Peter Jackson reminiscing in 2015

The brook with lawn right up to the edge. as Peter remembers mowing it with a cylinder mower

Peter was gardening at the Leura Gardens Resort from 1972 -1975. He was 16 years old when he started. Alan Kopp was the head gardener. Peter says that Alan came to the Resort after working with Ib Sorensen. Alan taught Peter all he knows about hedging. The many hedges were beautifully maintained and all with hand shears. They used cylinder mowers on all the lawns and had two, one for the putting greens and the front lawn and another for the rest of the lawns.

The hedges still carefully trimmed in 1996. Photographed by Michael Small.

 

 

The lawns and hedges took up a lot of their gardening time and were very hard work.

The North garden terraces were in place when Peter arrived as was the concrete path. The squash courts were built while he was here.

 

 

 

The espaliered Malus floribunda with extruded mortar terracing behind

 

The Director Ted Stevens  requested the bricklayer building the terraces leave the mortar extruding from between the bricks.

 

 

The big magnolia photographed in 1996 by Michael Small

 

The big Magnolia was in place when Peter arrived. It had been dug up by Ib Sorensen from another Leura garden and stored for a few months in sawdust at Sorensen’s nursery while the terraces were built.

 

 

Peter said he and a truck driver would go down to the Lawson chicken farm and load up the truck with chook poo for the garden. We still use chook poo on the garden in pelleted form.

Alan Kopp left the Resort a year before Peter. Peter then left to continue green keeping around the mountains golf courses. Peter is now the gardener at Mountain Heritage.

We have a typed list of “Plants of Special Interest” from this time with the manager listed as Mr Baverstock and the gardener as Alan Kopp.