Ayrlies Garden

Ayrlies Garden is a large country garden near Whitford, southeast of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island. Created by Beverly McConnell and her late husband Malcolm McConnell, the garden is regarded as one of New Zealand’s best-known private gardens and has been described as a quintessential New Zealand garden. The New Zealand Gardens Trust has awarded it a six-star rating, the organisation’s highest garden classification. The garden began in 1964, when the McConnells moved to a largely bare, three-acre coastal property with their young family. The site had heavy clay soil and was initially a difficult foundation for horticulture. Over time, the couple developed a broader landscape of lawns, informal borders, ponds, waterways and mature trees. The property expanded to approximately 12 acres in 1978, when three major ponds were added. From 2000, a further 35 acres of swamp flats below the homestead were progressively transformed into a wetland landscape, including an approximately eight-acre lake. This lower landscape connects the garden visually and ecologically with the nearby Hauraki Gulf. Ayrlies is characterised by an informal, strongly planted style rather than a rigid formal layout. Colour is used prominently, including a border known for its intense warm-toned planting. Other areas feature roses, clematis and perennial plants, while the region’s warm, wet climate supports a substantial collection of subtropical and tender plants. Examples mentioned in descriptions of the garden include Petrea, Alocasia, bromeliads, vireya rhododendrons and Ficus dammaropsis. Large trees, including liquidambar, swamp cypress and pin oak, provide much of the garden’s scale and structure; they have developed rapidly in a climate with rare frosts and annual rainfall exceeding 1.3 metres. The landscape includes several structures around the main house, among them a small gazebo or sitting shelter known as a “sitooterie”. Consistency in planting design and material use helps unify the property despite its varied garden rooms, water features and wetland areas. The garden’s name comes from a farm in Scotland associated with Malcolm McConnell’s grandfather. Ayrlies Garden operates as a visitor attraction and is open to the public on weekdays for an admission fee. Its identity is based on the combination of long-term private stewardship, New Zealand-specific landscape character, mature plant collections and public access. It is best understood as a horticultural destination and garden heritage site rather than a conventional consumer-products brand.

Ayrlies Garden was established in 1964 by Beverly McConnell and Malcolm McConnell after the couple moved with their young family to a coastal property near Whitford, southeast of Auckland. The original site covered about three acres and was largely bare paddock. Its heavy clay soil presented a demanding starting point, requiring sustained work to create productive planting areas and a coherent garden landscape. The garden developed gradually through the McConnells’ long-term involvement. They shaped the property around broad lawns, informal planted borders, ponds, waterways and groups of trees, using a consistent palette of plants and construction materials to connect the different parts of the site. The warm and wet climate, with infrequent frosts and more than 1.3 metres of annual rainfall, allowed the garden to support both familiar temperate plants and a wide range of subtropical species. By 1978, the property had expanded to approximately 12 acres. Three large ponds added water, reflected the surrounding landscape and helped establish the garden’s characteristic relationship with waterways. The planting became increasingly mature and varied, including roses, clematis, perennials and strong colour-focused borders, as well as plants such as bromeliads, vireya rhododendrons, Petrea, Alocasia and Ficus dammaropsis. Large liquidambar, swamp cypress and pin oak trees became important structural elements as they grew rapidly in the local conditions. A further phase began in 2000, when approximately 35 acres of swamp flats below the homestead were converted into a wetland landscape. This project included an eight-acre lake and extended the garden’s environmental and visual connection toward the Hauraki Gulf. The resulting property combines intensively planted garden areas around the homestead with larger-scale water and wetland environments. The garden takes its name from a farm in Scotland associated with Malcolm McConnell’s grandfather. Malcolm McConnell was a co-founder of the New Zealand engineering and construction company McConnell Dowell, but Ayrlies developed as a separate horticultural and landscape undertaking led by the McConnells. Beverly McConnell continued to be associated with the garden after Malcolm’s death. Ayrlies became recognised nationally as a significant New Zealand garden. The New Zealand Gardens Trust gave it a six-star rating, its highest classification, and descriptions of the property have presented it as an especially characteristic example of New Zealand garden design. The site now functions as a public garden attraction, opening to visitors on weekdays for a fee. Its significance rests on the accumulated result of more than five decades of planting, landscape construction, tree growth and wetland development.

• 2000

  Wetland development began

  [1]Ayrlies Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  Work began to transform approximately 35 acres of swamp flats below the homestead into a wetland landscape connected by an approximately eight-acre lake.

• 1978

  Property expanded and major ponds added

  [1]Ayrlies Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  The garden expanded to approximately 12 acres, with three large ponds becoming important features of the landscape.

• 1964

  Garden established

  [1]Ayrlies Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  Beverly and Malcolm McConnell began developing Ayrlies after moving to a largely bare three-acre coastal property near Whitford with their young family.

• Recognised as a six-star garden

  [1]Ayrlies Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  The New Zealand Gardens Trust rated Ayrlies Garden six stars, its highest garden rating.

A high-profile New Zealand country garden offering an immersive horticultural and landscape experience, distinguished by long-term private development, mature subtropical planting, water features and wetland restoration.

• Garden tourism

  Ayrlies Garden visitor experience

  Paid weekday access to the Ayrlies landscape, including the principal garden around the homestead, lawns, informal planted borders, ponds, waterways, mature trees and associated garden structures.

• Wetland and landscape attraction · 2000

  Ayrlies wetland landscape

  The lower section of the property developed from swamp flats into a wetland environment with a large lake. It extends the garden beyond ornamental planting and creates a broader landscape relationship with the Hauraki Gulf.

1. 1Ayrlies Gardenen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Ayrlies Garden official websiteayrlies.co.nz