Paloma Gardens is a private garden just outside Whanganui, which is open to the public for a small entry fee. It is possibly one of Whanganui’s best kept secrets, and once we visited I recomendad going there to everyone I knew. The photos I’ve included are from summer 2020 (pre lockdown/covid *gasp*) and honestly the hold up has been that I wasn’t sure I could do this place justice.
Garden Facts:
- $10 entry per person (100000% worth it)
- Open daylight hours, every day of the year
- Location: Pohutakwa Lane, Fordell
- 23km/21mins drive from Whanganui
- Recipient of “Garden of National Significance” award, New Zealand Gardens Trust since 2004
- Great wedding and other celebrations venue
- BBQs available
- Bed and Breakfast, cabin and camping accommodation available
- Website: http://www.paloma.co.nz/
This has to be one of the best gardens I’ve ever been to. I love a good “botanic garden” but this place is seriously next level, especially knowing that it isn’t council operated/funded/whatever. I actually spent a lot of time wandering various botanic gardens, and other plant places, as a uni student while I worked on my Botany degree. To be honest, I kinda forget how much I love visiting gardens, it just kind of slips to the back of my brain as I chose more wild places over the carefully curated. But, there is a lot to love about a lovingly tended garden, especially one with such a large variety of botanical features on display.
Paloma Gardens is the private garden on Clive and Nicki Higgie which I understand they have slowly worked on over a number of years/decades. I also understand it’s only part of their property, a lot of which is dedicated to farming (please correct me in the comments if I’m wrong here)
The garden is defined in clear and interesting sections. My favourites were:
- The arboretums (there are two)
- G.O.D – Garden of Death (everything in here can kill you)
- Bamboo Grove (serious Hawaii vibes)
- Sculptor lane (ft. Local artists)
- Desert Hillside
I would give yourself a good 2 hours + to explore these gardens. Take a picnic to have on “Washington Ave” in the sun, or wherever. It’s kid friendly, but not stroller friendly and I would guess that little ones will need to be carried quit a bit. It’s steep in places, but easy to avoid those parts if you don’t want to walk up big hills.
Anyway, I won’t ramble on because I really think the place speaks for itself. Here are some pics from our visit. Hopefully you are one day inspired to visit this amazing garden in Whanganui.
Happy exploring
Xx
Moochelle