Stumped – by a Garden With a Difference!

‘Once seen, never forgotten’ – it’s a common response from anyone visiting Invercargill’s Queens Park stumpery, one of New Zealand’s most unusual gardens. The stumpery takes its queue from a Victorian horticultural style which was popular in the 19th century. It was a period when ferns were being introduced into gardens, and the tree stumps, which were artfully placed together to form the stumperies, often attracted moisture as they began to decay, making them the perfect host for the fashionable plant.