Magnificent garden in region to be opened to the public

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 15, 9 September 1986, Page 5

Magnificent garden in region to be opened to the public

A magnificent garden situated about 35 minutes away from Ohakune is to be open to the public during the coming summer. Titoko Point, near Rangiwaea Junction south of Tangiwai, will be open to visitors 18 October until the end of January on Saturdays between 10am and 4pm, at a charge of $3. Gordon Collier's garden has been a labour of love for 30 years during which he has transformed a difficult hilly site into a place of beauty and cairn. M r Collier says the garden was not built to any grand plan. "It's not what I wanted to do but what the garden dictated," he said. The dictates of the garden were the constraints of a site which faced north and was hot and sunny, which was wet and boggy at the bottom of the hill and on which the soils were poor. Yet these constraints have led to pleasing variety, from the drought-tolerant plants in front of the house, through bog plants in the

lower garden, the many magnificent trees and a wealth of rare plants. The variety means there is interest for people who have gardens of all kinds. An octagonal summer house with timber stairways and long walk-ways adds another dimension to the bog garden. There is also a series of nearly a hundred steps which curve down the steep hill to the lower garden. As well as the constraints of the site there are also those of time and money. The first is helped now by the employment of Pauline Murphy, a horticulture graduate from Massey University, who divides her time between Titoki Point and the Miro Park development in Ohakune. On the financial side Mr Collier hopes to defray some of the maintenance costs through the admission charge to visitors over this summer. Mr Collier, himself a Massey diploma holder, runs a small nursery to support his garden. Many of the plants grown there will be

for sale during the summer. Gordon Collier will be known to many Ohakune residents as the reserves advisor for the Ohakune Borough Council in the late 1970s. Heactuallysetupthe parks and reserves section and worked out a scheme for the borough. Mr Collier's book, The New ZealandeF's Garden, coedited with Julian Matthews, and published in 1985, describes 33 New Zealand gardens, including Titoki Point, through the eyes of their creators. The book is profusely illustrated and gives a fascinating view of some magnificent New Zealand gardens. He is also a member of the board of Pakeiti Rhodendron Trust, a member of the advisory panel of the Cecil Smith Garden in Newberg, Oregon, USA, New Zealand editor for the International Dendrology Society and a regular contributor to the New Zealand Gardener. The two easiest entry routes to Titoki Point are the Turakina Valley Road, turn

right just before the railway crosing at Tangiwai, or Waiaruhi Road seven kilometres south of Waiouru past the HMNZS Irirangi naval installation. In both cases head for Bells Junction where a sign will indicate the direction to Titoki Point which is at the end of Koukoupo Road. In his book Gordon Colliersays"... gardening islike painting a picture: design is all-important." With Titoki Point he has painted a beautiful picture.