Gardener Interview # 2

Amy Roberts of Villaleigh Plants

Amy Roberts is the creator of Villaleigh Plants one of my go to for wonderful plants which my bees love to forage. Amy specialises in perennials which she sells online in a very thoughtfully created website with shop sections focused on colour or type of plants. She makes it easier to shop. Her selection of plants is varied and of a high quality. It is safe to say that I recommend Amy’s plants and hope one day to visit her garden and nursery on one of her open days. Amy also recently picked up the camera and it has been a delight to see her capture her garden via her Instagram feed. It looks beautiful. Since I am yet to sit with Amy and have a cup of tea on the terrace and talk about the beauty of Claire Takacs photos, I flick some questions to her to answer which she has kindly done so. Amy also shared some tips on autumn plantings which you can read here. Enjoy.

Amy, tell us about your garden? 

My garden is approximately 2.5-3 acres on a sloping section.  We are fortunate to have lovely topsoil on a free draining site.  The garden is 15 years old and was a bare paddock when we purchased the land. 

Do you have a garden style?

I don’t think I have a garden style as I think this would restrict what I want to do in the garden.  I love learning about all sorts of plants from cactus to perennials, shrubs, grasses, trees, succulents etc and I think this is reflected in the variety of plants that I have incorporated into the garden.  Maybe the style is based on seasonal variation (if we could call that a style!) and the garden moves and breathes with the seasons and the goal being to have year round interest.

Did you start your garden with a set vision as to what it would look like? 

The garden plans were general outlines on paper that started in my head before the digger arrived to break ground.  The original ideas were about the front garden and the driveway.  The front garden started before the house was built and 15 years later it is continually evolving and changing.  On numerous occasions over the years I have had the digger back to carve out new gardens, ponds or to revamp some of the original ideas.  I think that is the magic of gardening as an art form – it is never set in stone, it has changed alongside the growth in my own knowledge and as my interest (or obsession!) with plants has blossomed.

Tell us a bit about your business Villaleigh plants.

Villaleigh Plants is a perennial nursery with the majority of sales being through the website.  Perennial Plants are shipped throughout New Zealand.  The business began as a way to do what I love in a way that allowed me to work around the needs of my son, Patrick, after his treatment for Cancer in 2014-2016 and again in 2020.  I needed to be based from home with flexibility being key.

How do you manage to keep your business out of your time in the garden or is it a happy blend of your business inspiring your garden and vice versa.  

I think the two complement each other; the garden allows me to asses/critique the performance of the perennials that I sell and the nursery provides me with an abundance of plants for my garden.  During Open Days or when I have visiting groups coming to the nursery they can also immerse themselves in the garden and see how the various plants perform.  But ultimately the garden is for me and my family, the meandering paths and incorporation of huts and play houses, slides and seats was with kids in mind. 

What is your favourite time of the gardening year?

I don’t know if I can pick!  There are precious moments that come with each season.  The flowering abundance of the late summer/autumn perennials; the stillness of winter and the exciting emergence of spring are all my favourites!

What is your favourite gardening read?

Second to my addiction to plants is my addiction to gardening/plant books.  In regards to the nursery side, the book that taught me about propagation and was my constant go-to was Carol Kleins “Grow your own Garden”.  When it comes to the garden, the books that I go back to over and over again for inspiration are:  Dreamscapes; Australian Dreamscapes and Wild – all by Claire Takacs.

What is the best gardening tool that you have? 

My small spade that is not too heavy and my eurosnips that are fantastic for deadheading and for taking cuttings.

What is your favourite go to plant which you would love to see more people growing?

Oh golly there are so many!  I love heleniums, they give great colour and add height to the garden from summer into autumn, the bees love them and they are easy to divide and split in spring.

What is the best gardening advice that someone has given you?  

“If you don’t like it, move it or pull it out”  This could apply to a particular plant or perhaps where you have placed a sculpture in the garden – if it’s bugging you then change it!  This advice was from Jimi Blake (Hunting Brook Gardens, Ireland) through the online course I started last year with him.

Name a garden that you would like to visit and why? 

Fishermans Bay Garden – Akaroa, because Jill has created such an amazing space with so many different plants that I long to see it in the flesh, not just pouring over it on Instagram!

Name a gardener that inspires you? 

There are so many that it is hard to pick just one and each year that I learn and grow as a gardener I am meeting and discovering more gardens and gardeners that continue to inspire!  But I think at the moment it would have to be Jimi Blake from Hunting Brook Gardens, Ireland.  He is such an amazing plantsman, the course I am doing has opened my eyes to so many new plants and it also challenges me as a gardener to critique my garden from all angles, analyzing the combinations of plants I have and look at what is working and what is not.

What are your garden goals for the coming garden year? 

This year is all about revamping!  I have some areas that just aren’t cutting it, so they are getting a makeover.  I don’t have a particular plan for the makeover, but I know what I want to remove from the space and then the rest of the plan will evolve from there based on the impact/purpose I want that area to have and right plant, right place.

Name a dream plant that you love that you would love to have in your garden? 

Alliums and Foxtail lilies (eremurus) – they look so amazing in the gardens of England/Ireland etc but just don’t work in our Waikato climate.

Amy also sends out a wonderful newsletter so sign up here. For more Amy check our her interview where she talks about autumn plantings. I’m off to order some more plants.