Week 2
One hundred and twenty-five years in the New Zealand garden

Yates, one of the most-recognised names in
New Zealand gardening, is celebrating its 125th
birthday in 2008. Arthur Yates (pictured), the
founder of this horticultural icon, worked in the
family's seed warehouse in Manchester before
migrating to New Zealand in 1879. Nineteen-
year-old Arthur was an asthmatic with a weak
chest, so his family thought that he would
benefit by moving to live and work in a healthier
climate. It's said that well-off English families
felt that New Zealand was more refined than
the rough colony of New South Wales and,
furthermore, lacked the stigma of a convict
population. So Arthur set sail for Auckland in
1879, arriving just a couple of days before
Christmas.

He then spent more than two years working on
farms in the Otago and Hawke's Bay districts
but, because he came from such strong
entrepreneurial stock, he couldn't help realising
that this new land would be the ideal place for
an enterprising young seedsman, with the very
best of connections back in Europe, to begin a
seed business.

So in 1883 – 125 years ago – Arthur opened a
tiny shop in Victoria Street West in Auckland.
With some experience in running a business
and keeping books, he recorded his first day's
takings as one shilling and sixpence.
Unfortunately his expenditure on that day was
2/6 but things improved rapidly and, before
long, he was expanding the business and
travelling through the Waikato farmlands
seeking orders from pioneer farmers.
By 1887 Arthur's business was doing so well
that he persuaded his brother Ernest to migrate
from England and join him as a partner. In the
same year Arthur opened a shop in Sydney and
from then on the two brothers ran the Trans-
Tasman business as one. They amicably split
the management in 1906, with Ernest
continuing to run the New Zealand business
while Arthur stayed in Sydney where he found
the climate suited him better.

One important factor in helping Yates become a
household name was the publication in 1895 of
the very first Yates Garden Guide. Arthur felt
that gardeners in New Zealand and Australia
needed a book that would answer their basic
questions. Many migrants came from cramped
English towns and had little experience in
gardening. And even those who did have some
horticultural skills knew little about the back-to-
front climate of the antipodes, or understood the
relatively warm conditions that prevailed here.

The Guide was warmly received and has
maintained its popularity ever since. Last year,
after the publication of the latest (77th) edition,
Yates Garden Guide was recognised as one of
50 Great New Zealand books as part of New
Zealand book month in September 2007.

And Yates is still the foremost name in New
Zealand gardening. Wouldn't Arthur be
surprised to find that his business, with its
humble beginnings, is still growing strongly and
is celebrating its 125th birthday!