Behind the blooms in Queenstown

With plenty flowering throughout the year, the established gardens provide an ever-changing backdrop to village life. Each season brings something different to enjoy, from fresh bursts of colour to the quieter beauty of the gardens between flowering periods. And when the growing season kicks in, there’s plenty to keep the gardening team busy.

“People are surprised how fast the gardens can grow here during the growing season,” says Head of Gardening Pablo Scola. Pablo has been looking after the gardens at Arvida Queenstown Country Club retirement community for three years, bringing with him an agricultural background from Argentina, where he studied agriculture and worked on farms growing crops and looking after cattle. Maintaining the community gardens means keeping on top of all that growth, including regularly shaping the hedges and caring for the flowering plants.

Some residents also enjoy looking after their own garden areas, adding their own touch to the village landscape. It’s a chance to spend time outdoors and make a small part of the community feel like their own, alongside the wider gardens tended to by the village team. And for Pablo and the gardening team, the response from residents makes the work worthwhile. “The residents are very happy with what we do with the gardens,” he says.