She has been gardening since her school days and has been a member of the Gore Garden Club since she was a teenager, following in her mother’s footsteps.
Many aspects of her life involve gardening, and between her job with the Gore District Council parks and reserves team and her home garden, she is busy.
But despite this, she has recently found time to develop a new area out the front of her house to display more varieties of plants she has collected.
Mrs Hamlin believes in only growing plants suited to her growing conditions.
"I usually tend to them in little bits over time, instead of overwhelming them and babying them," she says.
"My thinking is that if I’ve got them in the right environment ... then if they grow, they’ll grow."
"If not ... I will try again or put something else in."
"My motto is just to leave things alone and don’t pamper your plants. People have their own ways of doing it, but that’s mine. Survival of the fittest."
"I don’t pamper because I’m busy doing other things including working and finding time for everything else in my life. That’s why I don’t tend to my plants 24/7."
Mrs Hamlin says spring is a lovely time to see plants and bulb beginning to bloom.
She says she has a four-seasons garden.
"There’s something for every season. You definitely can’t have just one favourite when there are so many to choose from."
Mrs Hamlin mulches with pea straw, as the ground at her home is considerable rocky, and mulching helps the soil retain moisture.
She also tends to her vege garden and greenhouse at this time of year, and is harvesting cabbage and broccoli.
She is looking forward to her summer garden.
"Strawberries and tomatoes seem to grow very well in my green house," she said.
"They replenish year after year and they’re really good eating."
"As long as I manage to keep the birds away."
She has collected many plants over the years and considers each plant a different point of interest.
"There is a massive variety and something for everyone. People in other areas of the town may have something completely different to me."
