Weeding 'em out! JANE & SOPHIE'S SECRET GARDENS

They're laying the groundwork for a love of nature that lasts a lifetime

- Catherine Milford

Jane Mahoney has always adored peeking over the garden fence. The keen J gardener spent much of her childhood exploring the outdoors and learning about gardening at the 19th-century cottage in Brookside, Canterbury that her parents bought in 1974. She has many fond memories of exploring her family garden - and the neighbours' patch too - with excitement and wonder.

"Like a lot of people, I can trace my love of gardens to being in them as a child - almost everyone has childhood memories that are somehow connected to gardens," says Jane, 59, a former communications specialist and founder of garden share project Secret Gardens. Jane and her daughter Sophie Bannan, 34, have co-written a book about some of New Zealand's most fascinating gardens.

"As a child, I loved exploring and I can remember the smells of the plants, the atmosphere of them. At The Millhouse, the 1870s garden at my parents' place, I'd dream about what plants would have grown there back in the 19th century. I loved just letting my imagination run riot. Growing up with a garden had a really lasting impression on me."

Secret Gardens of Aotearoa features a collection of gorgeous home gardens from around New Zealand, each curated by passionate gardeners who have opened their outdoor spaces for others to admire and learn from.

"I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as Mum about horticulture, but I can remember her telling me stories about being in my grandparents' garden when she was a child, and I can remember playing there when I was younger myself," says Sophie, who is mum to fouryear-old Harriet.