Longbush Cottage was part of a working farm for over 100 years until the farm was subdivided during the 1990s.  In 2015, the cottage and one-hectare of land were divided from the original four-hectare block. Longbush Cottage is a modern cottage garden set in the beautiful Wairarapa, New Zealand. The garden comprises a series of rooms each with a different but complementing theme radiating out from a classic 19th-century cottage which leads the eye up an avenue of Totora to a large body of water.

Although the garden began in 2016 there is already much to see and inspire.  New areas are continuously in development, meaning you can see them in their early years and then watch them grow in the years to come.

When we arrived, there was no garden to speak of, other than a small rose garden along one side of the house and a few trees scattered around the property, it was mostly a grazing paddock for sheep.  It was a blank canvas waiting to plant.

I immediately began formulating a garden plan, imagining garden-rooms to break up the paddock, planting trees, creating pathways of intrigue, and of course thinking of the many, many, plants I would need.  From the rough sketch I created in 2016, to a mapped plan of the property, we have been working to implement my vision since 2016 with several years to go.

We (Luke and Ben) purchased the cottage in 2016 with the intention of using the property as a weekend retreat, whilst continuing to live in Wellington during the week.  However, after less than a month we realised that Longbush was where we wanted to be full-time.

In 2015, the cottage and one-hectare of land were divided from the original four-hectare block.