River paradise nine years in making

Upokongaro resident Dallas Murdoch with family pet Rigby Ponsonby Moughan.

Dallas Murdoch's garden at Upokongaro has been nine years in the growing.

The unkempt garden she and husband Mike Moughan inherited when buying the house has undergone a major transformation.

"It gives me endless pleasure," she says, as she gives a guided tour through the cottage garden that has grown from cuttings.

"I never throw anything away. Everything is grown from one plant, and a lot of the trees are from friends."

Ms Murdoch tries not to water and uses a lot of mulch in the garden which keeps the soil moist and the weeds at bay.

In the makeover, all the old roses were pulled out and replaced with more, and most, like the delicately-perfumed Wise Woman rose that greets visitors at the gate, are scented.

Mr Moughan attached a piece of timber to a rake which Ms Murdoch pulled behind her to level the new lawn. He also dug the holes for the trees and rolled them into place.

A fun kinetic sculpture - a trio of birds on a balancing perch - frames an informal garden path.

Beyond the cottage garden, Ms Murdoch opens a gate that leads down to an expansive area above the Makirikiri Stream that runs along the bottom of the garden.

Australian blackwoods are dotted in the alluvial soil, and three redwoods command their place in this wonderland of reclaimed garden.

Mr Moughan says his wife is always building the Burma Railway - steps which Ms Murdoch has built into the bank that will give her a foothold as she reclaims more gardening area, and continues the path through her plantings.

Fantails dart in and out of the vegetation as their song fills the still country air. Ms Murdoch says the tui also love it here.

There are signs of the last flood that reached a good height into the riverbank garden. The couple call it a boost, with the river silt a welcome addition to the garden bed. "I am always looking at stopping the erosion of the river," she says, and points out an area where she was roped from above to gain access to a lower level of the bank.

Ms Murdoch has planted 150 toetoe to stem the erosion, and cuttings are also strategically placed along this area to help stabilise the bank. A bamboo grove is thinned so as to not get too heavy, then they are used as stakes.

Her time in the garden is therapeutic and keeps her fit, saving her from the gym.

SH4 runs along the front of the garden and the plantings serve as a natural buffer to any traffic noise.

Ms Murdoch has also cleared the bank across the stream to which she will add plants, making a colourful entry to the Makirikiri Valley.

And across SH4 next to the Whanganui River, she has planted the picnic area and painted the picnic tables bright colours. "There is always somebody there. We see people stop and within an hour have seen three different groups of people sit at the tables."