Tiaki Promise

Tangata whenua (people of this land/indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand) are informed by values, such as manaakitanga (hospitality, kindness, respect, generosity) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship of the environment). These values underpin the Tiaki Promise.

New Zealand is precious, and everyone who lives and travels here has a responsibility to look after it. The Tiaki Promise is a commitment to care for New Zealand, for now and for future generations. By following the Tiaki Promise, you are making a commitment to New Zealand. To act as a guardian, protecting and preserving our home.

In te reo Māori, Tiaki means to care for, to protect. Kaitiakitanga means guardianship. As part of that, the Tiaki Promise encourages manuhiri (visitors) travelling to and around Aotearoa New Zealand to do so with an open heart and mind.  We ask visitors to Lavendyl to respect our garden and the hard work that caring for it involves and to leave it as they find it for the enjoyment of all.

Sustainability

For many years the owners of Lavendyl have taken stewardship of the planet’s resources seriously.  This world has limited resources and in order for future generations to survive it is essential that each generation acts responsibly. This has been validated by Qualmark with their bronze sustainability award.

At Lavendyl we garden as organically as we can, minimising use of chemicals. We do not use chemicals on our lavender, using only lime and seaweed fertiliser.  This can mean the gardens are not always manicured but the bees and insects benefit from the wider variety of plant material so someone always wins. We try to limit use of chemicals to twice a year on our hard paved areas such as the driveway. The downside to this is it may be weedy in appearance at times.

We are very conscious that the garden is not the place to use water during a drought. Thus we will allow plants that need more water than the environment can provide to die and replace them with more sustainable options. We mulch with Linseed straw which is long lasting, helps to retain moisture in the soil and gives out nutrients as it decays. We water our cropping lavender very sparingly.

Respecting the needs of our visitors is very important to us. We like to give our visitors the time and attention they want, be that peace to browse in the shop with little interaction to spending time explaining about the cultivation of lavender. This can be difficult to achieve when we are busy but we do our best.

We summarise our approach below:

• Act with integrity
• Tell the truth
• Keep commitments
• Treat people with dignity and respect
• Promote positive relationships
• Protect the environment
• Excel

Unfortunately, the time we have available to answer emails is limited. We have provided as much information about the facilities at Lavendyl and your visit as possible on our website. Sadly we are unable to answer questions where the answer can be found on the website such as opening hours and prices.

It is impossible for us to predict when our large beds of lavender will be in flower - it varies from year to year. For up-to-date information on the gardens please check our Facebook page.