beginning of the year 2009 something really exciting happened in the Apple Tree Gardens. Deep at the back of the woodshed my dog Rusty found a little wild grey kitten. Naturally, being an animal lover, I leapt to the cat-rescue with food and friendship.
Hardy Geranium PlantsHardy Geranium Plants...
This purple flowering geranium, with subtle lime green foliage, is planted behind the Moosey wood shed. It grows well in this partially shaded and reasonably moist garden.
Sleep-Out Garden & LawnSleep-Out Garden & Lawn...
The Sleep-Out is a roomy space attached to the Moosey Garage. Various relatives have indeed slept in here, though at the moment the only in-house residents will be spiders and the occasional nosy cat. It has a tiny triangular garden underneath the window which looks out to the back lawn. That is if you can see through the Camellia!
EpimediumsEpimediums...
I rescued three big pots of Epimediums from an Easter nursery sale, and decided to try them planted underneath the Cabbage Tree, at the start of the Apple Tree Border. I wasn't sure if they'd like their chosen spot...
HostasHostas...
I've tried growing Hostas in various place in my garden. Those I planted in the Apple Tree Gardens near the woodshed have been the most successful.
Chatham Island Forget-Me-NotsChatham Island Forget-Me-Nots...
Back in the gardening day, in a shady spot near the Sleep-out, I planted a cluster of Chatham Island Forget-Me-Nots. I had hoped that they would grow quite large here, as I'd seen waist-high specimens in similar positions in other local country gardens.
Cabbage Tree (Cordyline)Cabbage Tree (Cordyline)...
One of the first Cordylines (or Cabbage trees) I planted in my garden is seen here, tattered but triumphant, silhouetted against the winter sky. Ha! The blue sky in this picture is proof that we have nice gardening winters!
Choisya SundanceChoisya Sundance...
This slow growing golden Choisya has beautiful yellow foliage, and lightens up the shady Apple Tree garden with its sunny colours. The variety is called 'Sundance' for a very good reason!
The Moosey Washing LineThe Moosey Washing Line...
Ha! The Moosey washing line is an original, consisting wires strung around a tiny triangular piece of lawn. But who was the bright spark who chose this spot to grow a rather feral yellow climbing Banksia rose? Oops.
Mermaid Rose On a Garden FenceMermaid Rose On a Garden Fence...
An old sheep fence used to run towards the Sleep-Out, with a narrow garden border on each side. In my earliest rose phase I planted two fierce Mermaid roses, whose thorny canes stretched right along the fence.
Wood in the Wood ShedWood in the Wood Shed...
The wood shed is full of wood collected from the property and sawed up ready for the log burner. Winter is never far away. And who knows - with New Zealand's peculiar weather, firewood could be needed anytime!
Top