Taking A ‘Leefe’ Out Of Nic’s Book
His was the perfect name for a gardener, as Queen Elizabeth II once told him, and this week (Tuesday, March 21) long-time Queenstown head gardener the late Nic Leefe will be commemorated for the legacy he left in Queenstown Gardens during 33 years of service.
Nic passed away in 2019, aged 91, and his family will gather for the unveiling of a special wood and iron sculpture that the Queenstown Lakes District Council has had created in his honour.
Son Gavin Leefe says his late mother, Elizabeth, had placed a plaque and Nyssa sylvatica tree (Black Tupelo) beside the glasshouse in the Gardens some years ago and the sculpture is being placed alongside.
“It’s a life-sized, wooden carving of Dad holding three iron roses,” says Gavin.
Growing up across the road at 12 Park Street, Gavin and his three siblings have many a fond memory of their father’s time working as head gardener and curator at the Gardens – their self-claimed playground.
A career highlight for his father was taking Queen Elizabeth II on a tour of the Queenstown Gardens during the Royal Tour in 1970 with then Mayor Warren Cooper, who still recalls the conversation well.
“She said, ‘Mr Leefe, what a delightful name for a gardener. My gardener is Mr Gumnut’,” grins Warren. His wife, Lorraine, recalls Nic and Warren on a great adventure at giddying heights, once using Warren’s long ladder as Nic attempted to save a ponderosa tree that was dying. So does Gavin, estimating his father climbed 38-metres (125 feet) up. Once cut the stump was painted and Nic proceeded to take photos with his Box Brownie camera, the Coopers recall.
“This is a fitting tribute – very nice to hear,” says Warren. “I have great memories of Nic Leefe and his association with the park which is a prized asset for this district.”
Training with the Auckland council’s parks and reserves department first, Nic took over the Queenstown Gardens head gardener’s role, aged 24, in 1953 when 841 people lived here, Gavin says. The 25-bed formal rose garden was his father’s pride and joy, developed in 1967 after he’d visited rose gardens around the country.
His children recall the plans for the garden all laid out on the kitchen table.
Sheep and chicken manure from Frankton filled the beds, Nic never used sprays and the masses of beautiful, healthy roses flourished, attracting expert acclaim.
Nic and his team grew potatoes on site, boiled up for smoko over a fire they lit each day to burn off prunings and cuttings.
Gavin recalls throwing chestnuts from a giant chestnut tree into the fire with his older brother to watch them explode.
His father’s notoriously fruitful tomato vines growing along the wall of their home were a tourist attraction too. “We’d have busloads of Japanese tourists along the side of our house taking photos of Dad’s tomatoes,” grins Gavin, who could reach out of his bedroom window and pick them. His father’s expertise meant he was also a sought after gardening judge at regular Lake Hayes A & P Shows.
Friends of the Gardens chair Jay Cassells is also delighted about the tribute to Nic Leefe. “He was a very important member of a wonderful group of people over generations who’ve preserved this important community asset.”
Members of the community are welcome to join the family for the unveiling this Tuesday, March 21, between 10.30am and 11am.
