History of Nikau Hill

Our history is not traditionally a nursery one but was teaching for me, Doreen, and farming for Derek. However we have both been keen gardeners for many years. I remember enjoying holidays with my dear old Granny, collecting leek, parsnip and onion seeds for her next season’s plants. Derek has always enjoyed the vegetable garden. In my case I have gradually become an addict with Derek’s help we have made four gardens over our nearly 34 years together. I am a great reader of books! We started in Hawke’s Bay on a very flat, dry, sunny site. There we had two small boys and lots of vegetables.

Then we moved to northern Wairarapa to a wet and windy home farm (summer safe most years) and learned about the value of drainage and shelter and a great country community. There we had our daughter and I discovered the added value of roses to protect the garden from the cricketers. While teaching at the local school I still enjoyed the garden and I inherited a wonderful garden of delphiniums and perennials there.

Then it was on to our lovely big hillside garden, on our 800 acre farm, Nikau Hill, up on the hill tops east of Dannevirke. There the wind could stop you shutting a gate and the citrus could be found 50m away against a fence after a good blow. This of course made for an almost frost-free environment in a tranquil setting. Again we planted more shelter and found the plants that suited. Fiona had her little fox terrier Ace who saw off most of the opossums. We had a marvellous collection of old roses and perennials there and we developed a small pond area. That was where the mail order nursery started over eight years ago.

We made a millennium decision to sell the farm and go into the nursery business full time. That is how we ended up here with four acres and a beautiful barn-like house, on Makirikiri Road just one and a half minutes off State Highway One. We are in the Rangitikei district in the central North Island, five minutes from the small town of Marton. We are 9 minutes from Bulls, 20 minutes from Hunterville and halfway between the two cities of Palmerston North and Wanganui.
In actual fact there have been positives and negatives wherever we have lived as in life. Change is inevitable. Our children are doing their own gardens now and we are the proud grandparents of William and Tessa.

We recommend using our web site for ordering plants as the range is vast.  Many plants are hard to find elsewhere.  We grow far too many species but still enjoy the challenge. 
 

Kind Regards and have a good season in the garden.

Doreen and Derek Higginson