GARDENLIGHT: Robyn Kilty's Cottage
/Six years ago, a full year before I was challenged with making my first garden, I was renting a tiny, modern home with my new boyfriend on the outskirts of the Christchurch CBD. Fresh off my move back to the South Island from Auckland, I loved stalking my local streets, sucking in the dry Canterbury air and reacquainting myself with the old, or was it, the ‘new’ me.
My favourite streets, lined with quaint Victorian workers’ cottages from the late 1800’s, were just a few minutes’ walk from mine, and I would drag my feet suspiciously slowly up and down the footpath taking them in. Amid all this architectural appreciation, there was one special property that sparked the tinder of my eventual gardening fire.
No.11 demonstrated personality in every deliberate decision of its owner.
There was the burnt orange front door, highlighted by the surrounding denim-coloured weatherboards. The wild, lawn less front garden towering over the jagged pail fence, deliciously spilling plants up and over onto the narrow strip, pushing at the foot path.
If I walked really slowly in spring time I could glimpse waterfalls of white wisteria beyond the back gate, while in autumn I’d admire the swathes of ornamental grape hanging from the front veranda, burning its way to brilliance.
At this point in time, I was struggling to keep herbs alive in pots, let alone appreciating the progressive planting of this cottage’s owner, but as my gardening interest ignited, so did my intrigue and determination to befriend this creative person, just around the corner!
Gardener, writer, artist and all round inspiring woman; Robyn Kilty.
“I like a certain amount of looseness and unruliness about my garden where I think many people are more interested in having a ‘tidy’ one”
If you have ever blamed a lack of space as limiting to your gardening potential, I’m afraid to say, Robyn Kilty is here to shatter your misconceptions.
In 1993 Robyn moved into the little cottage, albeit then, a sad, leaky version of itself. With much grit she inched it back to life, replacing the roof, remodelling the kitchen and bathroom, adding an art studio extension and peeling back layers of wall and paint to reveal honey coloured kauri panelling. The interior speaks of her artistic eye as much as the garden does, rich in colour, art, books and collections.
The cottage didn’t come with a lot of botanical flair either. Long grass and two enormous, light blocking pittosporums were the only plants growing in complement of a hickory aluminium shed around the back. In short, the scope was limitless!
Raised in a family of gardeners in Southland, Robyn’s first distinct memory was of her grandfather holding her up to smell a rose. She has gone on to make gardens wherever she has lived and pre-earthquake, No.11 reflected a beautiful formal flower garden in ode to the cottage’s symmetry and history. The earthquake caused huge damage to her property rendering it unliveable, sending Robyn to find some calm and refuge with her friend Penny Zino of Flaxmere Garden* in North Canterbury, where she lived for a year. (Read more about Flaxmere here)
Fueled by their mutual love of gardening and adventurous spirit, the pair made a trip to learn about naturalistic style planting** from Piet Oudolf in the Netherlands. A trip that ultimately turned a leaf in Robyn’s personal gardening aesthetic.
She returned to No.11 with fresh eyes and ideas, promptly banishing lawn and unnecessary paths from her garden. In a total transformation, the front bed was recreated with drifts of towering grasses and tall perennials in warm, rich tones. Texture, colour and form rise and fall between the seasons, punctuated with titivating structure offered by piles of topiary balls, intriguing towers of muehlenbeckia trained up stakes and beautiful mosaic work within the paths.
*Read more about Flaxmere here
** Read my beginners guide to naturalistic style gardens here.
Stakes with muehlenbeckia trained up them to create fantastical towers in the front garden.
“Making a garden is such a personal thing because we all visualise differently. For instance, many find great satisfaction in developing a smooth green sward of lawn, others from planting NZ natives, so that their garden reflects our native bush – all is perfectly legit.”
Orach, nasturtiums and Verbena bonariensis leak out over the fence.
What fascinates me most, as a new gardener and former interior designer, is the masterful way Robyn has created zones in such a small space, working within a 314 sqm section of which the cottage steals a generous footprint.
While the front garden draws any passer-by to a standstill, through the back gate you are plunged into an extraordinary enclosed space. Burgandy iceberg roses and topiary play off against variegated flaxes and native ferns. It feels cool and secret, drawing you to the next “room” beyond. A pergola spanning between the house and fence offers you a grateful moment of shade. In summer, the great canopy of white wisteria has given way to a sheltering ceiling of foliage and dangling seedpods. A hand formed mosaic fountain trickles water constantly, adding a natural soundtrack for the art studio through French doors. In this space you could be anywhere in the world.
“I like a certain amount of looseness and unruliness about my garden where I think many people are more interested in having a ‘tidy’ one. For instance - already Wisteria leaves are turning gold and dropping all over my paving. I don’t want to go out and rake them up, because to me they look natural and lovely lying on the brick paved areas. When they turn brown and mushy – that will be the time to tidy them away.”
The back of the section is lined with two wide borders of mixed perennials and grasses bordering a narrow path. Vegetables find their place amongst waving dahlias, fruit trees and rusty heads of orach. It feels romantic, modern and humming with life.
“I love a feeling of being engulfed by green and plants as well as naturalness! But to achieve this within a garden there is a certain amount of control required. As an artist I still need the colours and textures to blend together” imparts Robyn. “Just because my garden space is small, I don’t just want to use small plants. I want drifts of tall plants (perennials) amongst my small spaces and along the pathways, because I like to feel swamped and surrounded with plants and garden!
Also, I like to plant my garden so that there is something of interest all year round. Gardening makes me feel happy and fulfilled and is also good exercise.”
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' grass puncutated with dahlias and roses in the late afternoon light.
“Just because my garden space is small, I don’t just want to use small plants. I want drifts of tall plants (perennials) amongst my small spaces and along the pathways, because I like to feel swamped and surrounded with plants and garden! ”
Beautiful and tall perennial Rudbeckia laciniata 'Herbstsonne' (also known as Rudbeckia nitida)
Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’
Amid the million ideas that Robyn offers me in her vibrant garden, it is her reassurance that there is no one way to do it. That making a garden, of any size should remain a personal and light hearted journey.
“Making a garden is such a personal thing because we all visualise differently. For instance, many find great satisfaction in developing a smooth green sward of lawn, others from planting NZ natives, so that their garden reflects our native bush – all is perfectly legit.”
You can visit No.11 by appointment at $10 pp via www.robynkiltygardens.co.nz
I’d also HIGHLY recommend clicking below and reading an article written by Robyn herself in 2015, detailing the transformation of the garden to what you see today.
This is an expanded version of the article featured in my Stuff ‘Homed’ gardening column for beginners , The Press, Dominion Post and other regional papers on February 10th 2022
All words and images are my own, taken in my home and garden in Christchurch, New Zealand unless otherwise captioned.
