Nude Gardening Day
8th Annual NZ Nude Gardening Day 24 Oct 2026
Nude Gardening Day was created as fun light-hearted way to introduce people to outdoor naturism in which they are encouraged to go clothes free in nature, starting in the safe space of their own garden. It promotes body acceptance, connection with nature and the enjoyment of being clothes-free outdoors.
Internationally Nude Gardening day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. However, since this is a bit cold for the Southern Hemisphere, since 2018, NZ has been celebrating its' own Nude Gardening Day usually on the 3rd or 4th Sat of October (Labour Day weekend).
Since 2022, NZ has been joined by Australia and South Africa in celebrating the day - and it became "Southern Hemisphere Nude Gardening Day".
Some years have a particular theme, for instance the theme for 2025 was "Communities in bloom", 2023 was "Veggies - better home grown" and 2022 was "healthy soil". Nude Gardening Day is mainly promoted by the New Zealand Naturist Federation but other organisations have also assisted in its' promotion including Yates, Lynn River, Stihl and Organic NZ.
Special acknowledgement needs to be made to Alice de Wet, Donna Miller, Wendy Lowe, June Campbell-Tong, Fiona Arthur (from Yates) and Anna Cruse for their tremendous contributions in promoting Nude Gardening Day since its' inception.
Pictured below is Alice helping Anna with her veggie garden in 2023 for Nude Gardening Day.
How common is New Zealanders gardening nude outside, anyway? More common than you'd think.
"TradeTested" ran the "Great NZ Backyard Survey" which asked 8,000 gardeners across the country a variety of questions about their backyard. One of the questions was "Have you ever been naked in your backyard?". 28% of Kiwi's indicated that they have indeed been, with 17% saying "not yet" indicating that they are not entirely dismissive of the idea.
You can see the full survey from here
Hopefully nude gardening day can further encourage our fellow Kiwi's to discover the joys of being nude in their backyard.
Looking back - a history of Nude Gardening Day
Nude Gardening Day 2025 - "Communities in Bloom"
The theme for NGD 2025 was "communities in bloom".
Alice was interviewed by Radio New Zealand (listen here)
The event was also covered by the Otago Daily Times (read here)
and also noted by the Hibiscus Matters (click here)
Photos to support the "communities in bloom" theme was taken of Alice by sports photographer Eddie Fowke and subsequently included in OrganicNZ's nude gardening calendar.
Nude Gardening Day 2023 - "Veggies, better home grown"
Alice was interviewed live by TV One's Breakfast Show at Aukland Outdoor Naturist Club - watch here
The theme for Nude Gardening Day 2023 was "Veggies - better home grown".
Stuff.co.nz covered the event (read here) and the story was republished in a number of outer news outlets.
The photo directly above also made it into OrganicNZ's Nude Gardening Calendar - which was published just a weeks before Anna tragically passed away from cancer. When she received the calendar with the photo she remarked: "LOL, I've never been a calendar girl before!"
Photo below: Alice and Dion spent Nude Gardening Day helping Anna with here veggie garden at Auckland Sun Club.
Nude Gardening Day 2022 - "Soil Health"
2022 was a big year for Nude Gardening Day, with a lot happening. In particular, this was the year that Australia and South Africa started to observe "Nude Gardening Day" at the same time as New Zealand - now making it "Southern Hemisphere Nude Gardening Day".
In association with "Yates" and the "Soil & Health Association of NZ" (now called Organic NZ) the theme for 2022 was "soil health". To this end, Yates ran a competition "soil your undies" (see here) where gardeners were asked to plant their cotton undies for 60 days and dig them up to determine soil health. The more threadbare the undies, the healthier the soil. Alice buried her "Betty Boop" undies at Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club. When it came time to dig it up, her undies were completely decomposed to the point of being untraceable - a testimony to the soil health at the club.
Alice was interviewed live by TV One's the Breakfast Show about Nude Gardening Day and the promotional soil health initiative. When asked whether she had dug up her undies, Alice responded:
"It's pretty funny because I planted my undies with the president of the club, and I could only find his undies... I couldn't find mine, and his are pretty worn out so I think mine has been eaten by the micro-organisms" to which the Breakfast host replied,
"it's not like you need the undies anyway, Alice!".
You can watch the full interview - from here
Alice was also interviewed by "the Breeze" radio station, to which she noted about Nude Gardening:
"A sense of total freedom, being in touch with nature, basically being in touch with your roots, because we are all born naked. So it's about going back to that feeling about who you are and trying to reach that inner self. It's great for your self esteem, because when you are nude, you have nothing to hide anymore".
You can listen to that interview from here
Following the nude gardening soil health campaign, the Soil & Health Association of NZ launched a nude gardening calendar which has been running every year since.
In 2022, "Stihl" also got in on the nude gardening bandwagon, featuring an ad with naked gardeners.
You can watch the advert from here
Photo below: Dion de Wet is a nude gardener in Stihl's naked ad.
Lynn River continued to run its' Nude Gardening Day competition (which started in 2020),
with Orchard Naturist Club President Lois Heads winning "Nude Gardener of the Year 2022".
Nude Gardening Day 2021 - Veggie Donation Drive
2021 was another huge year for nude gardening with loads of media coverage. This time around there was a charitable drive with NGD, with the purpose of benefitting local food charities by sending veggies to families in need.
Read more about that from here
The New Zealand Herald ran a printed article on Nude Gardening Day, and included the following photo as one of its' top pics of 2021:
NZ Herald - Through the Lens 2021 - Top Pictures of the year click here
The original article only appeared in printed newspaper format, and not online. It read:
"Wear sunblock, a hat and gloves”. That’s the advice for anyone wanting to take part in International Gardening Week today from Alice de Wet, secretary of the Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club. De Wet, who was introduced to naturism through a friend in native South Africa 13 years ago, believes that naturism, and naked gardening, is a way to get away from the modern world.
“It’s easy to get caught up in technology and lose touch with nature and our roots. This is a way to connect to nature and focus on the outdoor and te environment.”
De Wet moved to New Zealand with her husband 12 years ago and they attend the club in Ranui with their son. She thinks it’s more comfortable tovisit a club rather than public place such as a naturist beach when staring in naturism. Or if you want to try naked gardening in your garden, then perhaps erect a gazebo to afford privacy. And what about feet?
"Definitely wear footwear if you’re digging, for safety’s sake. But I prefer barefoot gardening to really connect with the Earth”.
Photo above: Alice de Wet, Nude Gardening Day. Photo by: Michael Craig, NZHerald
Then president of the NZNF Wendy Lowe was interviewed live for Nude Gardening Day by TV Three's AM Show.
You can watch the interview from here
Stuff.co.nz also ran an article which can be read from here
Photo above: Naked gardening enthusiasts Dion De Wet, Alice De Wet and Ryan Berry. Photo by: David White (Stuff.co.nz)
Lynn River again ran their "NZ Nude Gardener of the Year" competition. Many submissions were received, 12 finalists were put to public vote with Alice winning the title.
Otago Daily Times also spoke about Nude Gardening Day, particularly reflecting back on how one of New Zealand's most celebrated gardeners, famous Kiwi gardener Douglas Cook, gardened in just boots and a hat and nothing else. Read here
Nude Gardening Day 2020
Media coverage with NGD 2020 was quieter as most of the media coverage was focused on COVID.
However Lynn River did launch their "NZ Nude Gardener of the Year Award"
and an article was featured in 1News: read here
Nude Gardening Day 2019
Wendy Lowe was interview live on the AM show. You can watch it from here
A further article was published here
Nude Gardening Day 2018- Inaugural year
In 2018, the NZNF made the decision to launch its' own "Nude Gardening Day" separate from the traditional date of 1 May on which it's observed internationally. Considering that 1 May works fine for the Northern Hemisphere but being too cold in the Southern Hemisphere, the NZNF decided to celebrate NGD on the Saturday of Labour Weekend instead, which also falls within New Zealand's "Gardening Week" which has traditionally been celebrated the week leading up to Labour Day Weekend.
NZHerald covered the decision - read here
As well as Scoop - read here
And stuff.co.nz spoke to Southern Naturally - read here
Photo above: Southern Naturally club members Wilma Kremer, Caroline Smythe, Alison Bennett and Philp Matthews get out in the garden during NZ Nude Gardening Day. Photo by: Kavinda Herath (stuff.co.nz)
Stuff.co.nz also spoke to Taranaki Naturist Club, read here
Members of the Taranaki Naturist Club, from left, Pip Elwarth, Terry Doe, Mary Spackman and Murray Elwarth get busy in the back yard. Photo by: Andy Jackson (stuff.co.nz)
Prior to establishing NZ's own Nude Gardening Day, June-Campbell Tong (former NZNF President) spoke to Stuff.co.nz about international Nude Gardening Day, and why the NZNF is considering pushing it out to NZ spring....
Photo above: Wellington gardener June Campbell-Tong is ready to participate in World Naked Gardener Day. Photo by: Monique Ford (stuff.co.nz)
Stuff.co.nz paid a visit to Taranaki Naturist Club: read here
NZNF President at the time Donna Miller spoke to RNZ: read and listen here
This article was compiled by Dion de Wet
Last updated: 22 Aug 2026