Bringing life to Christmas

Nestled away in majestic Queensberry you’ll discover a wee haven – SuziQ’s Garden. Here you’ll find an abundance of specialised Christmas trees, stunning peonies, and locally-made lavender products. Suzette van den Boom is at the helm and has grown it into the beautiful garden servicing the local community that it is today.
The garden came about after Suzie’s husband passed away. She sold their tree nursery in Queenstown after deciding she wanted to work for herself and is happy if she has food on the table and petrol in the car. She has experience in farming and has always enjoyed working with plants.
“We had our own tree nursery and I’d grown up on farms – I’ve always lived on dairy farms, or on a family farm in the North Island, so the land was always quite special. I like that rural aspect and I’ve never been afraid of hard work. My husband was a horticulturalist and he always wanted to have a tree nursery – he was also a landscape gardener. The tree nursery came about because he wanted to supply himself with stock,” says Suzie.
Suzie and her husband came to Queenstown in around 1978 and after purchasing their own farm they developed their tree nursery. At that time farmland in the area had to have an economic use and you had to prove you could make it viable, because farming land wasn’t wanted, which is why the tree nursery was started. They were soon supplying local businesses including the Millbrook. Suzie’s interest in plants grew and she learnt a lot about growing and soil systems. In between the nursery and her current farm, Suzie studied at Cromwell Polytech to learn more and specifically growing products in our region.
“To grow product that suits our climate and our soil is really important. That’s the success of growing anything. You can’t grow avocado here as it’s too dry and it needs a lot of water and a lot more humidity – we have a dry elevated climate with sandy loam soil – lavender, peonies, and certain trees suit those soils. So that’s what I like to work with – what suits your climate and conditions.”
The garden is a real family affair that Suzie has enjoyed sharing with her family, who live all over the world. Her four children are very involved from wherever they live. Their generous love and support is valuable to the business and provides the encouragement and energy needed to keep growing SuziQ’s Garden. Suzie says that family is so important and she couldn’t do it without the unconditional support.
Suzie was inspired to grow Christmas trees as she noticed it was becoming more difficult to find them in the wild and didn’t like the waste of plastic trees. The garden offers a variety of tree sizes and prices start as low as $20.
“I just felt there was a need and this was something I could do when I started seeing that there weren’t Christmas trees around anymore. You didn’t know where to go anymore to go get a tree and a lot of people were using plastic ones. I just love the smell of real trees – it smells like Christmas. It’s those things that remind you of Christmas,” says Suzie.
SuziQ’s Garden also sell essential oils made from lavender. Suzie started growing the lavender as a companion plant to the peonies, but she always loved the idea of essential oils. “The lavender oil is so versatile and it’s very user-friendly on the skin, so it’s a topical one.” The peonies that grow at the garden are used for weddings, as centrepieces on Christmas day, and just to brighten people’s homes.
Suzie’s favourite part of what she does is getting to meet the community at the end of the year. She spends most of the year planting and tending to the plants, so she really enjoys getting to meet everyone from late October onwards and helping to make lovely memories for them.
“All year I’m working at the farm and taking care of the plants. I plant the pine trees through the winter, I plant the peonies in the autumn, the lavender gets planted from November and flowers in unison from about November through to January, and then gets harvested for its oil, which is quite tricky.
“From October Labour Weekend through to Christmas Eve, I meet the public. They come in and explore the farm, they can wander around to see the trees and flowers. I get to sell my produce, meet the people who are interested, and help them with the festivities. I think Christmas starts with the tree.
“It’s actually a really nice time because other than that, I’m inside my fences taking care of the plants and then I get to really enjoy that social side of supporting people with whatever they want – their wedding or their Christmas or a party, and providing what I grow,” says Suzie.
SuziQ’s Garden is currently open to the public from 8am – 6pm daily along State Highway 6 between Wānaka and Cromwell. You’ll be able to meet Suzie, pick out a Christmas tree, or grab up some beautiful peonies or lavender products. You can find out more information about Suzie and the garden at suziqsgarden.com