Countrylife

We are a  independent family business set up by tradesmen Landscape Gardener Collin Cowie

Our aim is to provide a wide range of well grown  Camellias at a fair price by using sustainable practices, our nursery and farms are run on these principles but we don't just follow blindly the latest fashions rather keep an open mind to both scientific advancements and  proven old methods , having a father who was a soil scientist and bringing him books like Juliette de Bairachi's home herbal for farm and stable to read taught me to question everything and to see the reasoning  behind it,

We want to create a nursery and garden/farm that makes us happy , that inspires others  to  create  their own gardens , by promoting and educating people about camellias as garden subjects,

We enjoy sharing our knowledge and experience  with others but also like to listen and learn, when I started my apprenticeship my tradesmen Sid Tilley  an old Englishman once said to me Collin, when your  young  you think you know everything about gardening but when your old like me you realise you know XXXX all ( he was northern)  that's the joy of gardening , its a never ending learning experience

We want to develop and maintain  a large collection of Camellias to preserve the biodiversity of the genus in New Zealand, We have been fortunate to have good access to other collections both private and public and  have  been a safety net for these when  they have lost original plants providing replacements  free of charge,                      Camellias seem to be an old subject for conservation but in New Zealand case it is necessary due to the increasing strict but necessary quarantine restrictions, any camellia species or variety that is lost in New Zealand will be  not be replaced