Photography: Monique Lovick
When people think of a classic Australian garden, there’s normally a certain amount of harsh beauty in the picture. Yet this Australian garden proves that a fun European sensibility can find a home here and even thrive.
Cue the heady scent of lavender and the buzz of bees as they nestle into the delicate folds of velvety roses. This charming property, located near Orange on the NSW Central Tablelands, marries the formality of European landscape design with the romance of a wild cottage garden lush with feathery perennials.
“It’s great to sit outside with family and friends, enjoying the sunset while children play” – homeowner
It’s hard to believe that this botanical idyll, surrounded by rolling farmland, is only a handful of years old. “When we arrived, we had a blank canvas, a house with a detached garage in the middle of a paddock,” says the homeowner, who bought the 47-hectare farm and also enlisted Whittemore Brown Design to develop about 4000 square metres around the homestead.
Now, the picturesque abode is located at the end of a long, curving driveway lined with London poplars, plane and cherry trees.
NEED TO KNOW
- How to prep the soil of an Australian garden
- Inside the enchanting European cottage plant palette
- How to keep the garden beautiful year-round
- A greenhouse designed for entertaining
- Hard work or garden therapy?
How to prep the soil of an Australian garden
The soil was clay-based and required heavy conditioning. Before a single seedling was planted, truckloads of high-quality soil and compost were brought in. Ben Whittemore, director of the garden design team, established irrigation lines and then linked them to the property’s bore. “There was a lot of prep work done before planting,” says Ben. “If you don’t do the legwork to get the basics right, the plants won’t survive.”
“We love designing gardens in the country, because you can work with the lie of the land to create contours and structure by planting different heights and forms” – Ben Whittemore, garden designer
“We’ve kept the lawns as flat as possible and navigated the slight level changes through gradually sloping garden beds and contouring with planting,” says Ben. He worked alongside Spectra-Scape Gardens, who did the installation.
Inside the enchanting European cottage plants
The grassed zones are carved with feminine curves and framed by precisely trimmed mounds and clouds of Buxus, Helichrysum and native Fuchsia. These forms, combined with the undulating sweeps of mass-planted English and French lavender and the perennial Salvia ‘Kate Glenn’, echo the peaks and valleys of the borrowed landscape, with its gentle hills and gum tree-dotted paddocks.
Colour plays a powerful role in the considered look of the abundant array. There’s a tightly curated palette of purples, whites, and pops of rosy hues from pink hydrangeas and red Penstemon ‘Firebird’. “We stuck to three or four main highlight colours, with the greens and greys of the foliage as the base,” explains Ben.
Rustic cobblestone pathways link the various areas of the garden, imbuing it with even more European charm. “The granite cobblestones will age nicely over the years,” says Ben. This contrasts with the ephemeral beauty of the flowers. The Australian garden’s floral offerings regularly end up in vases, especially the roses. “I love cutting flowers and bringing the outside in,” says the owner.
How to keep the garden beautiful year-round
“The perennials look great in spring and summer when they’re in full flower, but when they get cut back in winter, the garden can look bare,” says Ben. To ensure year-round texture and fullness, the planting scheme features winter-tolerant varieties, in line with the philosophies of succession planting. These plants can handle the region’s punishing frosts and winds.
“Along with the lavender, we planted jasmine and a few different variations of Teucrium to maintain structure and greenery through the cooler months,” explains Ben. Down a cobblestone path, the quaint glasshouse, fitted with a fireplace, provides a cosy spot to soak up the garden views when the weather turns.
As spring rolls around, the roses burst forth in the Australian garden. There’s a ‘Just Joey’ hybrid tea rose with coppery peach-coloured petals, and the vanilla-white puffs of the Iceberg floribunda rose. A delicate Pierre de Ronsard climbing rose wraps gracefully around the columns of the undercover walkway linking the home to the garage, forming a floral arbour.
A greenhouse designed for entertaining
Exposed to winter frosts, dry summers and high winds, the property dictated a hardy plant selection. It also inspired the addition of a glasshouse. Echoing the charming cottage architecture of the weatherboard homestead and fitted with a wood burner as well as comfy seating, the greenhouse was built by Spectra-Scape Gardens. It is one of the homeowners’ favourite spots to entertain.
“The colour, the scents, the peace and quiet. The garden provides a sense of calm and relaxation” – homeowner
Hard work or garden therapy?
Keeping the edges trimmed and the topiary in fine form requires a dash of maintenance, but the owners happily tend to their Australian garden haven regularly. Far from a chore, it’s a form of stress relief.
“I find working in the garden or just spending a day on a mower therapeutic, especially after extremely busy days in an office,” says the owner. “The garden is my personal sanctuary – a peaceful place to retreat for relaxation and reflection.”
Source book
Landscape design Whittemore Brown Design, whittemorebrowndesign.com, @whittemorebrowndesign.
Landscape build & maintenance Spectra-Scape Gardens, spectrascape.com.au.
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