The Fairer Side of Buxton: Alfred Buxtons gardens and the women who loved them

(Hardback)

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Alfred Buxton was the father of landscape design in New Zealand. Working in the early twentieth century, he was one of the first in the country to create expansive and sophisticated gardens that transformed peoples properties and way of life. His rural gardens became creative outlets for the wives of the farmers who commissioned them, recreational spaces for their families and meeting places for the community. Independent women commissioned Buxton gardens for their own enjoyment and for the schools they worked for, while mothers and wives raised funds for gardens to enhance the memorials being built to remember those lost in the Great War. Clare Gleeson tells an intriguing story of a man who played an important role in developing Aotearoas horticultural landscape, through the lens of the fairer sex who supported and took pleasure in his work.

With a foreword by Julian Matthews.

Author Bio

Clare Gleeson is a Wellington historian and author. Her first book was Meet me at Beggs: the story of Charles Begg & Co, music and appliance manufacturers and retailers, 18611970 and she has published a range of articles on music-making and music retailing in New Zealand including on the Audioculture website.

Clares recent research has focused on Aotearoas horticultural history and this has led to articles in a range of New Zealand and overseas publications, including New Zealand Gardener.