Brett's Gardening Guide

1963

Private Collection

New Zealand Newspapers: Auckland

Revised ed.

Two long-running series have found their way into most New Zealand homes. Brett's Gardening Guide is a descendant of Brett's Colonists' Guide and Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, published in three editions between 1883 and 1902. The 1st edition of Brett's Gardening Guide (1920?) was based on gardening advice published in the Auckland Star, a newspaper which Henry Brett (1843-1927) bought into in 1870 and of which he became sole owner in 1876. Brett was a keen amateur gardener and his property Te Kiteroa in Takapuna became a showplace for its spacious gardens. It seems likely that the gardening advice reflected his personal experience. After his death, Brett's Gardening Guide was ‘completely rewritten' for the 1941 edition, and extensively revised by James McPherson in 1968, and by Tom Troy in 1977. On display with the two revised editions is the first edition.