The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens

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Ancient Egyptian Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Indian Char Bagh Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Concept Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Surrealist Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Tropical Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Chinese Scholar’s Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Japanese Garden of Contemplation. Image: Grant Sheehan

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The proposed Roman Peristyle Garden Image: Robin Leu of Peddle Thorp Architects.

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Te Parapara Garden. Image: Grant Sheehan

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Peter Sergel’s new book, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens from Phantom House Books, is the story of how a rubbish dump was transformed into a world-class attraction.

The Hamilton Gardens have been Peter Sergel’s life’s work. He was first asked to produce a plan to transform an old Hamilton rubbish dump into a municipal garden in 1978, but there was no funding attached.

Sergel and others set up a series of committees and trusts to raise funds for the development of what is now, some 40 years later, a collection of 24 gardens and landscaped walks in an array of landscape gardening styles categorised as: paradise, productive, fantasy, cultivar, and landscape.

Sergel remained intimately involved in the Gardens’ development for the next 43 years. His expertise has been recognised with a Royal Arch academic scholarship and an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato.

*The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens* (Pub(d). April 2024). Image: Grant Sheehan

In his new book, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens, Sergel explains the gardens’ history and hidden meanings, tracking the transformation of the space into what is now a one of the Waikato’s most popular attractions.

“Not many people appreciate the hidden meaning of Hamilton Gardens or the story behind its development. Hopefully the book will make more people aware that there is a lot more to the Gardens than meets the eye,” says Sergel.

The book is illustrated with lush photography by Grant Sheehan, one of Aotearoa’s most experienced commercial photographers. Grant’s career has recently been celebrated in a documentary film by Robin Greenberg, Grant Sheehan: Light, Ghosts and Dreams, that came out at the 2023 NZIFF.

The Time Traveller’s Guide to Hamilton Gardens will be published on the 24th of April. Go to Phantom House Books for inquiries.