03 Magazine: September 01, 2023

50 Magazine | Feature
Let it grow
It wasn’t until Julia Atkinson-Dunn purchased a house in Christchurch that the former
interior design pro nervously turned her hand to gardening. Fast-forward a few years and
Julia has just released her third tome celebrating the joys of gardening, which “aims
to fill in the practical basics needed by beginners while providing inspiration and support
for gardeners as they continue to grow in confidence”.
WORDS & PHOTOS JULIA ATKINSON-DUNN
STARTING A GARDEN: THE BARRIERS
& BREAKTHROUGHS
Recently, during a meandering chat with a friend, we
strayed onto gardening, a topic new to our relationship
of a decade or so. We talked about the lacklustre
performance of some of her potted plants and I offered
some advice based on my own trial and error.
We would never have had this conversation early in our
friendship, a time when neither of us harboured much
interest in growing beyond the odd indoor plant in our
respective apartments. We wouldn’t have made it past the
confused, ‘What do you think I should do?’ stage either, as
this was knowledge we didn’t harbour.
Yet, here we were now, with gardens and plant-based
ideas that whirl around our heads at night and send us
hunting for answers.
This conversation got me thinking about my own
adventure from non-gardener to gardener. My path into a
full-blown obsession for growing was entirely wound up in
just two things: my stage in life, and property.
Up until the age of 34, my adult years had seen me
renting and moving every three years. Not just house, but
town and even island!
My interest in spaces and design was fully focused on
interiors, art and the precious possessions I could take
with me. I did love being in other people’s gardens, but
domestic outdoor spaces were what I affectionately
thought of as ‘life background’.
In hindsight, my interests easily transferred to my current
passion and pursuit of creating an ornamental, seasonal
garden. But up until we purchased our Christchurch home,
which had a garden (albeit spiky and evergreen), I had
never had the urge to grow much of anything.
Now, what I previously considered ‘life background’ is
one of my life’s primary focuses! The garden is central to
my creativity, wellbeing, connections and even work. From
the comfortable, base level of experience I have now, it is
easy for me to forget the blank-faced intimidation I felt at
where and how to start.
Back then, for the first time in my life, I had found myself
ready to go with the space, the time and the existing
inclination to research, but still felt that gardening was a
foreign language that might just be too hard to learn.
Through doing, listening and reading I have built a bank
of knowledge I couldn’t have imagined would ever fit in
my head!
Perhaps the biggest lesson, however, is that I didn’t need
to know everything I do now to begin growing. And I will
never be finished learning, as the constant discovery of
gardening is what keeps me engaged. The understanding
that I am only scratching the surface of the knowledge I
can utilise both humbles and excites me.
After canvassing my garden friends and followers on
Instagram about their perceived barriers to beginning to
garden and the breakthrough discoveries that have kept
them moving forward with their growing adventure, I
realised how much in common we all had!
Their responses, combined with my own experiences,
have helped me form what I hope is a reassuring list to
give others the confidence to start their own garden.