Hunter's Marlborough Award Winning Garden
Marlborough Environment Awards 2009/2009 - Landscape Award
The commitment shown by Hunter’s Wines to celebrating and preserving endangered habitats and species has been recognised and awarded at the Marlborough Environment Awards (2008/2009).
The Marlborough Environment Awards are a bi-annual event, recognising and rewarding enterprises embracing environmental sustainability. Award categories are farming, forestry, wine growing/horticulture, habitat enhancement, efficiency, landscape and innovation. An overall winner is selected from these for the Supreme award.
The grounds at Hunter’s Wines have undergone a major change in direction over the past seven years, moving away from heavily water-dependent plantings borrowed from the English cottage garden tradition. Marlborough’s dry summers made such a garden difficult to maintain and appear totally out of place as the temperatures rose. The transformation at Hunter’s Wines has been extraordinary as native plants representative of flora found on the dry floor of the Wairau Valley have become established.
The Marlborough Environment Awards judges commented that, “the garden design creates separate quiet and sheltered rooms within the site. Many birds, both native and exotic species, now benefit from the habitat. Enticing walking tracks lead one through the native vegetation, providing an intimate close-up encounter.”
The landscaping at Hunter’s has been undertaken with a great deal of careful planning. Plants have been eco-sourced and as such, are representative of the local gene pool. There is also a purpose-built rare and threatened South Marlborough endemic species garden which gives visitors a unique opportunity to get up close to plants that are now seldom seen in the everyday landscape.
The Marlborough Environment Awards judges commended Hunters on the great use of vegetation as vertical structures and also of shade trees and pergolas to create overhead closure, rooms, shade, intimacy and coolness. The total garden area covers approximately two hectares and is thriving due to adherence to the “right plant – right place” principle. The placement of species carefully matches the property’s various micro-climates to ensure the plants remain healthy.
Jane Hunter speaks enthusiastically about the gardens and the award. “Di Lucas, of Lucas Associates in Christchurch prepared the garden design and she did an exceptional job. We’ve achieved all our goals thanks to Di’s skill. The healthy, low maintenance plantings are maturing and the native cover is suppressing weed growth perfectly.”
Visitors can learn more about this beautiful native environment by studying the interpretation panels, signage and fact sheets that describe the garden’s history, layout and the species planted. “Our intention was to create a sense of place that encouraged visitors relax while learning about the area’s natural heritage,” says Jane.
Hunter’s Wines offers a unique opportunity to track the transition of the Wairau Valley from pastoral beginnings through to the establishment of vineyards and cottage gardens and back to the native flora and fauna that once existed on the undeveloped valley floor.
Sculptures and other artworks are sprinkled around the grounds, complementing the varied colour, texture and form of the vegetation. The buildings and other structures on site are in harmony with the gardens and historic features have not only been retained, but celebrated.
Visitors will discover a winery complex that is a joy to explore and relax in – both inside and out. The cellar door, cafe, resident artist and gardens combine to create a rich and rewarding experience that is an award winner.
Hunter's Garden Marlborough
The annual Hunter's Garden Marlborough Festival is proudly sponsored by Hunter's Wine. It is recognised as one of New Zealand's most prestigious and popular annual events featuring a week of garden visits, workshops with international speakers and a gala fete.
For more information, please refer to the official website -
http://www.gardenmarlborough.com/
Hunter’s Vineyards Certified Sustainable
Sustainable wine growing New Zealand was developed with the aim to be the best environmental programme for producing wine grapes in the world. Vineyards get audited every two to three years to ensure standards and regulations are being met and that the methods being used are the safest possible to the environment and human health.
All Hunter’s vineyards are run under sustainable certification, meeting all requirements set out by Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand with the focus to:
- Protect the vineyard environment.
- The people that work and live within and around the vineyard.
- The people who consume wine made from grapes produced in the vineyard
Sustainable management techniques are applied on all Hunter’s blocks, using carefully monitored and controlled irrigation, weeds, pests and disease management.
Our aim is to continually work towards improving all aspects of our performance in terms of environmental, social and economic sustainability in our vineyards to produce premium quality fruit with true environmental integrity.
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