Auckland City Parks Superintendent

In 1908 he was appointed the Park Superintendent for Auckland City, a post he retained until his death in 1930.

Pearsons first big project for Auckland was the layout for the Auckland Exhibition in the Domain in 1913/14 which included landscaping the area around the Domain Ponds as a setting for the temporary buildings.

This was very similar to the work he had done at Christchurch; it included informal garden areas of contrasting styles; colourful Tropical plants, more monochrome New Zealand natives, colourful Asian ornamentals and european standards, such as rambling roses.

Auckland Domain Teahouse - the only permanent structure from the 1913 Exhibition - in the foreground is a rockery comprised of volcanic rock - this has survived but the rustic fence work has not.

After the temporary buildings were removed the gardens recieved other structures such as the complex of glas Wintergardens which are connected by a Wisteria covered pergola.

Adjacent to them is a fernery created in a disused quarry area - it, of course, contained a range of New Zealand Tree Ferns.

The period just before and after the First War saw the establishment of many new parks in Auckland.

Pearson's influence can be clearly seen in the main ones he oversaw: most important of these were Cornwall Park, Point Erin Park 1911, Parnell Park 1913, Myers Park 1915.

Auckland Domain - Pearson often used rustic wood fences but none have survived.

As well as the Domain he was also responsible for the additions to the other major 19th century parks in Auckland: Albert Park and Western Park, where he introduced informal planting areas and rockeries to contrast with the older and more formal layouts.

He invariably introduced areas of "natural native" planting to evoke the wonders of the local scenery; creating living postcards or dioramas for people to wander through - these included the now ubiquitous Tree Ferns, flax and Cabbage Trees.

Myers Park around 1920 - in the foreground is a newly planted Phoenix Palm

Part of the reason he was keen on native New Zealand plants was that appeared rather tropical.

Wherever possible he used actual tropical plants or hardy specimens which evoked warmer climates - this included many flowering shrubs such as Hibiscus, Camellia and Azalea.

A prominent feature of his work was the constant use of several varieties palm trees. The great Phoenix Palms are almost regarded as his trademark.

Phoenix Palms in the Auckland Domain: the Bandstand and trees date from the 1913 Exhibition.

He is noted for the lavish use of volcanic basalt stone - often in the form of terraces, walls, benches, entrance archways but also as informal rockeries and great specimen boulders.

Pearson used this material in many of the parks he designed in Auckland most notably at Parnell, Cornwall Park, Marivare Reserve, Ellen Meville Park, the Auckland Zoological Gardens at Western Springs and, of course, Myers Park.

Avenue of Phoenix Palms in Myers Park (image missing)

The same features appear in public and private gardens through out Auckland and the North Island, possibly due to his influence and derived from Australian and Californian examples.

This "Pacific Rivera" style has largely formed the background to the lives of many New Zealanders especially in seaside settings (such as Mission Bay & Tamaki Drive for example).

Many of these rock feature survive in various parks from this period although budget and maintainence issues since the 1930s has meant a number of them have been removed or altered.

Auckland Zoological Gardens - Volcanic rock was used to make naturalistic animal enclosures. The general planting scheme was typical of Pearson's enthusiasm for colouful tropical plants.

Pearson died in 1930 in the residence provided for him by the City Council; the Victorian Gardeners Cottage in Albert Park. He was 73 at the time of his death and was survived by his wife.

Pearson Rockery border in the Auckland Domain.