- Greg Rines’ amazing contributions to public gardens in the region.

Greg Rine has many fans amongst the horticulture set, having recently retired after decades of managing some of our country’s most beloved regional parks and gardens.

Public gardens need to be the heart of people’s lifestyles, says a man who spent his career tending and managing them. For the past 33 years, Greg Rine has put his energy in Hollard Gardens, Tūpare and Pukeiti, all in Taranaki. “We need to make them vital and indispensable assets to our community,” he says.

Greg has stepped down as Taranaki Regional Council’s regional gardens manager, but don’t suggest he has retired. “I’m in transition,” he says, sounding like the move from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Which would be appropriate because he and wife, Sue, live off the grid on a lifestyle farm at Te Popo.

Sitting in the lounge looking out over back country hills towards Taranaki Maunga, the 60-year-old talks with fervour about the three gardens.

“Today, with the lifestyle we have, these gardens are an important form of relaxation, also a place to learn and a place for celebrating our history,” he says.

In his own past, Greg gained a Diploma in Amenity Horticulture from Massey University in 1984. While studying, he gardened at the university’s

Palmerston North campus. “That was a very interesting plant collection there.”

His first gardening job was for parks and reserves in his hometown of Marton, but his green-fingered roots go back to growing a vegetable garden with his mum, he explains.

After his studies, Greg became the campus manager of Flock House, an agricultural and farm training school in Bulls, a small town west of Palmerston North. That’s where he met Sue, who was farm manager.

In 1989, he became head gardener at Hollards, which was then under the care of the QEII National Trust after Bernie and Rose Hollard – local dairy farmers and passionate plantspeople – gifted their amazing property and plant collection to the nation in 1982.

In 1985, the now-defunct Taranaki United Council funded the QEII Trust to buy Tūpare, an Arts and Craftsinspired property featuring a Chapman Taylor house and grounds set off by elegant borders, majestic trees, garden rooms and a sculpted hillside. It is the former home of Sir Russell and Lady Matthews.

Greg worked solely at Hollards from 1989 to 1994 and was then promoted to gardens manager for both Hollards and Tūpare.

The Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) took ownership of Hollards and Tūpare in 2002, the same year the organisation named Greg as regional gardens manager. His job expanded in 2010, when the TRC took control of Pukeiti, an internationally renowned rhododendron sanctuary in the heart of a native rainforest.

“I was there for the artistry. I was there because I loved working and being in gardens, and creating a special atmosphere. Simple as that really.”

He talks of each garden with enthusiasm, refusing to say which garden he’s most fond of.

However, he has previously admitted falling in love with Hollards, a place he once called home. From 2000 to 2006, Greg and Sue lived on site in the old homestead with their four children.

During his long career in amenity gardening, he has always been learning. “During the time of the QEII Trust, I was having the time and opportunity to understand the gardens through the people,” he says.

While working at the Kaponga garden, Greg came to know Bernie and Rose Hollard and through his involvement at Tūpare, he spent time with

Lady Matthews and her family.

He also worked closely with the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust, always made up of colourful characters passionate about horticulture.

“That talking point helps mould your thinking. You need to understand why these gardens are so special and why they are now public gardens,” he says. “It’s critical to remember where they began. If you lose the spirit of the garden, it will be hard to get it back. It can be hard to put your finger on it when a garden has lost its way.”

Caring for and managing public gardens comes down to five key ingredients, he believes: understanding the legacy, creating community, adequate resourcing, having a vision for the future and, of course, passion.

Greg believes everyone on public gardening teams must have the latter. “If they don’t, it soon shows.”

Pukeiti and Tūpare, and in a small way Hollards, are supported by passionate volunteers. “They are an important part of the operation and give a sense of community ownerships and being part of something special,” Greg says. “We were always looking for volunteers. Everyone had something to offer – not just pulling weeds. It’s been special to create that community and relevance.”

The paid garden staff at the three public spaces have been outstanding, Greg says, and now he’s happy for someone new to take over the leadership role.

That person is Stuart Robertson, the former New Plymouth District Council manager parks operations.

“Personally, I really liked quitting, but it was tough to say goodbye to everyone,” Greg says. “But it was time for me to make a change and create new challenges.”

Now he’s a forestry consultant, farmer and lifestyler, content living in his and Sue’s eco-friendly passive solar house, which has a compostable toilet.

“We designed it,” he says of the home. “The kids and I milled a lot of the timber and we helped the builders make the house.”

On the public stage, his legacy is leaving three extremely different gardens in fine form. The trio are highly rated by the New Zealand Gardens Trust – Hollards and Pukeiti both have five stars, meaning they are considered gardens of national significance.

But to Greg’s delight, in 2019, Tūpare was awarded six stars, the highest possible rating, which means it’s a garden of international significance.

“Quality gardens are important food for the soul,” Greg says.

“Today, with the lifestyle we have, these gardens are an important form of relaxation, also a place to learn and a place for celebrating our history.”