Cambridge Garden Festival 2026 Gardens
Saturday Gardens
A Joyful Garden Full of Roses and Colour
Dr Sarkaw Randhawa and Jujhar Singh Randhawa have created a joyful haven they describe as their happy place—a therapeutic retreat filled with colour and more than 600 roses, including a spectacular rose‑lined driveway. Their garden blends beauty and family life, featuring vibrant plantings alongside a large purpose‑built play area for their children. It’s a warm, welcoming space where colour, fragrance and happiness come together.
A Plantsman’s Paradise of Diversity and Discovery
Richard and Sarah’s expansive garden truly offers something for everyone, with more than 1,600 different trees, shrubs, roses and perennials creating a rich tapestry of colour and form. Described by Richard as a “plant person’s garden,” it unfolds through several distinct yet seamlessly connected garden areas, each offering its own character and vista. A passionate plantsman, Richard has meticulously recorded the botanical names of every specimen, tending the garden during regular retreats from his work in Auckland. The result is a beautifully curated, ever‑changing landscape that invites visitors to explore and delight in its diversity.
A Country Garden with Timeless Character
Set on an expansive property, this garden reveals itself gradually as you move up the drive, opening into sweeping lawns framed by varied, free‑flowing plantings. In the far corner stands a grand character home—built in 1916 and relocated from Palmerston North 11 years ago—looking as though it has always belonged on the site. Behind it, a grape‑covered courtyard adds charm, while a small cottage at the entrance is also open for visitors to explore. With its rambling style, generous lawn, and welcoming atmosphere, this garden offers a relaxed stop on the Festival trail, complete with Devonshire teas available to enjoy in the grounds and an antiques and brocante market stall operating on site.
A Small‑Site Masterpiece of Craft and Creativity
Luke’s garden is a striking example of what can be achieved on a small site. Developed over six years, it showcases clever design and craftsmanship, with pebble inlays, lime‑fine pathways for permeability, and a multitude of thoughtful features that reflect Luke’s skill as a professional landscaper. Every inch of space has been used to create a visually engaging, beautifully detailed garden that offers both interest and a tranquil place to relax and enjoy its ambience.
A Restored Oasis of Native Beauty and Serenity
Renate’s “Town Oasis” is a peaceful sanctuary alive with birds, animals and abundant plant life, shaped through years of dedicated restoration. Majestic natives—totara, kauri, mānuka and pūriri—anchor a garden where decades‑old plantings blend seamlessly with new growth. Once overwhelmed by ivy, jasmine and privet, the property has been lovingly rehabilitated, with recycled and upcycled materials woven throughout, including brick flooring salvaged from the old police house. By resisting development and honouring the land’s original character, Renate has created a serene, sustainable haven that feels timeless and deeply cared for.
A Rambling Country Garden Full of Charm and Discovery
Jan and Bill are beloved regulars in the festival, welcoming visitors into their enchanting one‑acre country garden. Shaded by mature trees and constantly evolving under Jan’s creative hand, the garden is a hydrangea lover’s dream, with 190 individually named varieties and more than 400 hydrangeas planted throughout. Hostas and Japanese maples add texture and colour, creating a rambling, restful landscape that is a pleasure to wander. Jan will be on hand to share her extensive gardening knowledge, especially her expertise in hydrangeas, and plants will be available for purchase. This is a garden where you notice something new every time you visit.
A Tranquil Country Retreat Two Decades in the Making
Anne and Steve Spelchan have spent the past two decades shaping their one‑acre country garden into a tranquil, colour‑filled retreat. Anne, who is in the garden most days, creates a kaleidoscope of seasonal colour, while mature trees frame the borders and offer welcome summer shade. Expertly maintained lawns by Steve provide a crisp backdrop that enhances the rambling beds and ever‑changing plant combinations. Instantly relaxing and a pleasure to wander, this is a garden where the ambience reflects years of care, creativity and genuine love for the land.
A Designer’s Garden of Style and Precision
Juliet Coleman may be an award‑winning interior designer, but her creative flair extends beautifully into the garden. A sweeping curved driveway sets the scene, leading to a home framed by flowing grasses, sculpted shrubs and elegant topiaries. Around the house, immaculate potager gardens, manicured trees, and abundant vegetables and flowers create a series of refined outdoor rooms. Every detail is considered, every space beautifully presented. This is a pristine, stylish country garden well worth exploring.
A Garden of Abundance Designed for All Who Live Above and Below the Soil
Rachel Chamberlain and David Oldershaw have created a garden of interconnected “rooms,” blending native plantings, food gardens, flower borders, open spaces, and practical areas for seed raising and composting. Their focus is generous and purposeful: food for the family, for the pollinators, and for all life above and below the ground. Once a blank paddock with only a few small trees at the edges, the garden is now brimming with growth, character and productivity—yet still evolving, with more to come.
Sunday Gardens
A Lakeside Country Garden of Beauty and Year‑Round Interest
Joanne and Jonathan have created an expansive 3ha country garden, on the edge of Lake Karapiro. There are sweeping English borders, roses, fruit and vegetable beds, newly developed ponds with native plantings and a hidden lakeside bay offering loads of interest. Guided by Joanne’s love of structure, and softened with beautiful blooms, the garden has been designed with the future in mind. Trees have been planted to allow room for growth and something is always in flower. It’s a peaceful, beautifully tended landscape that invites visitors to wander and linger.
A Hillside Haven Crafted with Vision and Heart
Tiverton sits above Lake Karapiro with views to Maungatautari, its once‑bare hillside transformed by Sue and Peter Britton into a vibrant, structured garden. Formal buxus and white roses lead to colourful borders of perennials, flowering shrubs, and cool shaded pockets of hostas and hydrangeas. A steep former paddock has become a resilient, drought‑tolerant landscape with arctotis, grevillea, and a dry riverbed of farm‑collected rock. With hardy planting, mulching, and new additions like a potager and young orchard, Tiverton reflects Sue’s lifelong commitment to “the good life” and a deep partnership with the land.
A Peaceful Paradise Revealed Beyond the Trees
Coralie and Chris describe their garden as a delightful surprise: after driving through the tree‑lined entrance, the space opens into what they call their own little piece of paradise. When they bought the property in 2019, a well‑established, structured garden was already in place, but they have since opened up the vistas and shaped it to reflect their style. The result is a peaceful, beautifully manicured haven that feels both welcoming and serene.
A Joyful Wildlife Haven in Soft Pink and White
Once a bare horse paddock in 2020, Toni and Peter have transformed their property into a flourishing haven for birds, bees and butterflies. Designed around the edges of the section for year‑round interest and privacy, the garden is filled with soft pink‑and‑white blooms, abundant seasonal colour, and thoughtful plant choices that support wildlife. Inspired by generations of gardeners in Toni’s family, and shaped with help from friends in the early days, the garden now has layered structure, maturing trees, and constant movement from busy pollinators. It’s a joyful, generous space where flowers fill the home, food is shared, and nature thrives.
A Hilltop Homestead Garden with Timeless Charm
Lauriston Park, an Arvida lifestyle village, offers something special for this year’s Festival—a beautifully maintained lifestyle retirement village set on Cambridge’s highest point, with sweeping views across Pirongia and the Te Miro hills. At its heart sits the iconic Victorian homestead, Whare Ora, surrounded by elegant gardens that will be open for visitors to explore. Festival‑goers can also enjoy refreshments available for purchase inside the homestead, making this a charming and distinctive stop on the trail.
A Peaceful Paradise Revealed Beyond the Trees
Coralie and Chris describe their garden as a delightful surprise: after driving through the tree‑lined entrance, the space opens into what they call their own little piece of paradise. When they bought the property in 2019, a well‑established, structured garden was already in place, but they have since opened up the vistas and shaped it to reflect their style. The result is a peaceful, beautifully manicured haven that feels both welcoming and serene.
A Historic Princes Street Garden Poised for Renewal
Helen and Ken’s recently purchased, heritage‑listed Princes Street property is set for an exciting transformation. Helen—well known to Festival visitors for her beautifully crafted garden at 80 Hall Street in 2024—has already begun shaping a new vision for this historic site. With her proven talent for creating elegant, high‑standard gardens, visitors will be among the first to see the results of her redevelopment when the Festival opens in November.
A Whimsical Small‑Site Garden Full of Creativity and Charm
Ruth and Dennis have transformed their new‑build property, moved into in May 2025, into a charming and whimsical garden full of character. Despite its modest size, the space is cleverly divided into a productive vegetable area, a peaceful spot to sit and relax, and a dry riverbed accented with impressive boulders craned in before the house was built. Dennis’s handcrafted garden art adds personality throughout, and together they’ve created a delightful, creative garden that proves you can pack a lot of beauty into a small site.
A Wildlife Sanctuary Where Nature Truly Thrives
Kirstine and Dev have created a garden designed first and foremost to support wildlife, offering height, shelter, layered planting and year‑round food for birds, butterflies and insects. Their garden even provides a resting place for migrating birds, while bumblebees tuck themselves into the foxgloves at night. A pond at the back adds colour and movement, attracting tūī, swallows and dragonflies, its surrounding rocks sourced from a Pūtāruru farm. The vegetable garden feeds both the household and the many creatures that visit. Guided by the principle that a garden should nurture wildlife while offering visitors a soothing, beautiful space to enjoy, this is a sanctuary where nature truly thrives.
