Lambley Gardens & Nursery

Event No 2



Event report by Peter Treby
On the first Tuesday of March and the U3A Gardening Interest Group convoyed to Ascot, north of Ballarat. Twenty-nine garden enthusiasts (and a dog) were greeted by David Glenn, plantsman and creator of Lambley for a fascinating two-hour tour.


David and his artist wife Criss Canning have created a diverse collection of separate gardens walled with trees and privet hedges, surrounding Burnside homestead. David is renowned as a dry climate horticulturalist, and his deep knowledge of every plant species in the five acres of garden soon became apparent. Lambley is “one of the first really considered responses to the challenges of gardening in the Australian climate without resorting to native plantings” (Wikipedia). David proudly showed us plant varieties sourced from around the world, including the US, Turkey, France, Japan and South Africa.


David is a fourth-generation professional gardener, originally from Lambley, Nottinghamshire, UK, the garden’s namesake. His children and grandchildren continue the tradition. 


We first visited an olive grove and dryland walled garden. Understorey perennials and succulents are here planted up to the trunks of the olives, David pointing out that this cannot be done among eucalypts.


In the next dryland area, hummingbird pollinated plants from US were featured. This area included a very attractive deep blue Agapanthus “Margaret Ollie”. David provided some moderating comments on the potentially invasive nature of some agapanthus.


We next visited an impressive acre of vegetables, espaliered fruit trees, vines and productive plants. David is no fan of “heirloom” species, preferring modern varieties which can cope with pests without excessive spraying with pesticides. The robust lettuces and cool climate corn certainly looked very healthy.


77-year old David has bred many plant varieties in his long career, the royalties from which help fund Lambley. Many of us invested in plants for our own gardens at the nursery shop. You can sign up for the Lambley newsletter, and order more from the nursery, at lambley.com.au. 


We adjourned to Widow Twankey’s in Clunes for lunch, then home to Ballarat. A great day was had by all who came. Many thanks to Andrew and the garden gawkers committee for organising it.

Photo's by Andrew Parker 
(click on the first photo for a slideshow)
















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
                U3A Trip to Tesselaars Tulip Festival October 3rd 2023 Rain! Rain! And more rain! Who will ever forget this trip? After discussion as the whether or not we should proceed with the day, it was agreed by most that we should take the chance and go. Steve, our bus driver, agreed to carry on, so off we went in the rain. Some people were well prepared for the wet weather, others more optimistic in white shoes, sandals and white pants! As we drove through the gloom the weather did not improve, in fact became wetter and wetter. After passing through the beautiful Dandenong mountain ash and tree fern forest, we alighted to cries of 'Coffee! Coffee'. Not only coffee, but Bavarian Bangers, French Crepes, Scones, Gozleme, Baked potatoes etc. Lots of food choices. Huddled under marquees, U3A people sheltered from the rain before venturing out to see the sights. And what sights there were to see! Fields of tulips, and daffodils, Fairy gardens, sculptures, a maze, gazebos, wi
Read more
Image
 Colac Excursio n 24th October 2023 After meeting at the Buninyong Tennis Courts, an intrepid group set off to the epicentre of the latest earthquake recently in Victoria! How brave were we? However the effects of the earthquake was superceded by the potholes in the roads we travelled. We arrived at Colac Botanic Gardens [laid out in 1868] in plenty of time to avail ourselves of refreshments in the Gardens Cafe, which offered a great variety of foods and beverages efficiently served. After which we met Anne Mercer and Helen Paatsch, our guides for the morning. Terry had thoughtfully brought a portable loudspeaker so all we oldies could hear easily, but our guide refused to use it. So we strained to hear anything and the frustration on Terry's face was clear to all! As a result we tended to scatter and explore at our own pace.  Lots to see: The Oak Drive: a 100 year old variety of oaks. Children's Playground  National Trust Significant Tree Register: five trees in the gardens. A
Read more
Image
 U3A Gardening Group 2023 State Rose Garden Werribee Mansion Werribee Mansion Garden. Setting off from Selkirk's carpark, after I had dutifully fetched our leader's coffee, we drove through the rain hoping this would not be a repeat of the Tesselar trip! However, on reaching Bacchus Marsh the rain had stopped, so we were much happier. Els had organised the day so we were two groups, one for the gardens and one for the mansion, then swap over. After refreshments at the cafe, we met David, our Volunteer Guide for the garden, and set off on a wonderful discovery tour of the amazing trees in the Mansion Gardens,  including the Grotto, a lake, and many bats. Canary Island Pine Weeping Nootka Cypress Variegated Elm Grevillea Robusta-Silky Oak The lake from the Grotto Lemon-scented Gums Moreton Bay Fig with John and Evelyn Algerian Oak Querus Canariensis What a wealth of knowledge David had about all the trees. On to the State Rose Garden! Here David knew intimately the roses, names,
Read more