Jo Wakelin is a horticulturist, plantswoman and designer from Central Otago whose landscape has been featured in several books including Wild – The Naturalistic Garden, The Garden – Elements and Styles and the new book Visionary – Gardens and Landscapes for Our Future. Her garden was also featured on the cover of the March 2024 issue of UK’s Gardens Illustrated magazine, one of a few New Zealand gardens to appear in this publication.

Jo believes it is time to rethink our use of water in landscaping, and is passionate about low-impact, environmentally conscious landscape design. Jo’s resilient dry garden has been established on a windswept, gravelly site and flourishes without irrigation. She continues to research and trial species to select plants, both native and exotic, that will stand up to the challenging and changing conditions of a summer-dry climate where rainfall can be as low as 280mm per annum. 

In Jo’s wild garden, there are minimal inputs, and gravel paths weave through the mounds and curves of the garden, while hand-collected local stone and rusty sculptures blend with the dry mountainous surrounds. Jo also grows four hectares of cherries, runs propagation workshops for catchment groups, and is involved in wetland restoration projects. 

At both the Friday and Saturday sessions, Jo will highlight the successful and beautiful fragrant plants that flourish without irrigation in the hot, dry summers and cold, frosty winters of Central Otago.

Don’t miss out on this fascinating talk with Jo as she explains the practical techniques she has learned through trial and error for a successful summer-dry garden, and how embracing the dry conditions can inspire a positive change in use of water in landscapes and gardens.