KRISTIN LAMMERTING

Introducing Kristin Lammerting - Owner of Palmco

KRISTIN Lammerting adores gardens, so much so she bought an established subtropical palm garden in Kerikeri. Now she's working closely with the Palmco team to literally grow the business and she knows about plants and gardens.

Most of the year Kristin, with husband Udo, lives in the German city Cologne. There they had transformed a hectare of bare land in city's heart into an English style garden. Kristin also writes about gardens. The 15-year project to create their englischer garten with its 13 themed 'rooms' inspired her 2002 book An English Garden in Cologne and her passion sparked a more general work English-style Gardens, Inspiration and Practice.

Hard on the heels of the publication last year of her book Knot Gardens, is her latest, Inspirational Gardens of New Zealand. It features 34 New Zealand gardens, from Butler Point in the north to Larnach Castle in the south, and of course Palmco. The book was originally published in 2008 in Germany and targets German readers who have long been enthralled with New Zealand as a slice of paradise. So popular was this book with German readers that it was awarded "Best Garden Travel Book 2008", to follow the English edition was awarded the New Zealand Herald Book of the year in 2009. Kristin rates New Zealand as number two in the world for gardens, after England... "New Zealanders know their plants – this is the garden paradise of the world," she says. "And I love the fact that in New Zealand everything grows so much faster."

The couple first toured New Zealand gardens in 2001, deciding they wanted to spend more time here and to escape the bleak German winters. They fell in love with the Bay of Islands where they bought a bush-clad, 35ha block. To prove Kristin was committed as a new resident, she wanted to make a business investment in New Zealand. So she thought, why not buy a garden that specialises in mature palms and subtropical plants? Palmco in Kerikeri, was not an emotional buy: Kristin knew she was making a wise investment. After its purchase, Palmco took out the supreme title at the Ellerslie Flower Show in 2007 in the retail section.

This year, the New Zealand Gardens Trust awarded the 26-ha property the status of Garden of National Significance. Kristen grew up on a farm in north of Germany. Her mother was a keen gardener and so Kristin dreamed of owning a large garden. "I had no plan in my life, just to go fast then life would offer an opportunity". And the universe delivered: she met Udo. He enjoyed gardens as much as she did. The couple spend a week in England each year visiting, on average, 20 gardens every time. "I don't bother with churches or with castles, just gardens," she says. The keen gardener also flies to the Chelsea Flower Show every year. Kristin has also been hands-on in the transformation of the display gardens at Palmco. Started 21 years ago by the original owners, the spectacular grounds with their unique collection of subtropical plants, will be marketed as a venue for weddings and other functions. More land has also been developed so a wide variety of trees, other than just palms, can be grown and sold at any size throughout New Zealand.

The company has set up an Auckland office, and the design and landscaping divisions have expanded. This ensures the company can offer complete packages for any size project or budget, whether it's a low-maintenance palm garden that provides an instant canopy, or classic and contemporary landscapes. Kristin is a prolific garden writer and has many more books in progress and planned for the future. To see and hear more about Kristin and her work please click on the links below

Kristin Lammertings Website for her garden in Cologne
www.englischer-garten-koeln.de

Click Herefor Award winning books written by Kristin Lammerting

Click Here to view artical from the Life and Leisure Magazine

Click Here to view Radio NZ Interview with Kristin Lammerting