Frosty icing: Strong structure is highlighted during winter's harshest months so that a garden's skeleton becomes highly decorative

摘要

When all the leaves have fallen and the perennial borders have died back, winter gardens reveal their essential form. Cashel, at Ohoka on the outskirts of Christchurch, is a magnificent garden in the grand style created over 10 years by John and Pauline Trengrove. In winter when the garden is pared back Cashel reveals its careful design, particularly after snow or frost when the structure is even more clearly emphasised. I visited on the morning of a -10°C sparkling frost almost precisely one year ago and coincidentally on the eve of the Trengroves' departure from what had been a consuming work of love.