b'featuregarden a gate torememberA structured garden created by an avid DIYer bursts with pops of Resene colour.W hen Meg calls her Hurunui home a do- distraction tactic. We didnt have a brass razoo toOpposite: Megs striking up,shejustmightbemakingtherubtogether.Thehousewasrundownwhenwegate in the escallonia hedge understatementoftheyear.Whenshemoved in, and we couldnt afford to change anything.is painted in bold Resene and her husband, Tom, moved in 30 years ago, theI thought, How can I deflect attention away from thePoppy to match two planters she already owned.housethen a little brown cottagewas so runhouse? I know, Ill do a garden.down, Meg felt as if the paint on the walls was theAnd so, Meg, a self-taught gardener who grew upAbove: Megs garden has onlythingholdingthestructuretogether.Thein central Sydney, mowed a circle in the paddock andexpanded during the 30 windows were covered with masking tape to preventcreated a lawn and border of perennial and annualyears she and Tom have the glass from blowing out thanks to the prevailingflowers. As she was on a budget, she planted whateverbeen on the property. Tom northwest wind. And the gardenwhat garden? she could beg, borrow or steal from friends. made the steel planters at was just a few trees and hedges and a tired grassIn between her work as a rural business managerthe entranceway which are planted with thujas. To tennis court. and raising her two sons Dan and Tim, now 24 andgive terracotta or wooden It was a mess, but I was still so pleased to be there27, Meg worked on the garden. Tom was too busyplanters an aged steel as Id never had my own house before, says Meg. on the farm to be very involved and left Meg to it.look, paint with Resene FX Three decades of hard yakka later, Meg and TomsBut he was nervous every time she went out into theFaux Rust Effect.home and garden are now a place in which the couplepaddockeach time, the garden seemed to expand can unwind.before his eyes. top tipThey took over the house and land, situated onThe structural garden started taking shape 20 yearsIf you cant find just the one part of a larger family sheep and cattle farm, inago once their children were a little older. Perennialsright colour furniture to 1991, when they were newlyweds. They had 11 boxesthat required constant dead-heading were switchedsuit your palette, paint it of clothes and possessions and no furniture. The sadfor less-demanding roses and natives. The knot gardenyourself. Use Resene brown home has since had a bold exterior colourin front of the house was a bit of an experiment. Lustacryl semi-gloss for an change to Resene Napa and Resene Ironsand and wasWhen I first did the knot garden, it was a disaster.easy-to-wipe clean finish or extendedfollowingtheKaiko-uraearthquakeafterIdidntknowanythingaboutusingplumblinesorResene Lumbersider for a one section cracked in half. And the garden has beencreating a straight hedge, so they were as crooked assubtler low sheen finish. If transformed from pony paddocks into a wonderland;a dogs hind legs. But as the hedges established, Iyou really want it to pop, use Resene Enamacryl gloss roses, rhododendrons, natives and hedges are shapedcarved them into something a bit straighter, she says. to accentuate the boldness into rooms, knot gardens and archways. When MegIbelongtoagrouponFacebookcalledNZof your colour.andTomopentheirgardentothepublicattheGardening on a Budget. People say my garden doesntReseneHurunui Garden Festival, visitors love to explore thelook like it was done on the cheap, but this is 30 yearsIronsandgrounds and see whats behind the bold Resene Poppyof budgeting and letting the garden evolve.Resenegarden gate. Going against the advice of a very experiencedNapaMeg didnt set out to create a formal, structuredgardener friend, Meg painted the gate beneath theResenegardenher green-fingered endeavours began as aescallonia arch in a bold red called Resene Poppy. Poppy36 37'