“I don’t seek out rare and wonderful things. All you can hear is birdsong and the sound of the stream.”Ī solitary figure from sculptor Rebecca Rose's Tall Skinnies series makes a simple but poignant statement in a garden that demonstrates the artistry of both humans and nature. “The forested gully garden has always been one of my favourite places. Multiple empathetic additions and renovations later, it is the focal point of a landscape that Peter, a doctor with a strong artistic bent, has sculpted with plants.įor Peter, gardening began as an escape from intensive, energy-absorbing medical consultations to a peaceful, relaxing space. The once one-bedroom cottage, designed by renowned Arts & Crafts architect James Chapman-Taylor, was built in 1938 using rimu milled on site.
For Peter and Nellie, that spelled potential and any shortcomings were more than made up for by an abundance of charm and the magic location. The house was run-down, the gully overgrown and the garden unkempt. When the Gillies purchased the property in the 1970s, nature had the upper hand. In Peter and Nellie Gillies' Upper Hutt garden water features add further structure and tranquillity the multi-trunked topiaries above the water feature are European privet (Ligustrum vulgare) with grey Teucrium fruticans and Buxus sempervirens used elsewhere - even the ficus-clad house appears to be growing out of a garden that is blessed with a backdrop of mature beech and rimu trees.
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