Ngata

An expansive English country garden of national significance , nestled in the heartland of the Rangitikei.

Here, you will find an outstandingly designed Alfred Buxton country garden set within 3 acres, boasting views over the Hiwera Valley and on up to the majestic Ruahine Ranges in the far off distance, to the south.

This garden features large old English trees, such as oak, linden, liriodendron, beech, (copper and native), elm, cedar, ash, plane, and a parotia persica, all dating back from 1936.

Two balanced perennial borders add their charm, with a long clean lined grass lawn between.

A distinctive grass teardrop driveway encircles the large front lawn, big enough to have hosted 4 marquee weddings!  A large Robert Peel rhododendron is a feature at the bottom right of the front lawn.  At the front of the house, this vast front lawn is simply green, restful, and simple, as opposed to the back of the house.

A lawn tennis court lies below old brick steps, overlooked by a commanding elm tree, looking across through two adjacent square holly hedges to a perfectly placed, shaped huge copper beech tree.  Beyond the copper beech, is the tallest tree in the garden, a cedar, which has been limbed up to allow vistas through to neighbouring farmland and beyond to Aorangi, Pukeokahu, with its distinctive flat top mountain.

Below the cedar, a long line of old rhododendrons prosper. Many varieties of daffodils flourish in the front paddock on the left.

Ngata (meaning “plenty” in te reo Māori) is today the home to Amanda and Rob Collier, who took over the farm in 1996 when Amanda’s parents, Andy and Di Grace, retired. The farm had come into Amanda’s family from her great-uncle Bill Duncan, who was the godfather and uncle to her father, Andy Grace. Bill and Joyce had no children and asked Andy and Di to take over in the 1970s when it came time for them to retire.

Here, you will chance to find an outstandingly designed Alfred Buxton country garden set within 3 acres.

The garden has been included in the Rangitīkei Up the Garden Path tour, and has been the venue for four weddings. Contact us for details of weddings.