VILLALEIGH
My first touch of the ‘Villaleigh’ universe was during a fervent search for a hard-to-find perennial. I vividly remember scrolling through the nursery’s catalogue, thinking with glee that I had found a like-minded soul, and she lives in New Zealand!
Since then I have eagerly opened Amy Roberts chatty nursery newsletters and paused to enjoy her beautiful posts on Instagram, sucking in their atmospheric seasonal moments.
Elements of Amy’s own story reflect that of so many of us - the discovery of refuge and emotional healing that our gardens and plants so generously deliver. Unimaginable challenges in life allowed to rest on an illuminated summer evening or crisp, invigorating mornings pottering in the ground. The evidence of forward progress found in simple but methodical work.
Enjoy this intimate view into the emergence of a passion and a resulting business.
Words and photography by Amy Roberts.
Garden profile
GARDEN: Villaleigh garden and nursery
LOCATION: Rural North Waikato - 30 minutes west of Huntly, New Zealand
SIZE: 4 acres
ENVIRONMENT: Sloping hillside with mostly well drained, deep topsoil on clay. Plentiful rainfall and prevailing westerly winds
@villaleighplants
www.villaleighplants.co.nz
Prior to acquiring this piece of land in 2007, we owned a half-acre site which was where I cut my teeth on gardening. It was a tough piece of wind-swept land on top of a hill, an existing garden (if you could call it that) overrun with kikuyu grass, jasmine, bamboo and tuber ladder fern to name a few - but it was our first home and that is where gardening began to be something of a hobby for me while working full time as a primary school teacher.
This hobby progressed into an obsession as our new, present garden began to develop. The first plantings at this site were a south and west-facing mixed native shelter belt (pittosporum, manuka, akeake) to help filter the prevailing winds. Once the digger had carved in the driveway and cleared the shed and house site, the real fun began.
Early spring - appreciating the blossom and early flowering perennials.
Newly planted perennial bed with contrasting shape and form. Amy will enhance the display as the seasons progresses.
“There was never an end goal or particularly clear vision on what the garden was to become. Life was busy with two young children and working part-time at school - the garden was an important escape to clear my head, take some deep breaths and have a moment when required. ”
Mid-spring - Fresh foliage and clipped hedges.
Late Spring - perennials leaping for in the soft light, highlighting different parts of the garden.
I am an avid reader of gardening/plant books and magazines and I would sketch out plans of how the front garden was going to be. In those early years of this garden’s development, I didn’t have the likes of Instagram and other internet-based tools to learn from but I used to watch Gardeners’ World on TV and Monty Don became a household name around here. I knew I needed to get the trees (a mix of fruit, evergreen and deciduous) in place first and this was where our money was spent with the rest of the planting being bits and pieces from family and friend’s gardens.
I made all those usual mistakes (and often still do!) of planting too close, not paying enough attention to the growing needs of a plant and some of those potentially invasive freebie plants certainly outstayed their welcome, but there is nothing like getting a skilled digger driver back to remedy an ivy infested bank. In 2008 in my spare time, I did a basic horticulture course through the Open Polytechnic which introduced me to nomenclature and simple propagation techniques etc.
The garden continued to grow and develop alongside our family, with Patrick being born in 2010 and Caeley in 2013. There was never an end goal or particularly clear vision on what the garden was to become. Life was busy with two young children and working part-time at school - the garden was an important escape to clear my head, take some deep breaths and have a moment when required.
Early summer
The garden took on an even greater role in stress management when Patrick was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 (aged 4). My need to prune, plant or weed would always be at its greatest as we would leave Starship Childrens Hospital after another treatment round. As Auckland city retreated behind us and we made our way down the Bombay Hills toward home, I could feel the pull of the green landscape and the smell of hospital leave my nostrils.
As the months of treatment drew to a close, I knew that as a family, we had to create a new normal and I needed to be able to work from home. By this stage, I was propagating bits and pieces regularly so the idea of selling plants was beginning to form. The garden had been in a holding pattern and now I was ready to get going with renewed enthusiasm. I knew that each day was precious, Patrick had been given a second chance and my plant and garden obsession was truly ready to flourish!
During this time, I discovered perennials and I was fascinated. How did these plants go from dormant to two-metre-tall beauties such as Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ or Rudbeckia laciniata in the space of months. I was hooked.
Colour and form were the leaders in this new area of planting. The bright crimson tops are mondarda.
Summer forms - lots of variation in bloom shape for interest.
Heliopsis ‘Bleeding Hearts’
Foliage colour and form can create lots of interest in itself.
By now the garden was over 10 years old, and expanding as more perennials were acquired. Any spare time was spent reading and learning about the world of horticulture.
The year 2020 saw our world come crashing down as Patrick was diagnosed once more with cancer - not a relapse but a different cancer, so we held onto hope and were back and forth to Starship yet again. Germs are an oncology patient’s worst nightmare so dealing with Covid during this time added a whole new meaning to the word stressful. The only certainty I had was that the garden would be there waiting for me, a new flower would bloom and I would give a small smile of gratitude. Our boy made it through this second cancer and grateful doesn’t begin to describe how we felt.
“The nursery has continued to expand as my client base grows and the range of perennials I offer widens in response. I am the chief propagator, website developer, marketer and all the other jobs required to run this business. Luckily, I love my job and have a supportive husband who is becoming a skilled plant packer on Sundays when we sort the orders for the week.”
Salvia ‘Shangri La’
Rudbeckia
THE NURSERY
The nursery has continued to expand as my client base grows and the range of perennials I offer widens in response. I am the chief propagator, website developer, marketer and all the other jobs required to run this business. Luckily, I love my job and have a supportive husband who is becoming a skilled plant packer on Sundays when we sort the orders for the week.
There is a sense of pride when packing all these plants into a box, ready to send them off to their new homes. The plants head to all ends of New Zealand, I want to keep that love for perennials alive and keep offering as many different varieties as possible.
The garden is becoming a wonderful showcase for the perennials. I love having the garden groups arrive and share in that sense of delight when they see a particular plant they hadn’t seen before or when they, in turn, share stories of plants they used to grow.
“My biggest learning moments have come from my mistakes and the opportunities these have presented to me. Grow plants that bring you joy and create a space that you want to be in, don’t get hung up about what is in fashion or a particular theme.”
EXPERIENCE
Looking at the garden now, I can’t define it as of a certain style. I think that would place limits on the types of plants I might use or how a new piece of garden would need to be created.
I want to create pictures with plants. I want to be surrounded by colour and marvel at how light changes the picture. I want to love each and every part of the garden.
Over the last year I have been doing an online course with Jimi Blake from Huntingbrook Gardens in Ireland. This has opened my eyes to a new palette of plants, propagation techniques and planting combinations. I have also been inspired by an online lecture series by Fergus Garrett from Great Dixter, England. Both these gardeners have a passion for plants and focus on a long season of interest in the garden.
Creating a garden that embraces seasonal change and maintains a long season of interest is the direction I see my garden heading. This creates a biodiverse space that nurtures a variety of wildlife throughout the seasons.
My husband, Aaron, is chief lawn mower and sometimes I can twist his arm to help me with hedge cutting or tree pruning. He does a fantastic job of creating the various seats and features that are found throughout the garden! The garden work is mine to complete but my mum can be persuaded to give me a hand when the weeds are threatening a takeover.
Self seeded teasel in the autumn morning light
“Looking at the garden now, I can’t define it as of a certain style. I think that would place limits on the types of plants I might use or how a new piece of garden would need to be created. I want to create pictures with plants. I want to be surrounded by colour and marvel at how light changes the picture. I want to love each and every part of the garden. ”
CONSIDERATIONS
Maintaining a large garden takes a lot of work. Weeds such as buttercup and milkweed seem to establish in a blink of an eye and there wouldn’t be a garden wander I undertake that doesn’t involve yanking out weeds as I walk past.
Despite the presence of numerous birds in the garden, there is still a huge population of slugs and snails enjoying the space. I use snail bait in the nursery to give the young plants a fighting chance to get established but in the garden, we have reached a compromise and plants loved by gastropods, such as hosta, I place in large pots out of their reach so that I can enjoy them.
Mulching in a garden is hugely important. Not only does it help conserve moisture in the soil, it also breaks down to feed the soil, provides a habitat for an abundance of critters and it lessens soil compaction caused by rain (something I have witnessed over the last, very wet 10 months). Mulch may be tree-based in the form of shredded bark, wood chip, used calf shed shavings (if you are lucky enough to have access to a local farm) or in some parts of my garden, gravel acts as the mulch. I am also keen to investigate the use of sand as a planting medium. As we deal with increasing extremes in weather, we need to build resilient gardens that can survive drought, flood and whatever else may be thrown its way.
Bark is a important element of texture that I consider part of the overall tapestry I create.
ADVICE FOR NEW GARDENERS
My biggest piece of advice would be: Don’t hesitate, we don’t know what life has in store for us, so just get out there and do it. Have a go at propagating, move or cut down that shrub/tree that has been bugging you, plant up a container to enjoy on your balcony, buy that plant you have been eyeing up for months, visit gardens in your area to see what works. Just get out there and do it!
My biggest learning moments have come from my mistakes and the opportunities these have presented to me. Grow plants that bring you joy and create a space that you want to be in, don’t get hung up about what is in fashion or a particular theme.
EDIT!
Garden editing is an important part of keeping a garden fresh and alive, critically assessing what areas work, successful planting combinations and where intervention is required. I grab my cup of tea and head out the door and wander the garden, subconsciously heading to the parts of the garden that I enjoy most - so I know that the parts of the garden I didn’t walk through are where I need to focus my efforts.
FAVOURITE PLANTING COMBINATIONS
The really successful planting combinations I have enjoyed are ones that, even as the plants age through the season, still catch my eye. I consider colour, flower shape, height, leaf texture and seed heads while also balancing light and space requirements for the plants.
Some favourite examples are:
Geum ‘Prinses Juliana’ + aeonium + Chinochloa rubra (red tussock) + kniphofia + Salvia argentea + Dahlia ‘Burlesca’
Salvia ‘Amistad’ + Verbena rigida + Coreopsis ‘Mango Punch’ + Agastache ‘Apache Sunset’ + Tulbaghia violacea (society garlic) + Chrysanthemum ‘Bronze Pompom’.
Dahlia ‘Copper Boy’ + Pennisetum glaucum (purple millet) + Calendula ‘Indian Prince’ + Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’ + Geranium phaeum.
Canna ‘Tropicanna Black’ + Achillea ‘Parkers Variety’ + Euphorbia myrsinites + Japanese Maple with orange toned bark and foliage.
“Garden editing is an important part of keeping a garden fresh and alive, critically assessing what areas work, successful planting combinations and where intervention is required. I grab my cup of tea and head out the door and wander the garden, subconsciously heading to the parts of the garden that I enjoy most - so I know that the parts of the garden I didn’t walk through are where I need to focus my efforts. ”
SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
There are so many I could note and there is a huge list of NZ gardens and growers that I follow on Instagram, but here are some from around the world that I enjoy and you may not have come across yet:
INSPIRING BOOKS
Second to plants is my addiction to plant and garden-related books. For pure inspiration, I can never go past photographer Claire Takacs and her books filled with amazing garden imagery, particularly Dreamscapes, Australian Dreamscapes and Wild - The Naturalistic Garden
PRACTICAL BOOKS
I learnt a lot about propagation from Carol Kleins Grow Your own Garden and when I first starting gardening I purchased The Complete Gardener by Monty Don.
There is a wealth of plant knowledge to be gained from any book written by Christopher Lloyd or Beth Chatto and I have numerous volumes written by these two gardening legends.
Provided links to plants are chosen by Julia with no bias (obviously linking to Villaleigh plants when possible!) - simply to connect with the best imagery and information to aid the reader on that plant.
No affiliate or sponsored links are included - please beware they may contain some seasonal information from other countries that differ from the one you are in!