Sometimes an open garden is disappointing - maybe it's not your style, or not as great as advertised. Gardenalia in Gherang in Victoria was definitely not that - it was well worth the ten dollar entrance fee to this stunning acreage, and it was s good I actually came back with Jamie to give him some inspiration. Luckily I didn't have to pay twice!
The house was surrounded by both a beautiful garden as well as vegetable patches and a pool. It must have been a real labour of love to create and maintain it - my sister and Mum thought they'd have to have had help in, either that, or they garden round the clock. Of course they would have been leading up to the open garden!
The house garden (because I'm not sure what to call it) was a mix of natives and non natives, and paths leading you in various directions. The whole thing was fenced, because there is no way they could have such an amazing understory of plants without fencing against rabbits!
They'd done some interesting things with native coastal banksia which, if left unchecked, gets quite bushy. Here they'd cut the understory so the white trunks formed a straight vertical 'fence', and was interspersed with upright sleepers to create an interesting division in the garden. You can see here the strappy leaves of irises (the season has just finished) and beyond, right at the end, the start of vegetable gardens and beyond that, big pine trees that provide a windbreak for the entire thing.
Various pots sported well choreographed plants of various succulents, providing more sculptural interest. She was an artist too, so had an eye for detail. I'd never have been able to grow such an understory - the rabbits would have eaten it all! Had we stayed at the old place, I would have definitely rung the fencing guy to get us a fence as I was insanely inspired.
I loved this lantern banksia with the flowers hanging down. I tried to get one once but they'd run out so it was a good reminder to go hunting for another!
Mum and I couldn't identify this one, but turns out it was a kiwi fruit! Thank goodness for google lens. I'd never seen one growing before. Like many of the plants, it was espaliered - not for lack of space, but to create wind breaks and 'rooms'. More familiar was the Japanese medlar next to it, or a loquat.
My sister really liked the patio that this creeper was rambling over - a simple post and rebar structure.
I loved what they'd done with the espalier - bits of concreting bar (I'm not sure the name of it) crossed over, so the top of the fruit tree grows along the arch. They also used the same bar for netting other fruit trees, which we liked better than the poly pipe most people use against big Aussie birds.
Of course I loved seeing the chook set up. We have to build our own chook house soon.
Then there was a little potting up shed with a herb garden in front - lemon verbena, mint, a lemon tree, rosemary, thyme, and a few other things. You know I love a herb garden! There was an adjacent citrus orchard too - a reminder to see if my air layering has worked, else I think I'll just put some citrus in big pots if I can find them second hand. I also liked the cute stick fences they had. Plenty of wood in the forests around here!
Jamie liked the black plastic mesh around the vegetable enclosures - much less visible than white bird netting. we really do have some pests around here, like possums and big cockatoos, that will rip your garden apart in seconds, so it's worth doing.
Even though they had lots of random things like succulents (and a hot house for them as well!) everything felt really cohesive. Lemon trees in big pots, conifers, firs, herbs, vegetables, fruit - you name it. Everything somehow felt ordered and in place.
They even had the same elder trees as I do with their big golden leaves. I'd never plant them again - I end up pulling out a lot of self seeded elder!
Don't you love this stick border? So easy and cheap. I'll definitely be integrating this in some way. I do love a garden of found things rather than things you pay a fortune for at the garden centre.
What do you think of this open garden? Are there ideas you'd adopt for your own garden? We came away inspired and I can't wait to show you what we build - one day!
With Love,
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