Garden to beds

The gardens here at Greystanes are pretty old. We were told they are Edna Walling gardens but I think they are more Edna Walling inspired! They were however constructed around the same time. Ms walling was a well known Landscape gardener in the 1930s whose gardens consisted of a lot of stone walls, silver birches and English borders. These were her basic design ethics:

Work with existing landscapes and existing features, such as slopes, rocks and trees

Begin by 'sculpting' the surface of the land, preferably not levelling it

Create a unity between the house and the garden

Use architectural principles to structure the garden and soften with dense planting

Individually design for each house and garden and the needs of the clients

Keep garden maintenance to a minimum

How could you disagree with any of that!?

You can go visit here for more information on this amazing landscaper

Personally it suits me to a T, I love her work and one of her original gardens that she did design is only a couple of houses down the road at Folly Farm which by the way is a Bed and Breakfast if anyone wanted a weekend away! (photo below).

Folly Farm ~ Olinda

So in keeping with Edna Wallings ethic we are bringing the gardens back to their former glory. The hard landscaping is already there, its just a matter of tidying and replanting. We thought we would start from the house and work outwards, this is reclaiming the front garden bed.

Weeds are gone, newspaper then straw to stop them coming back.

Looking down from front Verandah, cant wait to start planting!

This photo above shows the original stone wall down the side of the path to the front door. Each stone has been balanced delicately one on top of the other a very very long time ago. The English box hedge has been there all that time too, probably whats holding it up!

Autumn is a great time for planting and enjoying the garden, hope those sunny days last awhile.

Oh and dont forget more goodies I have in my ebay store too!