Botanic Garden 'a gift' for Wellingtonians and visitors

The capital city has been shrouded in grey clouds lately, but pops of colour at the Botanic Gardens are putting a spring in locals' step this season. Lauren Crimp went for a wander to see what they think, and meet the people behind the plants.

In the display garden on Glenmore Street, Louisa Linterman was taking her friend Audrey, who is bedridden, on a tour via a video call.

"It's just looking wonderful, and the beautiful trees, which we love, so I had to hug the Pōhutukawa, as you do," Linterman said.

"Audrey's been really enjoying it, haven't you Audrey?" she said.

"Oh, it's magnificent," Audrey replied.

Standing among the flower beds, Linterman told Wellington City Council's Clare Shearman, who's in charge of the gardens, what it meant to her.

"Just the gift that you people give to the visitors, and this city, and to people like Audrey is just amazing ... so thank you very much," she said.

Audrey said her tour had been lovely, "and I love the tulips the best".

The gardens attract about a million visitors each year.

Among them, a group of four elderly women and their dogs, who take a stroll each week before settling in to the Picnic Cafe for a coffee and "the best cheese scones in Wellington".

"Every day it's different, every week it's different, we like the flowers, we like the birds ... and it makes us walk, and that's good to keep a bit of fitness.

"The magnolias have been magnificent ... tulips are out, we noticed they weren't here last week, so that's lovely."

Shearman said that sort of joy was what her job was all about, and the public was always curious about what was happening in the garden.

"Every time we change this space, everyone's sort of on to us, like 'oh, it's so exciting, what are you doing now, what's coming next?'"

A more sustainable garden

These days, change was constant, Shearman said.

Wellingtonians would be used to vast beds of tulips throughout the gardens, but they had been struggling because the monocrop had been "growing forever" which was unhealthy for the soil, causing a bacteria called phytophthora.

So with sustainability in mind, this year's garden is a patchwork quilt of different varieties - purples and pinks woven with whites and yellows.

It was not just about keeping things pretty, Shearman said.

While it was fun for the team to choose things like colour combinations, there was a lot of data and science involved.

Ground sensors throughout the gardens indicate how the plants and soil are faring.

With the effects of climate change to consider, those sensors have come in handy at the Lady Norwood Rose Garden.

"The sort of heavy downpours that we're having in the winter is quite different than the past ... you can see it's quite a sunken garden here and it sits on a plateau," she said.

"So the rain just sits and then the roses are having wet feet for pretty much all winter."

Gardeners had now dug drainage under the garden, to keep those "feet" dry, Shearman said.

It's a big job for a team of 17 keeping up three gardens across the city - the Botanic Garden alone spans 25 hectares, though much of it is native bush.

But the staff certainly seem happy in their work.

Apprentice Cloud Jordan was raking the fragrant garden for "Friday clean up".

"Just getting it nice for the weekend, the rest of the team is out on the blowers," she said.

"Personally I like being on the blowers because you get the paths looking really nice and pristine."

She's living her dream.

"I'd always drive past and be like 'man, those people look like they're having a great time, I wanna do that'. And then to be able to do it is fantastic."

The gardeners' plans for next spring are already in full swing.

And good news for Louisa Linterman, who was a bit early to see her favourite part of the garden in full bloom - the roses' first flush is just around the corner.

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