The green evolution

A sub-tropical paradise filled with exotic fruit and flora was created over two decades by an Olympian and his wife in South Auckland

- Text Rachel Clare

There's nothing like an upcoming family event to spur on a DIY project. When Mohan (Mo) and Niru Patel's daughter Sivani decided to get married at her parents' home in Papakura, Auckland, in 2022, holding the wedding at her childhood home was a no-brainer. The Patels' thoughtfully curated subtropical garden is a tribute to their love of cultivation. There are lush green pathways to explore, brightly coloured blooms, an ancient tōtara forest backing onto a stream and an eclectic orchard with unusual delights like custard apples and ice-cream beans. It's a plant-lover's paradise and a joy to visit.

But to make it the ultimate venue for the celebration, Mo and Niru decided the garden needed one more feature – a wooden archway overlooking the tree-covered valley. It would be the perfect structure for the couple to stand under during the ceremony and would look wonderful in the wedding photos. Sivani had something simple and elegant in mind, but Mo, a gold medal-winning Olympian hockey player, had bigger aspirations. “I said to her, ‘No, no, it’s not going to be a little archway.”

Finally, Mo had the perfect reason to construct a large, ornate Victorian pergola he'd bought from an old house in Remuera and been storing for years. He completed it just weeks out from the big day and it’s now a pivotal feature of the garden. The couple's two-year-old granddaughter Kaia is learning to garden thanks to her willing teachers. “She enjoys wandering through the garden, picking and eating a variety of fruits and berries, and she has her own set of garden tools,” says Niru.

From the beginning