Dwyllis's Profile

Born in New Zealand. Reside in the North Island of New Zealand in a lovely 1910 weatherboard villa. We moved into this house in the autumn, & have been concentrating on some necessary renovations indoors. Now it is time to concentrate on setting up a garden ... I find it unbelievable that this house, at over a hundred years old, has never had a proper garden. So time to give it one! Virtually no garden on our quarter of an acre property, so searching for inspiration. Love a spot of whimsy in a garden, & enjoy cottage garden informality. Love arches with climbing roses, honeysuckle, wisteria & clematis. Lilac. Also some of the native NZ flowering trees. Ideally, what I would love to end up with is a romantic garden, full of all of the above .... not too much lawn (my husband's suggestion) ... some birdbaths, birdhouses, & feeding tables ... & of course, some trees! Flowering shrubs, perrenials, but no formal borders. Containers full of bright annuals. Colours .... mainly pinks, whites, burgundy, lilacs, greens, & purples. Little splashes of bolder colour (reds & oranges), & lemon, but not bright yellows, unless I have absolutely fallen in love with the plant. What I have to work with .... quarter of an acre section, mainly in lawn ... house close to footpath, so lots of backyard & good-sized areas on either side, with a small frontage. Two unidentified smallish trees out the back, & one cabbage tree which is probably a couple of years old. Borders of agapanthus on either side of the house. Four medium-sized hydrangeas at the front. An unidentified (climbing?) rose against the house in one side area, next to an old pergola. Husband has built a high wooden fence to give us a totally private back garden, with an arched gate entrance ... have now planted a wisteria Black Dragon to grow up over this & along the fence & over the sunroom. Have also just planted a flowering cherry, a daphne, 3 hidcote lavenders, a veilchenblau climbing rose & a federation daisy. It's a start .......