It's been the best autumn I can remember since I arrived in New Zealand. This year, autumn was mellow and dry with cool morning temperatures.
Red Maple tree at Tūpare
The trees lit up in a variety of gold, red and orange hues, attracting early-morning photographers to Tūpare. The grass in the garden was damp and earthy and late-flowering plants like dahlias and gaillardia provided a splash of summer colour, reminding us that it's not over yet. While it's not always this amazing, it's pretty close.
It's been busy here, all this autumn colour means a lot of leaf fall and subsequent raking. To be honest, we sometimes run out of places to hide them. Thankfully, the idea of removing every leaf is fading away. The benefits of leaf litter, the fungi that consume it and recycling it into the soil are now being recognised. Our current process is to clear paths, chop up anything that falls on the grass and add it back to the turf. The general policy is to leave what we can to be broken down and added to the soil structure naturally.
We’ve had to remove a few trees around the garden recently to alleviate overcrowding. "Live fast, die young" seems to be the motto here for exotic trees, and we’ve had to think about succession planning for what feels like the next hundred years. The Glade has been opened up with the removal of Black Birch (Betula nigra), Red Oak (Quercus rubra) and Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) immediately allowing more light in.
Sadly for me, the group of three American Elms and the English Ash tree on the River Flat also had to go. Both elms and ash are under huge pressure from disease in the UK, drastically altering the landscape of my childhood with the loss of these amazing trees. It was hard to give them up, but they will be replaced with something equally impressive, providing shade for another century, possibly some impressive Mexican oaks.
Lastly, we recognised International Arbor Day at Tūpare last month. Our Events Officer Zoe organised a guided walk and talk for members of the public, where they learned about the importance of trees before finishing off with a mini knot-tying session. Children learned how to tie a quick-release highwayman's hitch and the classic bowline loop. The kids were great and cracked it quickly; the parents not so much…
There is much to do over the winter months, but as gardeners, we are always thinking a season ahead. For us, it's nearly spring!
Nick Lelean
Head Gardener Tūpare