Ngita Woodhouse

A Pukerua Bay Gardener

Miss Kathleen Ngita Woodhouse: scholar, leader, musician, teacher, gardener, actor and producer, lecturer, writer, broadcaster and county town member.

Miss Woodhouse was a prominent resident of Pukerua Bay from 1932 through to 1977. She took an active role in many local organisations.  Nationally, Ngita was known for her gardening expertise and radio broadcasts on local and national stations. She appeared to be a formidable woman owing to the eye condition ptosis which causes the eyelids to droop, but she really was a tall, elegant lady with a warm and gentle stature.  Ngita believed plants are like children – they need to be nurtured. She is fondly remembered by her great niece and nephew.

Kathleen Ngita Woodhouse was born in Dunedin on 17 November 1893, the youngest child of John Frederick Churton Woodhouse and Edith Bathgate. Her sister Alice was born in 1883 and brother Philip Randall in 1886.

During her six years at St Hilda’s Collegiate School in Dunedin Ngita, as she was always known, excelled in drama and music. As a nine-year-old Ngita played the piano solo Sonata in F  by Beethoven for the 2nd Annual Dunedin Competition Society festival in 1903. In 1911, her final year, the school magazine St Hilda’s Chronicle recorded that at the prizegiving, “The School Honour Medal was awarded to the head school prefect, Ngita Woodhouse.” The School Honour Medal was a highly sought after and prestigious award with the students voting for the recipient.

In February 1912 the Otago Witness reported, “Miss Ngita Woodhouse, who was also a debutante, looked charming in a very dainty white chiffon frock over white satin. A lovely shower bouquet of white flowers completed her toilet”.

As a young woman she was an accomplished pianist and music teacher with her own studio in Dunedin. In 1920 the Lake Wakatip Mail reported, “Miss Woodhouse, a talented Dunedin pianist, played the opening overture in true musical style”.

From an early age gardening became a consuming interest for Ngita, following the tradition of her grandfather John Bathgate, a prominent Dunedin lawyer, businessman, politician and judge. From 1841, in Peebles, Scotland he kept a Garden Register which he continued after the family’s arrival in Dunedin in 1864. Following his death in 1886 his wife Mary and then his daughter Anne continued to make entries in the register until the last entry in 1910.

In 1910, as a schoolgirl, Ngita wrote a poem titled My Garden.

My Garden
My garden is a little plot
In a corner all alone,
I plant and sow whate’er I like,
For it is my very own.

‘Twould interest you, perhaps, to hear
About the things I grow;
For my garden’s best in summer
When there’s quite a brilliant show.

A group of stocks whose fragrant scent
With sweetness fills the air;
Some lovely clumps of pansies large,
Of colour dark and rare.

Some fine sweet peas are climbing well,
And growing strong and tall;
Delphiniums of darkest blue
Look down from high on all.

Two tiny roses at the back
I’m trying hard to train:
I hope that by the winter time
The topmost arch they’ll gain.

Beneath them, almost at their roots,
Nemophila* is growing;
It’s almost out, and just a touch
Of palest blue is showing.

I’ve many other kinds of plants,
Which I’ve only just put in;
Of course they have not flowered yet,
But I hope they’ll soon begin.

But all the year my garden’s gay’
For I like to think its bright;
And perhaps a pleasant little spot
In other people’s sight.

By K. N. W

*  Baby Blue Eyes 

In 1928 Ngita joined her older sister Alice in Wellington and for three years grew flowers for local florists before moving to Palmerston North where she worked for Christchurch based landscape architects and contractors A.W. Buxton & Sons Ltd, the best-known New Zealand landscape gardeners of the 20th century. She provided detailed planting guides to accompany the garden designs.  Ngita believed that gardening is a mixture of art and science.

In 1939 she was a judge for the New Zealand Dahlia Society Exhibition and a popular speaker at the League of Mothers Gardening Day where her topic was Flowering Shrubs. The Manawatu Times on 6 October 1939 recorded, “Counselling the enthusiasts present to plan for a succession of colour in the garden instead of just blobs, Miss Woodhouse said it was wise to keep in mind the particular colours for the interior decorations of the home. … Concluding on a thoughtful note, Miss Woodhouse said, “Whatever happens in the days that are before us, our gardens will be our greatest consolation. The plants need watering and attention, however harassed one might be. Do not let your gardens go; tend them as never before and make sure you keep the flag flying in the garden.” New Zealand had declared war on Germany a month earlier.

In Palmerston North she was an active member of the Manawatu Repertory Society where she acted in and produced plays. The Manawatu Times in its report of the comedy play ‘The Distaff Side’ noted, “As the cheerful attendant on the old lady, Miss Ngita Woodhouse was priceless”.

In the early 1940s Ngita, with her sister Alice (a journalist, librarian, broadcaster, and radio quiz contestant known as the ‘Queen of Quiz’), purchased a beach cottage in Pukerua Bay. The Personal Column of Palmerston North newspapers frequently reported her visits: “Miss Woodhouse has been spending the summer months at Pukerua Bay”. A paper reported with regret the retirement of Miss N. Woodhouse, the enthusiastic secretary Manawatu Repertory Society, “owing to ill-health and her intention to remain at Pukerua Bay for the time being”.

In 1949 Ngita felt defeated by the Palmerston North climate and made the move to live permanently in Pukerua Bay. The cottage in The Avenue, now Toenga Road, was enlarged and named Maru iti, “the little haven”. The couch grass covered section was transformed into a garden where “every inch must produce something”. A good gardener has, she said, “to put the right thing in the right place”.

Ngita used her horticultural knowledge to write and talk about gardens. She wrote articles for New Zealand readers and a monthly diary for the New Zealand and Australian gardening magazine Your Garden, published in Melbourne. A chance meeting with a former music student involved with radio began 25 years of her gardening programme on Wellington’s 2ZB radio station. She wrote her own scripts and visited local nurseries the day before her broadcast to check the latest bargains and new plant varieties. She would refer to these on her show. Later she contributed to the National Radio programme ‘Feminine Viewpoint.’

By the 1940s the bush and forest which had covered the hills in Pukerua Bay had been felled and burned for sheep farming. It was about this time Miss Vi Ebert built her home on the farmland opposite the school playing field, one of four homes on Rawhiti Road. At first she planted a traditional cottage garden which the northerly wind quickly destroyed. Miss Ebert recalled Ngita’s advice to plant the boundary of her property with natives and then establish her garden with their shelter. A 1951 aerial photograph shows Miss Ebert property surrounded by trees. Her garden went on to thrive within the sheltered area. Miss Ebert later passed on this sound advice to the writer.

Not long after Ngita settled in Pukerua Bay the Pukerua News for September 1950 reported, “The Pukerua Bay Play Reading Society met recently at the home of the president Miss A. Woodhouse, The Avenue. Two plays were read: “Mother’s Pride” by John Bourne and “Two Aunts and a Grandmother”, by T B Morris.”

Ngita was then invited to form a Drama Circle for the Country Women’s Institute which had been formed in 1947. They became well known throughout the Wellington area, winning competitions and drama festivals for all female casts, with plays produced by Ngita. She had many valuable antiques which she lent for props for their plays. Home is the Hunted, a one-act slapstick cockney comedy romp by R.F. Delderfield was the play the women entered for the Drama Festival in Palmerston North.  This play, about a convict mistakenly believing his home will be a peaceful retreat while he is on the run from prison, was the winning play at the festival. When the players returned from Palmerston North late that night their bus driver began to sound the horn as they came up the hill into the Bay. “Many a husband sat up, complaining of the noise, only to be told by an excited wife, “The girls have won.” This was the pre-arranged signal to let the Bay know of their success.” (Pukerua Bay Primary School Golden Jubilee 1917-1977)

Ngita took an active role in the Pukerua Bay community. In the Pukerua Bay School Log Book (1950-1953) the Head Teacher Miss A. G. Lublow recorded “15.11.1951 Took Miss Woodhouse around in car to judge Home Gardens”. She served on the executive of the Progressive Association as Secretary/Treasurer and was a member of the Parks and Reserves Committee of the Pukerua Bay County Town Committee until the formation of Porirua City in 1965. Her mother had been on the committee of the Town-planning Society in Dunedin. Miss Ngita Woodhouse with her sister Alice officially opened the School Community Hall in September 1973.

In 1968 Ngita published through A.H. & A.W. Reed, her book Flowers for Four Seasons. The publisher would not allow the use of colour photographs. Instead they contracted Heather Garnett, a young commercial artist, to do the illustrations. Heather had no contact with Ngita but was given the manuscript and a list of where and what they wanted for the illustrations; she was told to do one for each season for example. Heather used the ‘scraper board’ technique where heavy card with a China clay coating is sprayed with black India ink.  A cutting tool is used to engrave the surface ink to expose the white underneath and so create highly detailed artwork which allows a perfect photographic reproduction.

A year later it was published by Howard Timmins in Cape Town. This book blended her experience and imagination for southern hemisphere gardeners, “to bridge the gap – so frequently seen – between basic skill in making plants grow, and the application of this skill to produce a garden where each plant contributes its own beauty to build up, with other plants, a home landscape of superb originality and loveliness.”

Susan Parsons who wrote a weekly feature called ‘Sunday Gardener’ for the Canberra Times. On 10 June 1984 she opened her story with a quote from Flowers for Four Seasons:

Gardens can create their own room with a view. A room with a view, framed by the window, is the most rewarding garden picture you can create. New Zealand broadcaster Ngita Woodhouse in her book Flowers for Four Seasons (1968) writes that prizewinning gardens are usually viewed from outdoors. She feels, however, that awards should be given to the best gardens as seen from indoors, looking through the windows of the house.

Ngita Woodhouse’s legacy is the Woodhouse Garden Club. Formed originally in 1953 as the Garden Circle of the Country Women’s Institute, it became an independent garden club when Miss Woodhouse advertised in the Pukerua Bay Gazette, “that the establishment of a Garden Club would enable knowledge to be pooled and allow for problems to be discussed for the benefit of all”. Office-bearers were elected and arrangements made to meet on the third Thursday of each month at the home and garden of Miss Woodhouse. Members came from Pukerua Bay, Paekakariki, Plimmerton and Paremata. They were to be addressed as Mrs or Miss and there were three strict rules: no knitting, no smoking and no children.

The early meetings were held at Ngita’s home with tea and biscuits at 10am, a talk by Ngita and then “a dash for the sales table”. A member recalled Ngita, “taking us into the garden and showing us her compost. It was lovely, all dark, dry and clearly black and easy to handle”. Members of the Garden Club helped Ngita on occasions: “Mum typed her correspondence” recalled the daughter of a member. The son of another member said: “She did have many local schoolboys come to help in the garden but they didn’t last long as they found her exacting standards too difficult.” A member helped in Ngita’s garden and at the end of the day a discreet envelope was handed over and “a small glass of sherry taken”.

The minutes of the 1970 AGM of the Pukerua Bay Garden Club were reported in the Kapi Mana News of 13 May 1970:

Members of the Pukerua Bay Garden Club attending the 6th annual general meeting recently received a warm welcome from the president Miss N. Woodhouse.

In her annual report Miss Woodhouse commented on the success of the year’s programme, the friendly relations which prevailed and thanked members for maintaining such a happy, cheerful atmosphere and for their continued interest in the club. The secretary and committee were also thanked for their assistance in helping to maintain the prosperity of the club, Mrs Fuller for her unfailing efforts in keeping the sales table going and all the ladies who had provided and served morning teas.

Members all enjoyed the social half hour which precedes the meetings.

In 1977 Ngita, or ‘Woody’ as she was known informally by the ladies in the Garden Club, moved to Timaru to be closer to her family. She donated all her garden books, 170 in total, to the Garden Club. In 1978 the name was changed to the Woodhouse Garden Club. Following her death in 1986 her will included a bequest of $200 to the Garden Club library. The Club is no longer based in Pukerua Bay and membership is limited to sixty gardeners to allow younger gardeners to join. There is always a waiting list.

Ngita Woodhouse and her Garden Club are also remembered in the book The Joy of Gardening by popular gardener, speaker and writer, Lynda Hallinan.

The He Ara Pukerua panel honouring Miss Ngita Woodhouse was revealed by Nancy Anderson, president of the Woodhouse Garden Club, during a garden party at the Pukerua Bay Community Garden on 23 January 2023. 

In May 2024 the garden club celebrated 60 years. Their patron, Ngita’s great nephew William Rolleston, and his sister were guests at the celebratory luncheon.  They were both presented with a Pukerua Bay Community Garden tea towel. The Woodhouse Garden Club featured in the July 2024 issue of New Zealand Gardener, Kaingaki Māra.

By Margaret Blair