Horticulture facilitator Lynne Warden certainly knows about the extremes of gardening.
Several years ago she gave up a substantial Southland garden – 2 hectares in fact – and moved to Bannockburn, in Central Otago. “I went from the rich soils and temperate climate, 200 roses and lots of specimen trees to the dry. Up here it’s even hard to grow a lawn.”
But the cold, dry winters – with severe frosts - and hot, equally dry summers haven’t curbed Lynne’s passion for gardening. “Water here is like gold, but you can still have a great garden. It’s just a matter of choosing dry-climate plants like you’d find in most arid areas, such as in Australia.”
The lure of working outside is one reason Lynne enjoys gardening. “I also like creating something that’s mine. And it doesn’t have to stay – you can tweak it.”
Her green fingers developed a long time ago when she started work at Blakes Garden Centre, near Invercargill. “I mostly learned on the job, although I did do some study.” Within time, Lynne was tutoring hydroponics and glasshouse control for SIT, at the Invercargill City Council parks’ nursery.
“I had quite a few students interested in hydroponics – some of them for reasons other than gardening.”
She’s been with SIT2LRN for six years and loves the fact that, even though she’s moved, her job has gone with her. “It’s true, some students face challenges through distance learning. For some, it’s the isolation; for others it’s a lack of computer skills.”
Lynne says she enjoys receiving feedback and although most students study horticulture for the knowledge to apply to their own gardens, several have gone on to jobs within the industry.
And what does a gardener do in her spare time when she’s not gardening? “I love my horses, the cavalcade and going for treks.”
Oh, and building a house and looking after 80 fruit trees including apricots, plums, apples, greengages and a mulberry.
Fancy a lie down anyone?