TE KAINGA MARIRE

Te Kainga Marire is a private garden in New Plymouth, North Island of New Zealand.

Te Kainga Marire means ‘peaceful encampment’ in Maori.

This is the name of a garden that has been created on a private property in the middle of New Plymouth, a city of 58,000 on the west coast of the Northern Island in New Zealand.

The owners of the property, Valda Poletti and Dave Clarkson, began work on this garden back in 1972, when it was pretty much wasteland.

Over the years they planted many native trees and bushes, being careful to follow the natural association of plants in the wild as much as possible. The main goal was to make this place a ‘bird-friendly’ garden.

After all those years of efforts they have succeeded. As a proof the ‘tui’ bird has returned to the area. This bird is a large forest-dwelling honeyeater native to New Zealand.

Another ‘proof’ of the owners' success is the recognition bestowed to their garden by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. Te Kainga Marire is listed as a ‘Garden of International Significance’ by the trust.

The garden has also been featured in 2008 in a BBC televised series entitled ‘Around the World in 80 gardens’, by Monty Don. The video is available on YouTube. The garden is open to visitors with appointment. Finally, the garden has its own website.

ABOUT GLOWWORMS:

The owners of this garden have built a special tunnel for glowworms, through which visitors can walk and observe them.

These animals are not real worms but rather insect larvae with bioluminescence. In New Zealand the glowworm is the larva of the fungus gnat, a carnivorous insect that lives in colonies comprising hundreds of individuals. Their light is apparently strong enough to read a book.