It had not occurred to Mrs Campbell how hardy their garden was until it was chosen by Keep Alexandra Clyde Beautiful as one of five best water-wise gardens in the region.
The 2008 title is well-deserved, as water is always used sparingly on the garden.
‘‘We wouldn't put our sprinklers on for hours like they do in the town. Ours only get 10 to 15 minutes,'' Mrs Campbell said.
‘‘Some people go to work and turn their hose on and just leave it for the day, and on the hill you can't do that because it all runs off the rocks and ends up running down the front of your place.''
Although the sprinklers can be automated, they are manually operated for short bursts, during dry conditions only.
‘‘You see, the whole garden's mulched to use less water.''
When the house, looking over the Clutha River on Bridge Hill, was built three years ago, their daughter Natalie, a landscape architect in Auckland, helped them arrange the schist rocks for the garden.
The couple sold their other two stonefruit orchards and built the house as a semi-retirement home.
Their three daughters have all left home, including Amy, an economic analyst in Sydney, and Millie, who is studying sciences at the University of Otago.
‘‘We live the old life now; if you can't afford it, you can't have it.''
The gardens have been set up to provide an interesting display with the least amount of care required.
Truck-loads of compost were put down, followed by weed mat and woodchips.
‘‘Woodchips break down and when you keep adding to them you're building up everything and building up the organic matter.
‘‘Every year I keep adding more because they just make this black soil.
‘‘You've got to keep replenishing - you can't just leave it.''
Roses, flaxes, palm trees, lupins, hostas, dahlias, petunias, lavender bushes and a variety of plants for ground cover are thriving on the hillside gardens.
Alongside the house under the eaves of an upstairs room, it is frostfree and several plants which would otherwise die during Central Otago's cold winters can be grown there safely.
The final addition to the garden (when a friend's digger becomes available) will be a waterfall running into a pond.
