The Heritage Gardeners are community volunteers from Glenside and neighbouring suburbs. Our purpose is to develop the garden of the historic Halfway House at Glenside in the style of when the house was built. This is done by using plants and features that would have been typical of an 1840-1900 rural settlement to achieve a country look and feel. We use plants that were in New Zealand before 1900.
Heritage Gardeners are Accredited Award Providers with the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, offering the opportunity to complete your Skills and Volunteer Service sections of the Award.
How we garden
- Sourcing early settler plants from old gardens.
- Raising historic flowers and shrubs from seed and cuttings at home to plant in the garden.
- Weeding, mulching, pruning and planting.
- Selling heritage plants and seeds at our community events to raise funds.
- Researching plants in museums, libraries and on the internet.
- Field trips to visit historic gardens to get ideas and learn.
- Bringing friends and family to the garden to visit and enjoy.
- We achieve our purpose to create a Victorian farm garden by:
Working to an agreed landscape plan developed in consultation with Wellington City Council. - Striving to only use plants that would have been available and used in the locality pre 1900.
- Retaining a busy farming family feel about the place, such as leaving dead wood and wild areas.
- Planting to encourage native birds, butterflies, moths and insects.
- Where possible, planting eco-sourced native plants in suitable locations, such as along the stream-bank.
- Replacing pest plants with Plant Me Instead recommended plants.
- Providing plants lists to Council, to ensure that any plantings are appropriate to the site. For example, no pest plants, or plants that are too large for the proposed planting site.
- Pest eradication such as o‘possums, rats and stoats, as part of the Glenside Predator Free programme.
- Learning and sharing our knowledge of heritage plants. This is at community events or through other initiatives, such as the Glenside Progressive Assn. Inc. website and Glenside Facebook pages.
- We recognise our role to respect and preserve archaeological features of the land and undertake this in consultation with Wellington City Council.
Skills you may learn throughout the year
- Care for garden tools
- Deliver a health and safety briefing
- Fertilise and mulch
- Identify garden wildlife such as insects, birds
and butterflies - Identify plants grown in New Zealand gardens before 1900
- Identify weeds and pest plants
- Keep a gardening diary
- Make compost
- Research a plant grown in New Zealand before 1900
- Take quality digital photographs of plants for publication
- Grow flowers and vegetables
- Harvest, dry and label seeds
- Plant a tree
- Prune a rose
- Sow and raise seeds
- Transplant seedlings
- Trim a hedge
- Manage a garden bed
- Manage a butterfly garden
Vision | Te Whāinga Matua
The purpose of the association is to provide leadership and guidance for the Glenside community in the preservation, maintenance and enhancement of the environment of Glenside.