Arriving at Tannock House

Tannock House Front Garden 8/9/2013

The last time I set foot in the Botanic Gardens of Dunedin was just short of three and a half years ago. I had been hitchhiking my way around New Zealand for the past six weeks and through a twist of fate had been able to convene with a friend of mine from Scotland who was in much the same transient state as myself. Together we idled away an afternoon, exploring the various areas the Gardens had to offer. Having not yet become horticulturally inclined at this point in my life, I never expected that I would one day return not only to work but also to live in the very gardens in which we sat.

Following a bout of travel that lasted somewhere in the region of thirty six hours and spanned three continents, five countries and fourteen thousand miles I found myself once again bumbling my way back into New Zealand, ready for a new adventure. Unlike my previous forays into the world of long distance travel, I was this time equipped with something I had never before possessed- a plan. What a luxury it was then to alight at the bus station in Dunedin and rather than attempt scour the local hostels and campsites, be met by Barbara Wheeler, the collections supervisor of the Gardens and escorted to my residence for the next ten months.

My new home, Tannock House, does not have an official physical address. This is because it is sandwiched between the Gardens’ propagation department and Rhododendron Dell on the top of a hill overlooking Dunedin. A more beautiful and staggeringly convenient location I could not have asked for. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by my new housemates Margaret, Tony and their dog Asia all of whom live in the house full-time and act as informal hosts to students being put up by the Gardens. Currently, I am the only extra lodger staying in the house, though there will be a few popping up over the coming weeks. As I am due to stay for ten months, Margaret and Tony have kindly put me up in an exceptionally large and comfortable bedroom for which I am eternally grateful. To my delight, there is also a wee vegetable garden that I have kindly been permitted to commandeer.
 

Tannock House Veg. Garden- Watch this space!

Tannock House was built in 1904 following the appointment of the Scottish horticulturalist David Tannock (1873-1952) as the Curator of the Gardens. Originally from Tarbolton in Ayrshire, Scotland, Tannock had worked as gardener at Pollok House in Glasgow before enrolling as a student at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, aged 22. After only nine months as a student gardener he was appointed the position of deputy-foreman in charge of the palm and tropical lily houses. Throughout this time, Tannock attended classes in botany, physics and chemistry at the London Polytechnic, where he obtained a first class Science Certificate in Advanced Botany. In 1899 he was appointed to the Agricultural School of the Dominica before finally taking up residence in Dunedin in 1903. He was joined the following year by his fiancé, Jessie and together they took up residence in Tannock House in the as yet undeveloped upper gardens.Throughout the following thirty-seven years he spent as Curator, Tannock was to prove instrumental in the development of the Gardens. His initial proposal that the Gardens be split into four sections- Arboretum, Herbaceous Ground, Flower and Rose Garden and Shrubbery Collection- and their subsequent development are still defining features of the Gardens as they stand today.

It is comforting to know then that I am not the first Scotsman to uproot himself and move out to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. However, it would seem that I have quite an act to follow...

View from the Front Garden 8/9/2013