27/05/2026
Myers Park once had quite a selection of colourful flowering shrubs and vines - virtually all of these vanished in the period after the second war.
The Park's designer, Thomas Pearson, had envisaged a landscape of undulating grass lawns - set with flowering shrubs and specimen trees (such as the palms) these would be set off by a background composed of taller darker tree forms. However, as time went on and the trees matured their greater height and bulk resulted in a corresponding increase in the amount of shade. Over time this had a very detrimental effect on many of the shrubs, vines and ground cover plants, few of which would flourish in a shaded location and meany died off due to the lessening of sunlight.
There were other factors in train however - many of the smaller plants and shrubs had shorter natural lifespans than the bigger trees and the economic pressures of the 1930s & '40s saw many cutbacks to the amount of money being sent on upkeep. When plants reached the end of their natural lifespans there was a definite tendency to not replace them - this was partially due to the fact that lawn was considered easier and cheaper to look after and arguably more useful for park goers. This new open landscape was probably viewed as being safer as well - clumps of large shrubs being somewhere where undesirables could lurk. The end result was that over time the visual appearance of the park changed quite a bit - in the 1920s the slopes were dotted with numerous shrubs which seasonally added colour and scents to the scene with their flowers - by the 1970s all of these had virtually vanished - the park was largely composed of large expanses of blank lawn - easily maintained and (in theory) safer but visually much less interesting.
By and large the perimeter trees were left to their own devices - and after fifty years of growth many had grown quite large indeed. The Post War period also saw the Parks Department embarking on planting more trees in various locations around the Park - these were mostly non-deciduous native species, which in itself was not necessarily a problem but such trees cast shade all year round. Combined with the dark foliage of the perimeter trees these new plantings meant significant portions of the park was now composed of areas of deep shade - people often remarked on how sinister the park looked.
The overgrown trees were not only creating a visual problem but many park goers were increasingly concerned about safety problems as well - over the years many people lobbied for a more measured and systematic approach to maintenance for the park but unfortunately it proved extremely difficult to get the Parks Department to take these concerns seriously. This started to change in the first decade of the 21st century when there were a number of concerning incidences where branches started dropping off trees (often from considerable heights) and the trunks of a couple of older specimens began to split vertically and some trees fell over in a storm (this occurred in several other Parks - the Symonds Street Cemetery in particular where similar concerns had been ignored for many years). This state of affairs highlighted what local residents had been saying for decades and the Parks Department embarked on the trimming of many of the overgrown trees in Myers Park and the removal of several which were discovered to be in very perilous conditions. These improvements considerably increased the visual attractiveness of the Park and improved safety as well.
In the run up to the 2015 celebrations the park was renovated and along with a new playground and lighting scheme this included a carefully thought-out scheme of ground cover plantings - unfortunately the suggestion that some of flowering shrubs chosen by Pearson in the 1913-1924 period could be included was met with surprising indifference.
These are a selection of the flowering shrubs Pearson intended the park to be graced with - supplying colour, texture, form and scent - hopefully one day some of them might be replanted.
