Press Release
LARGEST COLLECTION OF NEW ZEALAND NATIVE PLANTS OPENED IN THE UK
27 April 2007
One of the largest collections of native New Zealand plants in the UK has been officially unveiled. Just days after ANZAC day commemorations, the New Zealand Garden within The Savill Garden, part of The Crown Estate, was officially opened by HRH The Duke of York, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of a commemorative plaque.
Ian Grant, Chairman of The Crown Estate, comments: “Today represents the culmination of work on a variety of elements of The Royal Landscape. Not only do we have the award winning Savill Building, but opening today we have a stunning new events area set in the heart of the garden, as well as an exciting new horticultural element in the form of the New Zealand Garden. This is an important demonstration of The Crown Estate’s commitment to enhancing the visitor experience of this popular amenity.”
Bronwen Chang, Deputy High Commissioner for New Zealand, spoke of her admiration of the hard work that has been endured to produce such an outstanding example of native New Zealand horticulture: “The links between our two countries in plants and horticulture date back almost 250 years to Captain James Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand, when Sir Joseph Banks and his team collected specimens and produced botanical illustrations of many of our native plants. New Zealand is very honoured to be the only country with a garden all to itself in Windsor Great Park. The many thousands of visitors to The Savill Garden each year will be able to enjoy this distinctive slice of New Zealand flora and landscape design in such a historic setting.”
The royal opening was accompanied by traditional Maori ceremonies provided by Manaia, who proclaimed the arrival of His Royal Highness The Duke of York to other guests with conch blowing (puutaatara) and who supported the event with the ‘haka’ and the ‘whakaararapaa’.
Manaia also hosted an outdoor workshop for 80 local school children to teach them about Maori traditions and give them a chance to perform some of the ceremonial dances.
The new garden has been developed and landscaped under the eye of the new Head of The Savill Garden, Harvey Stephens, working in conjunction with leading New Zealand landscape designer, Sam Martin, whose inspiration has been the unique and diverse habitats of his native country. Sam’s winning design was selected because of the way it mimics the undulating roof of the new Savill Building, and takes inspiration from the hummocked shape of many New Zealand plants in their natural habitat. The garden showcases some spectacular country flora with the use of more than a thousand tussock grasses, striking individual specimens of cabbage palm and spiky groups of the silver-leaved astelias.
Harvey Stephens comments: “The New Zealand Garden is a wonderful addition to The Savill Garden in this its 75th anniversary. I am thrilled to have been involved in this unique and unusual project showcasing so many interesting New Zealand plants. Working with the plants’ great contrast in foliage colour, texture and form has been a real revelation and made the planting a most challenging and exciting task.”
The garden was opened to mark the 75th Anniversary of The Savill Garden and houses nearly 3,000 native New Zealand plants representing what is probably the largest collection of such plants in the UK. The New Zealand Garden was started when The Savill Garden was chosen to house a collection of native plants given to Her Majesty The Queen following a state visit in 1986. The relocation of the visitor facilities to the new Savill Building, opened in 2006, has allowed for the development of a more ambitious New Zealand Garden with the addition of many new specimens.
The Savill Garden is one of the most significant woodland and ornamental gardens in England and contains a number of national collections. The garden hosts a wealth of exotic plants, providing huge public interest including many introduced in recent years by Keeper of the Gardens, Mark Flanagan, from collecting trips to the Far East.
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