2020 Garden Visit - Invermay - Chris Dickinson

 



Tanawah Gardens

Ever since I was 15 I wanted to live on a few acres, build my own house and have a large garden. In the 1950s and 60s my Mum aspired to a nice garden. As a teenager I enjoyed  mowing our double block and being able to take pride in its presentation. Neither my peers nor my siblings shared this interest.

 

As an adult, purchasing a few acres only came to fruition after I had renovated a  house in central Ballarat. This provided me with a range of building skills that saw me at 32 embark on being an owner builder on 45 acres. The building itself is a story on its own and created all sorts of challenges.

 

A new house sitting in a large paddock overawed me. I didn’t know where to start. With little money the option was to fence the paddock into a manageable area around the house and plant eucalypts with a token cottage garden which always struggled amongst the gums. Kids ponies and goats occupied the peripheral paddocks.

 

The kids grew up and moved out leaving more time and resources available to rethink the garden. The goats found new homes, fences were taken out and with the help of one insightful son I embarked on one project after another that seemed to make sense. We linked the garden to the house by putting in over 150 metres of brick garden walls that terraced a sloping block and created individual “rooms”. Each step was debated extensively but gradually it  come together without a master plan.

 

Having observed a nearby garden we embraced mass plantings of Manchurian pears and Portuguese laurels to effectively create a walled garden. The dam was increased from a small farm dam to  about an acre thanks to the big machinery that is now available. My son found lots of plants to compliment it and with advice a couple of quirky buildings were added. With a little bit of patience we are now seeing oaks, elms, ashes, acers, chestnuts and willows making their presence felt over several acres of expansive lawns .

 

Every year nature now improves what we see as a “Park” that sits comfortably in a bush setting.


Chris Dickinson November 2020



Photos - Andrew Parker
























Comments

  1. Lee Albert8 December 2020 at 08:17

    Congratulations, Chris! A mighty effort and a great result!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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
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 gard...
Read more

Event 3, 2021 Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Image
  Event Report by Rita Holt It was perfect autumn weather on the Tuesday after Easter when sixteen of the U3A Gardening Interest Group travelled into Melbourne to join a private walking tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens.  We split into three groups so had ample opportunity to query our very knowledgeable guides.  First query - difference between 'botanic' and 'botanical' - it's all got to do with whether there's an herbarium within the gardens (it becomes a  botanic  garden if there is one).  Thanks guide David! The Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne covers 38 hectares near the Shrine of Remembrance and houses a collection of some 8,500 plant species from around the world, including diverse plant collections such as camellias, rainforest flora, cacti and succulents, Californian species, the great perennial wall, cycads and a Rare and Threatened Species Collection. There are sweeping visas, an ornamental lake and towering forest giants - including the 150-year...
Read more