'Secret' garden gets facelift

One of Christchurch’s best- kept secrets, the Edmonds Factory Garden in Ferry Road, has had about $75,000 spent on it recently and all is being revealed this month.

A joint effort by the Friends of the Edmonds Factory Garden and Christchurch City Council, the improvements include new seats and paving, water features, old- style lamps and lights illuminating the water features and trees.

The "switching on" of the lights will occur at an official ceremony at dusk on Wednesday, 15 September. There will be a barbecue, and entertainment by Linwood High School’s musicians and culture groups.

The garden is the bright flowering garden on the cover of the Edmonds Cookery Book, a best seller for many years. However, Friends of the Garden president John Hoskin says many people have yet to discover it.

It was established by Thomas Edmonds to enhance the clean and natural image of the factory he built in 1923. In 1990 the factory was demolished but local residents took up the cudgels to retain the garden for the community. John Hoskin, who lives across the road and was chairman of the local residents’ group at the time, led the campaign.