Ayrlies
★★★★★★
“If you think of gardening as an art form, Ayrlies is the best expression of that art.” This is a quote by Jack Hobbs, manager of Auckland Botanic Gardens. Situated in the gently rolling country of south-east Auckland, this is one of New Zealand’s best-known gardens, characterised by sweeping lawns and informal but detailed plantings by ponds and waterways. A strong but sensitive use of colour is a hallmark of Ayrlies seen best in the lurid border where ‘hot’ colours are used to great effect and in other areas where old roses, clematis and perennials are combined in romantic profusion.
Ayrlies is a seasonal garden where the owner has been challenged to have some plant at its best every week of the year, keeping horticultural and botanical interest in balance with the landscape. The garden has an almost subtropical climate which allows exotic plants such as Petrea, Alocasia, bromeliads, the flamboyant vireya rhododendrons and the exotic Ficus dammaropsis from New Guinea to flourish.
This large country Garden now covers 6 hectares and is linked to the sea by the Wetlands. For near six decades, Beverley McConnell has created and tended the garden from a blank clay canvas of farmland, in a style that is quintessentially New Zealand. It includes many large trees – liquidambar, swamp cypress, pin oak and redwoods – which have grown rapidly in the warm wet climate. Each area has its own emphasis but merges easily into the next, always preserving the harmony of the whole. Careful arboriculture preserves view lines to the Hauraki Gulf and within the garden. Colour is most vigorous during November with the wildest array of blooms in the roses and other spring-flowering plants. An abundance of blossom provides homes to bees, insects and pollinators that proliferate in harmful-spray-free Ayrlies.
Beverley’s extraordinary vision saw the creation of 14 hectares of wetlands in 2001 on land that was originally a salt marsh. Only New Zealand native trees and plants including giant grasses line the boardwalk, bridges and lake that provide an abundant refuge for wildlife. The ecologically rich environment combined with the foreshore has become home to an outstanding count of over 82 species of native and visiting wildlife, including the NZ dotterel and dabchick as well as the elusive spotted crake. The wetlands have been acknowledged as significant and culturally important. James Brown, chair of Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, recently told Bev, ‘Your work is the work of chiefs and benefits us all. In 1000 years, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki will remember Bev McConnell for her garden and forest, which I am sure will still be casting her shadow across Turanga.’
Facilities and Amenities
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Ayrlies - My story, my garden written by Beverley McConnell
You can purchase the book through the Ayrlies Garden website
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Ayrlies is a private garden open throughout the year and includes entry to the Wetlands.
Open Monday to Friday 9am – 4.00pm.
Closed Sundays and public holidays
Open on Saturdays: please email 'gardens@ayrlies.co.nz' by Friday 3pm beforehand for entry instructions.
An admission fee of $20 is payable online https://ayrlies.co.nz/visit/payment/ or cash to any of the gardening team
Group guided tour has a fee of $250
We regret no dogs or children under 12 years old can be admitted
There is also a nursery from which you can purchase plants
Please note: the garden comprises 4 1/2 hectares of rolling terrain, some with steep slopes
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From SH1
From the Southern Motorway (SH1), take East Tamaki/Otara, Exit 444:
a. If driving south - turn left and drive until you reach the 7th set of lights (East Tamaki shops)..
b. If driving north - turn keeping left, loop around on bridge over motorway on to East Tamaki Road. Drive until you reach the 7th set of lights (East Tamaki shops)
Turn right at arrow light into Preston Road, then left into Ormiston Road.
Drive approximately 8 km to top of hill where Ormiston Road becomes Sandstone Road. Continue downhill to T junction - Whitford Park Road.
Turn left - 200 yards to Whitford township.
Turn right at roundabout - Maraetai Beach Road.
Approximately 2km turn left into Clifton Road (opposite Whitford Landfill)
Approximately 1.5km down Clifton Road - take left fork to Potts Road.
'Ayrlies' is on the right - 1.5km down. Please park in Garden car park.
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Physical Address: 125 Potts Rd, Whitford
Phone: 09 530 8706
Email: garden@ayrlies.co.nz
Website: https://ayrlies.co.nz/home/
