Photo: Supplied / Penny Zino
Established trees have been ripped from the ground by fierce winds at an internationally recognised garden in North Canterbury.
Penny Zino said it was galling to see the damage to her battered garden Flaxmere near Hawarden, which is one of 16 gardens awarded six stars by the New Zealand Gardens Trust, established by the Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture.
The almost three-hectare garden was established by Zino almost 60 years ago.
She said the garden had weathered strong winds and damaging storms before but Thursday's gales were devastating.
"It's done a huge amount of damage this time. Groups of trees within this garden have all been bowled over and their roots are in the air. It's pretty massive what's happened," she said.
The wind picked up around 8am and the power went out, with wind damaging fences and the outage affecting water pumps on the sheep, beef, deer and crop farms run by her two sons, Zino said.
She said she was facing a massive clean up in order to be ready for the Hurunui Garden Festival in 10 days' time.
Photo: Supplied / Penny Zino
"I've planted all sorts of things that will withstand dry conditions mainly and it's a garden of international significance, it's a New Zealand Garden Trust six-star garden, so I take enormous pride in that," she said.
"It's been a long, long journey but a very productive one from my point of view because I love it very much and we'll get there, we'll get this sorted somehow.
"I really need to do my best to have it looking good by then but we'll see, there will be areas that I can't deal with."
Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management group controller James Thompson said Culverden and Hanmer Springs were the worst affected places in Canterbury during Thursday's storm.
There was extensive damage to farm buildings and roofing had come off sheds, with reports of damage to a home that had been hit by a fallen tree.
Thompson said the council and Civil Defence would assess the extent of damage to properties on Friday.
He said the region experienced severe gale north-westerlies, with gusts reaching up to 180 kilometres per hour and even stronger in some places.
There remained significant power outages across the region on Thursday afternoon, particularly in North Canterbury.
State Highway 7 between Waipara and Springs Junction remained closed along with State Highway 7A from the Hanmer Springs turnoff due to damage, downed powerlines and fallen trees.
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