NTDTV: New Zealand Gardeners Bring the Wilderness to Suburbia

The mountains are the limit for Valda Poletti and her husband Dave Clarkson.

They were both passionate outdoor adventurers when they met, but later on with the arrival of children and busy careers they needed a solution.

That solution was to bring the great outdoors to suburbia.

[Valda Poletti, Gardener]:
Weve created this lovely little space with birds singing, the rustle of the leaves, the alpine plants flowering, the smells, the fragrance of New Zealand nature.

Valda and Dave have successfully re-created a fernery, alpine meadow and wetland, similar to what is found in New Zealands wild.

Their garden named Te Kainga Marire Mar rear re is renowned for its wide use of indigenous plants and has since been awarded Garden of International Significance'

[Dave Clarkson, Gardener]:
There's not many plants that have been collected from the wild; it's against our principles to take from the wild, so youre normally reliant on people like ourselves who collect it.

Their half-acre plot in New Plymouth, New Zealand was a dense clay waste land covered in gorse and blackberry before they began. 35 years on, its a native plant paradise, making those years of hard work well worth it.

[Valda Poletti, Gardener]:
We dont have to go racing off on holiday somewhere to find happiness because we are happy here everyday, 12 months of the year, so thats been the real benefit.

So if you're in this neck of the woods, Valda and Daves garden is open daily from September to April to anyone wanting to draw a little green inspiration.

NTD, Taranaki, New Zealand.

NTDTV's official YouTube Channel got taken down for some weird reason, so I thought it would be a good time to upload some of their noteworthy videos again and it's also to remind you guys that you can actually still find ALL their programming on their website: http://english.ntdtv.com - So just cause Google is probably bowing to China again doesn't mean they are gone - go visit their website, they don't only have news on human rights in China, but have 24 hour programming with live streaming.

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