Akaroa Historical Overview - Christchurch City Council

Figure 6.34. Aylmers Valley Road in the general area of the government orchard.
Ref: 2006
Private Gardens: “a town of groves and gardens”
Gardens in Akaroa at the beginning of the 20 th century were a reflection of the romantic
eclecticism that characterised gardens throughout the rest of the country. Despite the
town's relative isolation, residents had no difficulty accessing the wide range of plant
material that was available in Christchurch. As well as having its own nurserymen, Akaroa
was receiving visits from Christchurch's large nursery firms. A.W. Buxton was one such
firm and a travelling representative from Buxton's Opawa Nursery was a regular visitor to
Akaroa. Primarily concerned with taking orders for plant material and garden
ornamentation, it is possible that some of the wirewove fences that are still visible in
properties in Rue Balguerie (Banksia Cottage and along part of the Blythcliffe boundary)
were sourced from Buxton's. Certainly these appear in his catalogues from 1905. 88
It is also likely that Buxton's traveling salesman's role extended to soliciting for landscape
commissions. T.E. Taylor, one of Akaroa’s most prominent businessmen, is known to
have been one of Buxton's clients between 1910 and 1926 89 and it is possible that his
property, 1 Rue Benoit (now known as the Maison de la Mer), may retain some of
Buxton's trade mark plantings and design elements. Mr Taylor was reported to have a
much admired fernery, 90 a feature common in Buxton's gardens at this time.
Akaroa gardens were said to “nearly conceal the creeper-covered houses, blending their
cultivated beauty with that of the more sombre bush”. 91 Flowers were described as
growing in profusion and many gardens were noted to contain scarlet geraniums,
heliotrope, creamy tea roses, thick fuschia hedges and small, rich, dark French lilac. In
prose as romantic as the gardens she described, Ethel Turner, the Australian novelist,
recorded a visit to Akaroa in 1926, and noted houses with close-clipped macrocarpa
hedges, grass-grown streets and “thin aloof poplars”. 92
88 Buxton's Catalogue of Wire and Iron Work, 1905
89 Tipples, Colonial Landscape Gardener: Alfred Buxton of Christchurch, New Zealand 1872-1950, p. 160
90 Akaroa Mail, 17 December 1914
91 Canterbury Times, 29 April 1900 p. 5
92 Christchurch Press, 28 September 1926, Supplement p. 1
AKAROA HERITAGE OVERVIEW : SECTION 6 YEARS OF STABILITY 1900 TO 1950 PAGE 120