Hey Neighbours, check out this grand garden in Greytown!
Craig Thorburn’s stock response to how he comes to be in Greytown is simple. “I got divorced, I fell in love with it, it’s cheaper”. Cheaper it may be, but his little oasis in Main Street looks a million dollars.
The Auckland landscape designer who previously owned a subtropical garden open to the public, now owns Grand Illusions, a botanically inspired decorative garden sculpture and homewares store.
His home, once owned by Sir Hart Udy, twice Mayor of Greytown shows his deft decorative touch, but it is the garden wrought from a former carpark which will delight visitors to the Wairarapa Garden Tour this weekend, raising funds for Pukaha Mount Bruce.
Though small, just 800 sq metres, this garden is grand in stature and Craig has designed a series of themed rooms ranging in style from colonial to contemporary and employing a different colour palette in each.
A three-time gold medal winner at the Ellerslie Flower Show, also collecting two silvers and a bronze, Craig is more than willing to share his expertise. On Saturday, November 10th at 5.30pm he will give a lecture at Longwood, Featherston on what makes good garden design. He plans to make the talk interactive, with ideas and practical advice for how to cope with the space that is relevant to participant’s own gardens.
Tickets are available at Eventfinda, The Grocer Martinborough, Grand Illusions Greytown, Esc Velocity Featherston.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
-
52.7% Human-centred experience and communication
-
14.9% Critical thinking
-
29.6% Resilience and adaptability
-
2.8% Other - I will share below!
Calling South Wairarapa Artists!
Wairarapa Art Trail is inviting local artists to be part of our 2026 Art Trail, happening 26–27 September 2026.
If you have a studio or art space and would like to open your doors to the public during the trail, we’d love to hear from you!
📧 Please email your expression of interest to: wairarapaarttrail@gmail.com
Let’s showcase the creativity of South Wairarapa together — feel free to share this post with fellow artists!
Brain Teaser of the Day 🧠✨ Can You Solve It? 🤔💬
Make a hearty dish. Take just half a minute. Add four parts of kestrel. Then just add one. What have you made?
(Trev from Silverdale kindly provided this head-scratcher ... thanks, Trev!)
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm on the day!
Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed? No worries! Simply head here and click once on the Following button.
Loading…
