COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 51 “THERE HAVE BEEN TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS, BUT WE’RE GETTING SOMEWHERE. WE’VE CREATED A LEGACY.” Rustic structures support climbing plants. FACING PAGE The old bakery can be hired out as a casual dining space for up to 40 people.
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 52 TOOWOOMBA QLD A RIOT OF COLOUR AND CHARACTER, THIS COTTAGE GARDEN IN TOOWOOMBA WELCOMES VISITORS WITH ITS COSY CORNERS AND ENDLESS EDIBLE BOUNTY. WORDS JESSICA BELLEF PHOTOGRAPHY HANNAH PUECHMARIN SWEET SURRENDER Iceland poppies make for a cheery indoor display. FACING PAGE Owners Leisa and Serge can note the progress of their potager garden from the shaded sitting area.
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 54 TOOWOOMBA QLD Cottage gardens are bountiful expressions of colour and life, woven through with nostalgia and romance. For Leisa Rossignol, the owner of this pretty patch located in the Southern Queensland town of Toowoomba, home to the Jagera, Giabal and Jarowair peoples, that sentiment couldn’t ring more true. Awash with delicate florals and defined with reclaimed materials and meaningful objects, her garden is a perfect fit for the sweet weatherboard cottage that has sat on the plot for more than a century. “I’ve always loved older properties and antique collectables,” says Leisa, who, along with her French-born husband Serge, has built up this delightful garden oasis on a 630-squaremetre block in just a few short years. Leisa bought the property in 2015, drawn to the home’s original details of pressed-metal ceilings and ornate breezeway panels, and its convenient location only a few streets from the centre of town. While the previous owners had renovated the kitchen and bathrooms in a modern country style, the yard had been left mostly untouched. “The garden was pretty ordinary, but there were lovely citrus trees and shrubs on the northern side, and there was a Chinese tallowwood,” Leisa explains. Soon after purchasing the home, Leisa moved to Brisbane for work. She returned to the Toowoomba cottage in 2019 with Serge. They had known each other briefly as 18-year-olds, and fate reunited them decades later, each with three adult children of their own. Starting their new life together, the couple relished the opportunity to reinvent the yard and establish a blossoming retreat that would also provide them with seasonal produce. Removing an invasive, black mould-riddled Chinese celtis tree gave the couple space for a kitchen garden, pathways made of repurposed brick and a quaint pink summer house built by Serge at the rear of the yard. Finished with vintage stained-glass windows and a set of French doors, all found on >
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT French lavender; Leisa and Serge beside a potting bench and a garden obelisk, both built by Serge; fresh scones and a cuppa; the summer house is painted Dulux Petite Pink. FACING PAGE Stained-glass windows in the summer house came from a local church, while the French doors were bought at farm auctions.
FROM TOP Bees are drawn to the mix of flowers; a rustic iron gate leads to the potager garden. FACING PAGE An old wheelbarrow lends character. “I do like using old containers in a different way, but I have to be careful not to go overboard,” says Leisa. “You don’t want it to look junky.” Facebook Marketplace, Leisa’s cherished garden hideaway is filled with sentimental family heirlooms and what the avid collector calls “decorating overflow” from the house. Formerly a legal secretary, Leisa has recently started selling old wares and flowers at pop-up stalls under the name of Eleanor and Ruby. The name is a tribute to her beloved grandmothers. “So much of the garden, the summer house and the main house are built around their and my love for vintage,” she shares. Serge’s ancestral home in France also shapes the garden’s spirit, from the neat potager to the brocante treasures dotted throughout. Every vignette in this garden has been thoughtfully designed and tended to. “It’s about creating a place you hope people would want to visit,” muses Lisa, who grew up on a farm in the Darling Downs, a few hours’ drive west of Toowoomba. “I love to be able to create, to enjoy it ourselves and to share it with family and friends.” In September 2021, the Rossignols opened their garden to the public for the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, a 10-day celebration of private and public green spaces that has been running since 1949. The first-time participants were thrilled to receive first place in the home garden competition, crowned the event’s City Grand Champions. Their cottage garden is resplendent with dainty florals that bring bucolic charm – sweet peas, pansies, violas and foxgloves, to name a few – and vegetables and herbs that are grown throughout the year. True to form, the beds and large pots feature an enticing melange of varieties. “I like to mix the flowers, the vegies and the herbs. The bees love it, for a start, and I love it visually,” Leisa says. From the five raised beds in the potager to the mix of vines set to transverse the arbour – including wisteria, Lady Hillingdon climbing rose, and two varietals of grape – an informal tumbling abundance is Leisa’s preferred garden aesthetic. “Poor Serge doesn’t cope with that. He likes straight lines, and he would chop it all off at the pathway if he could. No, no, no!” she says, laughing. Yet Serge’s eye for precision and order comes in handy when constructing pieces for the house and garden. Along with the summer house, the English teacher has handcrafted obelisks and potting benches, and he has given new purpose to vintage pieces collected by Leisa. Love has been poured into the garden, and the small block has returned the life-affirming sentiment tenfold. In reuniting, Serge and Leisa have found love for each other and their pocket in life, and they’ve nurtured a world that they are proud to share. “Serge is very creative, and we are a good team. It has just been lovely to build this with him and build our relationship, too,” Leisa says.
“IT’S ABOUT CREATING A PLACE YOU HOPE PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO VISIT.” TOOWOOMBA QLD COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 57
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 58 ORANGE NSW WINEMAKER ED SWIFT AND HIS WIFE EMILY HIT THE GROUND RUNNING FOR THE RENOVATION OF THEIR FOREVER HOME IN ORANGE, NSW, STARTING WITH THE GARDENS. WORDS JESSICA BELLEF PHOTOGRAPHY MONIQUE LOVICK NEW BEGINNINGS
Sculptural dahlias are an annual favourite in Ed and Emily Swift’s garden. FACING PAGE Emily loves getting out in the garden to decompress after a busy day.
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 60 ORANGE NSW I n a typical renovation timeline, gardens are tended to after the main building is refreshed. But the reinvention of the Swift family’s half-hectare plot in Orange, in the Central Tablelands of NSW, followed its own path. Emily Swift and her husband Ed bought the property in 2013, and although their 100-year-old weatherboard house was uninsulated and falling apart, the couple directed their attention to the landscaping first. “Everyone asked us why we were spending time on the garden, but I knew how long things could take to establish,” explains Emily, 46. “It was always our priority to start with the garden and then work backwards to the house. We knew this would be our forever home, so we wanted to do it right.” Emily and Ed, 47, were drawn to the established trees and the fact that there was space for their daughters, Penny and Annabel, who were five and three at the time, to play, roam and grow. They also appreciated the property’s proximity to Printhie Wines, the winery Ed’s parents established in 1996, where Ed manages the day-to-day operations alongside his brother Dave, and Emily oversees the marketing. Back on the Swifts’ block in 2013, the task at hand was considerable. Wayward elm suckers restricted access to one side of the house, and the sloping grounds were pockmarked with duck ponds and a shamble of poultry coops. “It was really overgrown – we couldn’t get a sense of what the boundaries and elevations looked like,” Emily recalls. It took them months to strip everything back, followed by extensive earthworks, trucking in 1000 tonnes of fill to turn the sloping site into a series of terraces and outdoor rooms. “A lot of work went into the infrastructure,” Emily explains. “We had to get the terracing and irrigation set up, and we put in a bore. We weren’t ready to start planting until 2015.” >
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Flowers grow happily in the raised vegie beds; a delicate foxglove; the garden has numerous places to sit and relax; pots of herbs and flowers. FACING PAGE The home’s exterior is painted in Lexicon Quarter Strength by Dulux, and the doors are painted in Dulux Night Sky.
“IT WAS ALWAYS OUR PRIORITY TO START WITH THE GARDEN AND THEN WORK BACKWARDS TO THE HOUSE. WE KNEW THIS WOULD BE OUR FOREVER HOME.” COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 62 ORANGE NSW
FROM TOP A flower-like echeveria succulent spills from its pot; the family’s cute cavoodle, Hattie. FACING PAGE A quiet spot with enchanting views. They combined the classical ideals of order and beauty in the garden, bringing a European aesthetic to this patch of high-altitude land. “We are so lucky here in Orange because the cooler climate allows us to grow many European varieties of plants,” Emily adds. “We’re also very conscious of water usage, so we’ve interspersed them with natives. I have a whole new appreciation for natives – there are many beautiful and incredibly resistant varieties.” Correa and grevillea brush up against camellias, rhododendrons and thriving hydrangeas that originated in Emily’s grandmother’s garden. The vegetable beds, constructed by Emily’s father, are slowly but surely producing more florals and fewer edibles as time passes. “The vegie patch is turning into a cut-flower garden. I just can’t help myself!” Emily says, chuckling. The passionate gardener’s carefully planned rotation of growth ensures beautiful vignettes regardless of the season. “I’ve tried to design the garden so that we can appreciate it any time of year,” she says, adding that she thinks the best views are enjoyed from the verandah. The homestead, renovated over six months beginning in November 2017, now sits proudly on the top of the hill, presiding over grassy terraces defined by Buxus hedge, blonde gravel and impeccably groomed beds. “We wanted spaces that we could entertain in, and I love to think my daughters would want to get married here one day. The marquee lawn is ready for them!” Emily says with a laugh. The showcase landscaping radiates a comfortable formality. It’s manicured but relaxed and inviting, and remains a source of calm. “I need to do something in the garden every day; it’s the way I decompress,” Emily says. “It’s non-stop working in a family business, so I find gardening is my break from that.” Printhie Wines is stronger for having weathered the COVID storm and the years of drought and bushfire prior. The family are putting the finishing touches on a new phase for the on-site restaurant as they continue adapting and innovating processes, and gaining international recognition. “Every day at Printhie Wines we are so focused on what the land is producing for us,” says Emily. “We focus on the vineyard’s health and sustainability, and get the best quality product from our vines. It all comes back to the soil.” Was this perhaps the mindset that guided the family’s priority of establishing their garden haven at home? “I think Ed and I have a very strong, innate connection to the land,” Emily says. “Having both grown up in the country, we respect the natural environment. It’s very grounding for us to keep that connection going when we come home. It’s our sense of place.” For more, visit printhiewines.com.au
From cloud-like flowers to fragrant bulbs, garlic takes many guises. FACING PAGE Tenterfield’s four distinct seasons make this the ideal climate for growing garlic.
TENTERFIELD NSW COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 65 A THRIVING GARLIC FARM IN NORTHERN NSW GAVE ITS OWNERS THE CHANCE TO REALISE A LONG-HELD GOAL OF GIVING BACK TO THE LAND. WORDS JESSICA BELLEF PHOTOGRAPHY HANNAH PUECHMARIN TREASURE CLOVES
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Garlic cloves are delicious roasted whole or eaten raw for their immune-boosting benefits; garlic plants wait to be processed; Rose tends to her crop; a rustic stone building built by Dick, the previous owner. FACING PAGE Steve and Rose at the sorting table.
Row upon row of bobble-headed, mauve garlic crops lead to native bush at Rose Hawkins and Steve Scott’s certified organic farm in Tenterfield in northern NSW. Sitting within eyesight of Tenterfield Creek, where the Bundjalung people are the original custodians of the land, the farm was established by Dick and Dora Rochford in the 1980s. “Dick is famous in Australia for growing garlic,” Rose says. “The farm was certified organic 35 years ago, at the start of organic farming’s popularity in Australia.” Dick experimented with garlic varieties and found that the Oriental Purple and Russian (also known as Elephant Garlic) took easily to the region’s sandy loam and temperate climate. Since buying the property in early 2018, Rose and Steve have continued to grow and sell these varieties, operating as Tenterfield Creek Organics and expanding their parcel to 55 hectares. “We had no idea we would become garlic growers,” says Rose of the path she and Steve paved while living on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, yearning for a more rural life. “I grew up on a cattle property, but I wanted to run a farm that was for the future: sustainable and organic and good for the land,” adds the yoga instructor, author and mum to four adult children. After visiting Tenterfield, where Steve lived in the 1980s, Rose took a liking to the historic town and rolling hills. “On the drive home, Steve started Googling and said, ‘You won’t believe it, there’s an organic garlic farm for sale’. We turned around and that was that!” Dick spent a year mentoring the couple, who continue to develop the farm’s ethos today. “One of my sons runs The Farm Byron Bay and is really into regenerative farming, so we are talking with him about the techniques we can incorporate,” Rose explains, adding that they have already initiated biodynamic practices and have a no-tillage goal. The garlic is hand-planted and hand-picked by the couple (and any willing family members who are prepared to pitch in). “We have specific paddocks that we rotate, and they account for around four hectares – the rest is natural bush. It would actually only be around half a hectare that we grow at a time,” says Rose. Thankfully garlic crops are relatively immune to pests, she adds, “but if they get too wet in the ground, they will rot”. Harvested garlic bushels dry in the processing shed for anywhere from two weeks to a month before shipping via the couple’s primary method of distribution, Australia Post. “It’s a risk to send it before it’s fully dry, as it can go mouldy,” Rose points out. “We also try not to post on a Friday in case it sits at the post office over the weekend!” Smaller orders are sent in cartons and boxes, while the large orders go into biodegradable onion bags. > TENTERFIELD NSW COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 67
“The Oriental Purple has a very herbal taste with a lot of vigour,” says Rose of one of their popular grown varieties. FACING PAGE The Russian garlic blooms into big, round mauve balls.
Rustic stone dwellings and landscaping elements were hand-built by Dick using rock pulled from the farm, the perfect accompaniment to the tin-clad outhouses. Rose has held yoga classes in a stone yurt, but plans to convert one of the large sheds into a spacious yoga barn. Introduced to yoga as a teen, it wasn’t until Rose was in her forties that she devoted herself to the practice and started running regular workshops and retreats. Meanwhile, Steve, who works full-time on the farm, has always enjoyed meditation. “We are both very much into connecting with the breath and the land,” Rose says. “If you can connect with those things, you can connect with yourself and others. It’s how I see life.” The couple apply this grounded approach to their property. They certainly have been tested since taking over the farm, starting with the extreme drought that led to the catastrophic fires of 2019’s Black Summer. “We were very lucky in that we stopped the fire from getting into our forest country and our home, but it burnt out the creek and we lost the willow trees,” Rose recalls. Soon after the fires, a hailstorm damaged crops and washed masses of ash into the creek, the farm’s main water source. And then came COVID. “We moved here permanently only a few weeks before the first lockdown,” Rose says. “We were definitely in the right spot.” Sheltering in place, Rose self-published Coming Home, a book illustrating her yoga journey and lifelong connection to food. “Many people assume that the title refers to our move to Tenterfield, but it’s about the yoga concept of coming home to yourself and feeling whole wherever you are,” she explains. “Having said that, if I hadn’t moved to Tenterfield, I probably wouldn’t have written the book.” With plans to expand the crop size, Rose and Steve aren’t slowing down just yet. Rose is developing an organic flower farm in a polytunnel, focusing on dahlias and zinnias, and the couple are toying with reinstating the farm tours for agricultural students that Dick once hosted. “We thought we were moving to something quieter, but we really haven’t!” Rose says, chuckling. For more, visit tenterfieldcreekorganics.com TENTERFIELD NSW COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 69 “I WANTED TO RUN A FARM THAT WAS FOR THE FUTURE: SUSTAINABLE AND ORGANIC AND GOOD FOR THE LAND.”
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 70 R AV ENSBOUR NE QLD ARTIST BARB SOMERVAILLE FINDS PLENTY OF CREATIVE INSPIRATION GROWING IN HER SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND GARDEN. WORDS JESSICA BELLEF PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLÉ MASTER STROKE
A trug full of freshly picked roses with philadelphus and Queen Anne’s lace. FACING PAGE Barb Somervaille at work in her glorious home garden.
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 72 R AV ENSBOUR NE QLD I f anyone can demonstrate the truth of the phrase, “patience is a virtue,” Barb Somervaille can. Barb and her husband Andrew live at Tallowood, an 11-hectare property in Southern Queensland’s Ravensbourne, on Jagera, Giabal and Jarowair land. They purchased the bare plot with two dams in 1998 and built a double-storey, barn-style home in a swift nine weeks. The garden, however, is a long-term project that Barb has chipped away at while homeschooling the couple’s eight children, now aged 18 to 35. “Moving out of Toowoomba to the country was a lifestyle choice, and it was my career choice to homeschool our children full-time,” says the powerhouse mum. However, when Barb and Andrew’s youngest, Daniel, began year nine at school in Toowoomba five years ago, Barb enrolled in a horticulture course at TAFE. “After TAFE, I landed a dream job at Gabbinbar Homestead, a heritage-listed venue in Toowoomba with a 150-year-old garden. As a casual consultant and gardener, my job brief is to plant flowers and bring the pizzazz!” she explains. Barb’s study and new work opportunities reassured her that the past few decades of self-taught gardening were intensely educational. Tallowood’s rich, volcanic soil and warm, temperate climate provided an excellent starting point. “If the soil is happy, the plants are happy and less stressed, and less likely to succumb to bugs and diseases,” she explains. Barb admits that keeping the garden weed-free is one of her main challenges. “Some summers, the weeds have grown taller than me. Thank goodness for sons and daughters who like gardening!” she says, adding that tea-tree mulch has recently helped her keep the weeds at bay. Barb’s evolving layout flows across one hectare within the garden fence. “Early on, I made the mistake of planting things too close together, so I’m spreading out into new areas of the garden,” she says. “I’ve planted some beautiful trees that I’ve collected interstate, like dogwoods, crabapples, lilacs – even a horse chestnut tree.” A walk beyond the fence leads to a cabinet timber tree plantation where Andrew, an agricultural consultant, planted 2500 native softwood trees 18 years ago. “In time, we will get a mobile sawmill in to harvest and sell them. That’s Andrew’s superannuation,” Barb shares. Trees play a significant role at Tallowood in many ways. When faced with that grassy paddock 25 years ago, Barb instantly knew what was required: “Getting the trees into the ground was the first priority so that we could create shade.” And she cannot overstate the importance of trees in creating microclimates that allow other plants to thrive. “It’s important to wait patiently for trees to provide shade before you plant the softer treasures that need the protective canopy,” she explains. >
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Flower arranging is just one of Barb’s many talents; pink rambling rose; border collie Peggy loves roaming outdoors; ‘Mrs Reynolds Hole’ rose. FACING PAGE “There are lots of nooks and crannies for the grandchildren to play in,” Barb says. PHOTOGRAPHY NIC GOSSAGE STYLING HANNAH BRADY
R AV ENSBOUR NE QLD COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 74 An English oak was the first sapling to hit the soil. “I wanted to be here long enough to see my grandchildren climb it – and now they do,” says Barb, who is grandmother to 11. A collection of fragrant, old-fashioned blooms and glossy hedging complements the verdant leafiness. A trip to the UK in 2013 cemented Barb’s love of English gardens – “I think I was born in the wrong country!” she declares. With secret rooms surrounded by photinia and gravel pathways leading to a water fountain, the garden retains a charming, relaxed informality. “This isn’t a show garden; it’s a garden to share,” says Barb emphatically. Selling cut flowers locally, creating wedding florals and hosting watercolour workshops have been Barb’s first steps in sharing Tallowood with others. In the art workshops she runs with her friend Gina, floral arrangements plucked from the garden form the enchanting subject matter. “I invite people here and give them permission to play, providing them with the space to have a beautiful and relaxing dose of pretty,” says Barb. “I’m not an art teacher; I just introduce people to the joy of colour and flowers.” Her most recent project involved printing her vivid paintings onto linen, working with Gina’s knowledge of digital design. Tallowood is entering a new season as Daniel prepares for university and a move away from home. The bittersweet milestone signals Barb’s opportunity to focus solely on the garden and develop the ideas dashing about in her mind. “I feel like my head is full of popcorn at times!” she says, laughing. Her bouquet of blossomy dreams includes hosting open garden days, more workshops and events, and developing more fabric designs. “I’m excited for my new chapter with Tallowood,” Barb says. “This is a real garden that has been created over time, little by little, and now it’s coming into its own.” It sounds like Barb may be doing a touch of that, too. For more, visit countrygardensnippets.com.au or follow @countrygardensnippets on Instagram.
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO WAIT PATIENTLY FOR TREES TO PROVIDE SHADE BEFORE YOU PLANT THE SOFTER TREASURES THAT NEED THE PROTECTIVE CANOPY.” Flowering artichoke. FACING PAGE Sunset at Tallowood. “We have volcanic soil here in Ravensbourne – you don’t have to do much to enrich it,” says Barb.
BRIGHTON TAS COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 76 PERSISTENCE HAS PAID OFF FOR ONE TASMANIAN COUPLE, WHO ARE REAPING THE REWARDS FROM THEIR MIXED-PRODUCE FARM. WORDS JESSICA BELLEF PHOTOGRAPHY MARNIE HAWSON FIELD OF DREAMS Belinda and Richard Weston with their border collie, Heston, at Weston Farm, the focal point of their working lives.
BRIGHTON TAS COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 78 When people ask us what we do, I often say we save marriages,” Tasmanian farmer Richard Weston quips. “Blokes get themselves into trouble and buy our peonies to make up for it!” Richard and his wife, Belinda, run Weston Farm, a seven-hectare lot located on rich alluvial flats near Brighton, home to the Mumirimina people, just north of Hobart. “We were 24 when we bought the property and started this journey,” recalls the Tassie-born horticulturist and landscaper. “That was in 1992, and there was absolutely nothing here. Just a field of dreams.” The pair have since created a thriving business that supplies premium peonies, vegetables, fruit and herbs to restaurants, cafes and retailers all over Australia. The Weston Farm Produce range boasts an award-winning smoked paprika, as well as olive oil, honey, peony petal jelly and other flavoursome condiments. In 2013, Richard and Belinda took ownership of the Pigeon Hole Cafe in Hobart, where the seasonal menu is directed by the farm’s yield, and lush peonies are bought by the armful. Richard may joke about selling bunches of flowers to men in the doghouse, but the truth is, Weston Farm’s produce reaches far and wide. A bird’s-eye view of the property resembles a rectangular swatch of green-striped wallpaper on a dry, straw-coloured surface. Rows of peonies meet with a grove of olive trees, while neatly gridded vegetable beds, clusters of outhouses and beehives sit by the homestead. The house, the first addition to the land, was designed by Belinda, who works as a building designer when she isn’t running around on the farm or being a mum to the couple’s adult twin sons, Lloyd and Campbell. In 1993, after living in their newly constructed home for six months, Richard and Belinda relocated to the Port Arthur Historic Site on the Tasman Peninsula, where Richard was employed to restore the gardens and grounds. A chance meeting with peony growers opened the Westons’ eyes to the possibility of creating their own peony farm. Upon returning to their rural property in 1998, they started work on the land in earnest. Despite their exquisitely blousy appearance, the coolclimate-loving peonies are tough. “They are field-grown here, and they put up with pretty strong winds,” Richard says. Their flowering season is a short, joyful burst that runs from October to December. There’s heightened anticipation of a peony’s first flush. “We always plant a crown with three to five eyes, and won’t let them flower for the first few years,” Belinda explains. “We de-bud them, which builds a nice, strong plant. We wait patiently and then harvest in the third year.” Richard adds: “There’s a saying that you’ve probably heard – ‘the first year they sleep, the second year they > Harvesting the peonies. “We enjoy what we do. It keeps us in touch with the seasons,” says Belinda. FACING PAGE The peonies are a bestseller at the cafe.
“WHEN YOU START SMALL-SCALE FARMING, IT’S GOT TO BE ABOUT DIVERSIFICATION.”
TAS CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT Edible mustard leaf produces pretty yellow flowers when it’s gone to seed; Peony lactiflora ‘Bowl of Beauty’; the family’s outdoor entertaining area; “marriagesaving” bouquets. FACING PAGE “Everything you see here today, we planted,” Belinda says.
“THERE IS A LOT OF JOY OUT OF GROWING THINGS … THAT CONNECTION WITH THE EARTH BRINGS A LOT OF HAPPINESS.” BRIGHTON TAS COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 81 creep, and the third year they leap.’ And that’s exactly how the peonies operate.” Among the first blooms to roll off the paddock are the double-flowered ‘Coral’ and ‘Red Charms’, and the glowing, lipstick-pink ‘Paula Fay’. In total, Weston Farm produces about 40 different peony varieties, and the size of the crop is growing. “We’ve had a big expansion in the last three years – we put in about another 8500 plants,” Richard says. In the same paddock, you’ll find 600 olive trees that the couple started planting well over a decade ago. “Interestingly, with the olives and the peonies, they both require the same soil pH, so there was a correlation there in regards to what would grow,” Richard explains. The vision for Weston Farm has always encapsulated organic farming principles and quality over quantity. “When you start small-scale farming, it’s got to be about diversification,” Richard says. “We had a good example a couple of years ago, where we lost about 10 or 15 tonnes of olives to an unseasonal frost. The peonies can look good early in the season, but you can’t count your chickens before they hatch. You can’t rely on just one industry.” For all the diversity they have nurtured on the farm and the intricate patchwork of tasks that make up their days, the Westons are driven by one simple thing. “There is a lot of joy out of growing things, and at the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to: a seed popping out of the ground,” says Richard. “That connection with the earth brings a lot of happiness.” For more information, visit westonfarm.com.au and pigeonholecafe.com.au
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 82 BOWRAL NSW TAKING INSPIRATION FROM QUAINT ENGLISH COTTAGE GARDENS AND HAMPTONS-STYLE LANDSCAPING, THIS NSW SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS PLOT BRINGS YEAR-ROUND JOY TO ITS OWNERS. WORDS KARINA MACHADO, HANNAH JAMES PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLÉ STYLING MELINDA HARTWRIGHT TRUE BLUE
From the verandah of Melinda and Tom’s home, the lush lawn rolls down to the dam. FACING PAGE Pastel Hydrangea macrophylla (lace cap) fills the garden.
There is never a bad time to soak in the landscape of Melinda and Tom Hartwright’s glorious garden in the NSW Southern Highlands. Lovingly brought to life over 10 years, their two hectares offer the couple an experience to savour in every season. “I love those mid-winter afternoons with friends around the fire,” says interior designer Melinda, founder of Melinda Hartwright Interiors. “Whenever we’ve got a big pile to burn off, we get friends around. Everyone brings camp chairs and we sit around the fire with bottles of Champagne and bowls of soup, all rugged up, as it gets dark.” But it’s in spring and summer, when the flowers are in full bloom, that Melinda can wander among her most beloved blossoms. “We didn’t have a single hydrangea in this whole garden when we arrived – it must have been one of the only gardens in the area that didn’t have any,” she says. “And as it’s my favourite flower, Tom planted and propagated a lot.” The blooms even shape how the family uses the space. “Now you can sit down and feel like you’re more a part of the garden,” says Melinda of the hydrangeas, which flower until May, when “they start going rusty red. I have great joy in picking and cutting the flowers Tom grows. We get baskets of hydrangeas all through summer, which is wonderful. I never, ever have to buy flowers.” > COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 84 BOWRAL NSW
CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE Toy cavoodle Ruby relaxes on the verandah; white Nymphaea waterlilies flourish in the dam; bush roses warm a mostly cool colour scheme. FACING PAGE Boston ivy climbs the walls.
“I HAVE GREAT JOY IN PICKING AND CUTTING THE FLOWERS TOM GROWS.”
With its pin oak, silver birch and London plane trees, those hydrangeas, entertaining area, sparkling pool, orchard and tidy vegie patch, this garden is an indispensable part of life for Melinda and Tom and their children, Charlie, 16, Poppy, 13, and Amelia, 10. However, when they moved here from Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2013, the outdoor spaces were almost bare. “It was a pretty vacant block,” explains Melinda. “There were some established trees and a few hedges, but not much else.” A major renovation of the traditional-style home began six months later – the first of three – and the garden “has been a work in progress”. The first step was earthworks to make way for a lawn beyond the front verandah, create a level field for the orchard and relocate a dam. “That went on for at least a month,” says Tom, who recalls it resembling “a battlefield” at first with “mud and twisted earth everywhere”. But the couple knew what they wanted. “We have a love of English gardens and American gardens, which goes hand in hand with my style of decorating,” says Melinda, who drew inspiration from a “very dog-eared” Paul Bangay book. “We wanted a green, white and blue garden.” After early, unfulfilling consultations with landscape designers, Tom and Melinda set to work themselves, and self-taught gardener Tom led the charge. “I dip my toe in now and then, but all the hard work and the grunt, the elbow grease and blood, sweat and tears is Tom’s,” says Melinda of her English-born husband. “He’s out there, rain, hail or shine, in a ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ kind of way.” Tom credits YouTube for his gardening skills. “It’s my passion,” he says. “It’s not just gardening – I like being outside. In winter, even when there’s not much going on in the garden, there’s always logs to split and trees to take down, bonfires to light. Autumn is sweeping up leaves, and spring is fertilising and getting ready for a new start.” Producing food was part of the couple’s wish list. “I love houses with orchards in England, so it’s something I always wanted to plant,” Tom explains. “We’ve got pears, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, cherries, apples and figs.” In the parterre-style vegie garden, he’s planted carrots, spinach, strawberries, onions, kiwifruit, figs and mint. “We did a lot of research and looked at a lot of designs to come up with the shape that we wanted,” says Melinda. “I said to Tom, ‘It needs to look as formal and designed as everything else.’ It’s now a really lovely asset and feature.” With its time-honoured lines, classic palette and wisteria-draped French doors opening to Melinda’s beloved verandah, the home enhances the garden’s beauty, and vice versa. “Theme, scale, perspective, balance, proportion – all those things in the garden are the same as they are in the house,” says Melinda. “It’s nice if there’s a seamless flow between your interiors and your outside.” For Tom, documenting the journey on Instagram helps him see how far they’ve come. “It’s like children,” he says. “You don’t notice them growing up around you – then you look back at photographs to realise how much they’ve grown. It’s the same with the garden.” But like children, eventually you have to let go of what you love. The family has since moved to Noosa – but they’ll always remember this garden with affection. “Coming here was like finding paradise,” says Melinda. For more, visit melindahartwright.com Melinda gathers hydrangeas. FACING PAGE Sweet peas wind themselves around trellises in the parterre-style vegie patch. BOWRAL NSW COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 87
Ellen makes and sells beautiful lavender-scented heat packs and bags. FACING PAGE Fragrant fields of purple lavender spikes.
SEVERNLEA QLD COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 89 THANKS TO SOME INNOVATIVE THINKING, JUSTIN AND ELLEN FAWDON HAVE BOUNCED BACK FROM A STEADY STREAM OF BAD LUCK TO BEGIN AN EXCITING NEW VENTURE. WORDS LYN JUSTICE PHOTOGRAPHY HANNAH PUECHMARIN HEAVEN SCENT
SEVERNLEA QLD COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 90 When Justin took over, the property had 8000 trees with 35 varieties of stone fruit – plums, peaches, nectarines, and apricots – plus nashi pears, all netted for protection. Justin, now 49, and Ellen, 53, married in 1998, but just two years later, “a nasty hailstorm” shredded their fruit and brought down the netting. “It just smashed us. It was one of the worst nights of our lives,” Justin recalls. It cost $390,000 to replace the netting, but the insurance only covered $80,000. To make matters worse, that year, their yield went from the usual 14,000 boxes of fruit to just 4000 boxes. The Millennium Drought in the 2000s caused further pain. The orchard’s three dams were empty and many trees suffered dieback. “We didn’t have the water or money to replant them,” Justin says. “We’d been decimated by low prices, drought, fruit fly and bats.” When the drought finally broke, Justin and Ellen, along with their children – Jade, now 21, Alex, 19, and Katelin, 17 – felt so optimistic, they planted another 4000 trees. But, incredibly, disaster struck again. The orchard sits on the Granite Belt, 870 metres above sea level, and in > At the whims of the weather and the market, farming can have more downs than ups, and sometimes lead to despair – as was the case for Queensland fruit growers Ellen and Justin Fawdon. Then they found a lifeline, and a gourmet food business blossomed on their struggling orchard. “We were at the lowest ebb in our lives, so it was like a Hail Mary when someone liked our business plan and decided to invest,” says Justin of their new enterprise, Budburst Australia, which produces gourmet stone-fruit vinegars. “This was a second chance, a new beginning.” Budburst was born in 2020, after the roller-coaster ride of farming the orchard for more than 20 years. Justin’s parents, Rosemarie and Tony, bought the 21-hectare orchard, near Severnlea in the Southern Downs Region on the traditional lands of the Geynyon people, in 1997. Dating back to 1918, the orchard has a proud history – a box of its fruit was presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Australia in 1954. It’s believed Her Majesty enjoyed it so much, another box was sent to Buckingham Palace!
CLOCKWISE, FROM THIS IMAGE The family’s home was built circa 1918; Ellen and labrador cross Oreo take a stroll on the property; plump, juicy olives grow easily in the cool climate; propagating lavender in the greenhouse. FACING PAGE Justin and Ellen in the orchard.
“THE NAME BUDBURST MEANS NEW LIFE AND CHANGE, WHEN BUDS BURST IN SPRING.” Justin and Ellen have resilience in spades, and they are finally enjoying the rewards of decades’ worth of hard work, planning and perseverance.
SEVERNLEA QLD COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 93
FROM TOP Lavender is hung to dry, ready to be made into essential oils and heat packs; purple fountain grass, agapanthus and gaura. FACING PAGE Justin harvests fresh lavender sprigs. 2015, it snowed – the first “big snow” since 1984. “Hail netting doesn’t like snow,” Justin jokes. But it was no joke. “The weight of the snow cleared the netting away and we couldn’t afford to put it back up.” Desperate to save the farm, they planted vegetables. But when the drought returned in 2018, things seemed hopeless. “It was so dry the town ran out of water and had to cart it in from Warwick,” Justin says. “We had no income for a couple of years.” Justin and Ellen made the heartbreaking decision to sell the farm, but the real estate agent came back with such a low figure that it wasn’t feasible, given their debt. They had to find a new source of income. That’s when they created a business plan based on making essential oils from lavender, rosemary, oregano and rose geranium, and found an investor. “The name Budburst means new life and change, when buds burst in spring,” Justin explains. When things finally turned around two years ago, they’d lost more than 7000 trees to drought, leaving just 4500, but these included their best varieties – Black Amber Plum and Golden Sweet Apricot, which they’ve turned into gourmet vinegars in partnership with Australian Vinegar at Stanthorpe. Deliciously ripe plums are paired with red-wine vinegar, and the apricots with white wine. Justin says it was Ellen’s idea to infuse the fruit in vinegar: “Ellen’s very creative. She’s made wine from nectarines, and milked goats for cheese and soaps.” The Fawdons kept 700 plum, 500 peach, 400 apricot and 300 nectarine trees, and plan to add peach and nectarine vinegar to their range. They chipped the rest of the trees and used the mulch to plant 4500 lavender bushes. They’ve also planted 2000 rosemary and 500 rose geranium bushes for their essential-oil range. The duo sell their vinegars online, to chefs to use as dressings and at farmers’ markets, where they also spruik them as cocktail mixers. They suggest pairing the apricot vinegar with pureed fresh strawberries or frozen passionfruit and caster sugar, while the plum vinegar marries well with blueberries and sugar. “The vinegar is a great base for a gin drink or bubbly, or a mocktail with soda water,” Justin says. They also sell lavender bags and heat packs handmade by Ellen. Justin says that, despite the setbacks of farming, their family and community make it all worthwhile: “We raised our kids here… they’ve had chickens, dogs and ducks, and they’ve been happy. And we’re so grateful for Mum, who’s been the driving force behind the orchard.” Best of all, Budburst has brought joy back into their lives. “I love getting out there and promoting our product,” he says. For more, visit budburstaustralia.com.au
“IT WAS LIKE A HAIL MARY WHEN SOMEONE LIKED OUR BUSINESS PLAN AND DECIDED TO INVEST.” SEVERNLEA QLD COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 95
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 96 EDITH NSW A RAMBLING GARDEN IN THIS QUIET POCKET OF CENTRAL WESTERN NSW WARMS THE HEART OF ITS OWNERS AND THEIR LUCKY GUESTS. WORDS JESSICA BELLEF PHOTOGRAPHY SUE STUBBS NATURAL ORDER
“Bimlow is constantly evolving and it’s getting closer to reaching its potential,” says homeowner Georgie Stuart of her cosy cottage and surrounding gardens. FACING PAGE Vibrant wild bergamot.
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT A fire pit for wintry days; English lavender in bloom; soft Dorothy Perkins roses; Mali in the vegie patch. FACING PAGE Georgie and her daughters, Ada and Mali, await dinner from their outdoor pizza oven. Cocker spaniel Jimmy is never far away.
COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 99 EDITH NSW B imlow Cottage and the pretty grounds that hug the 130-year-old dwelling have evolved gently since Georgie Stuart and her partner Matt Quigley purchased the property in 2011. The cottage sits on one hectare of land in the tiny hamlet of Edith, on Gundungurra land in NSW’s Central West. Edith and its surroundings are a picture of pastoral perfection. The wide, open sky meets an undulating green expanse flecked with grazing sheep and rivulets that meander through golden grasses. At an elevation of 1080 metres, the air is sharp, and the cold season brings cloaking mists and snow. The region attracts keen trout anglers, daytrippers visiting Jenolan Caves and hurried city folk looking to slow down. For Georgie and Matt, it was about leaving their Sydney life behind and starting a family in a slice of rural paradise. There was plenty of work to do on their tired home and garden, but a solid foundation existed. “We had beautiful established trees – golden elms, quince, Japanese cherry blossom, conifers – and there were things like daffodils and grape hyacinth bulbs hiding under the ground that were put in by previous owners,” Georgie shares. The old garden beds were in disarray and the eastern side of the house, where the much-loved pizza oven now sits, featured a scrappy lawn punctuated by a rusty Hills Hoist. Early on, Matt planted buddleja, teucrium, miscanthus and a weeping cherry on the western side by the gravel driveway. As a design manager at an engineering firm, he is partial to structure and formality in landscaping. In contrast, Georgie, a fine arts graduate from the National Art School, adores the untamed bounty of an English garden. “I feel like the cottage is humble, and I want the garden to be wild and rambling around it. But I do love Matt’s plantings on the western side,” she says. After living in Bimlow for seven years, the couple and their brood, which now includes Donny, nine, Ada, six, and Mali, three, plus an energetic cocker spaniel named Jimmy, outgrew the space. They bought a period homestead in Mudgee and relocated it to their Edith acreage, positioning it a hundred metres from Bimlow. Their former home is now a cosy holiday stay for family, friends and travellers. A meticulous and welcoming host, Georgie is conscious that the garden is ‘on show’ for the constant stream of visitors. “I try to have the garden looking good year-round. I always have cut flowers or foliage in the cottage for guests, and I invite them to pick produce from the vegie patch,” she says. Alongside running the guest bookings, Georgie works part-time with Southern Wild Co, local creators of artisan scented wares. “I don’t have any spare time to make art, but gardening is my project where I can get the creative juices flowing, and that’s enough for me at the moment,” she says. The inviting pizza oven area framed by an apothecary garden is the latest development envisioned by Georgie. She and Matt removed the clothesline, scooped out the grass >
Buddleja and teucrium are planted on the western side of the cottage. FACING PAGE Cavolo nero kale and cos lettuce. EDITH NSW COUNTRY STYLE DREAM GARDENS 100 and poured river stone. They mulched the beds and Georgie started to plant them out, consulting with their neighbours Katy and Peter, who are horticulturalists. “They have a beautiful garden and sell plants that are obviously hyperlocal and suited to the climate,” Georgie explains. “I wanted to grow things guests could pick and use in cooking or brew as tea.” White drifts of yarrow and happy bursts of chamomile grow among fiery-hued wild bergamot and leafy green herbs. Local stonemason Mark Hine built the pizza oven using basalt rock sourced from a neighbouring farm, and Georgie finished it off with coats of limewash. Georgie draws design and planting inspiration from nearby showcase properties such as Hillandale Gardens and its spectacular 120-metre-long perennial border, but she also looks closer to her heart. “My nan is an amazing, thrifty gardener, and that’s what I want to be – a thrifty gardener who doesn’t spend a fortune on plants. Although, I did buy 2000 bulbs when Tas Bulbs had a sale a year ago!” The spoils of this online splurge are now spread across Bimlow’s beds and within the landscaping around the family’s main house, which is a sizeable project that Georgie and Matt have been chipping away at. “I also want to build a nice fence around the vegie patch, and we need to fix up the old chook pen because we’re getting chooks again. We want to put a natural pool in the back paddock, and I want to plant a field of wildflowers!” Georgie lists excitedly. Clearly, there’s so much more beauty to come from this sweet pocket of Edith. For bookings, visit @bimlowcottage on Instagram. “GARDENING IS MY PROJECT WHERE I CAN GET THE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING.”