Photography: Allie Aszodi
Ashley James had barely settled into his former childhood 1860s weatherboard cottage in Victoria’s Yarra Valley when the world hit pause. The 2020 Covid lockdowns arrived just as he, his wife Bianca – pregnant with their third child – and their two young children were beginning their new chapter. Fortunately, they found themselves surrounded by rolling green hills – a landscape that softened the isolation.
His garden design and construction business, however, wasn’t so lucky. “We were shut down for three months. I wasn’t able to work,” recalls Ashley. “It was horrible, business-wise – it knocked my company for six – but I have three children and it was the first time I actually had time to spend at home with a newborn, which was really nice.”
Another silver lining? The chance for Ashley to design and bring his dream garden to life. “The original gardens around the house that Dad had done were due for an upgrade. I ended up pulling everything out and replacing it,” he explains. Becoming more self-sufficient was also a priority, so Ashley opted for a potager garden.
“That’s a fancy French way of saying kitchen garden,” he tells us. “It was hard to buy fresh produce, and you never knew what was going to happen in the supermarkets, so we started growing our own.”
The garden gives you that Beatrix Potter-like whimsical feel but it’s carefully curated with plants that are going to survive in this climate.”
Ashley James, garden designer.
“We always have little jars filled with cosmos or zinnias all over the house.”
Ashley James, garden designer.
Ashley nurtured a variety of edibles, with corn and tomatoes being firm favourites. “I actually didn’t like tomatoes until I grew my own,” he says. “You can taste the difference when they’re straight from paddock to plate. The sweetcorn is amazing – you can pick that and eat it straight off the cob.”
And the kids’ favourite? Strawberries, of course. “They watch them ripen, going from green to red, then pick them and eat them. They just love it,” he says. “It was a great way to introduce the kids to horticulture and where their food comes from.”
With the rhythm of the seasons in mind, Ashley carefully plans his planting, sowing seeds six weeks in advance to ensure a steady harvest. The result is an abundance beyond what they can eat. “You can produce tomato sauce and do all of that kind of thing if you want to, but we give a lot away,” he says. “At one point, we had so many cucumbers that if someone came up my driveway by mistake, I’d give
them a cucumber because we had so many!”
Taking a frugal approach, the garden’s structures were built from recycled materials. “It was an uncertain time for the business, so I didn’t want to spend too much money [on materials],” explains Ashley. The handmade gate and picket fence, crafted from leftover decking, help keep the rabbits out. Now, he receives requests for similar style gates, which also look superb in timbers like spotted gum.
The garden’s whimsical, Beatrix Potter-style aesthetic nods to Ashley’s English heritage (his mum is originally from the UK), infused with a practical, climate-conscious twist. “It’s British inspired, but very naturalistic,” he shares. “The plants are from places like Mexico and South Africa, where they deal with heat and frost really well.”
Bursting with colour and life, his garden is designed to evolve with the seasons. Rather than manicured perfection, Ashley prunes for enjoyment. “We’ve always got cut flowers in little jars all over our house. The more you pick them, the more they’ll produce,” he says. “I’ve been bringing wads of sunflowers in. They’re always in a vase somewhere.”
Kangaroo Ground,” he says. As the town’s name suggests, kangaroos are plentiful, yet they leave the plants alone. “We did have issues back in the drought – they’d eat the roses at the back door – but there was no growth anywhere else,” he says. “Now, we have no issues.”(Credit: Photography: Allie Aszodi)
Just like in Mr McGregor’s garden, the picket fence helps keeps rabbits at bay, but other creatures are more than welcome. A thriving ecosystem of bees, birds, frogs, insects and worms ensures the garden remains healthy and vibrant. “The flowers attract the bees, which help pollinate the fruit and veg,” explains Ashley. “We’ve also been lucky to have an influx of ladybirds, so we haven’t had an aphid problem because they’ve eaten them all.”
And just in case there’s any doubt that this cottage garden sits firmly in the Australian countryside, there are the ever-present kangaroos. “They’re everywhere, always out in the paddock. I’m looking
at them right now underneath the gumtree,” he says. “They’re sitting in the shade, having a kip.”
After emerging on the other side of Victoria’s lockdowns, Ashley restructured his business. “I no longer have staff,” he says. “It’s just myself now and I’m quite happy with the way it’s worked out.”
As for his personal potager garden, it captured the imaginations of many when he shared it online. “It kind of went crazy. Everybody started contacting me for that style of garden,” he says. “So now I’ve
got my signature style, which is ‘Australian country cottage’ – a little bit whimsical, a bit romantic.”
These days, he is thrilled to be asked to travel the country, designing enchanting gardens far and wide. “There’s a silver lining to everything,” he muses.
Garden design & construction Ashley James Gardens, ashleyjamesgardens.com.
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