While our mornings are chilly, the days are slowly lengthening and preparations are well underway for this year’s Springtime on the Mountain Open Gardens Trail from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 September.
Two newcomers to the Open Gardens Trail are Chancellor Cottage in Old Eagle Heights and Landscaping Supplies in Hartley Road.
Sandy and John Stanton moved into Chancellor Cottage under two years ago after having been long time visitors to the Mountain. When they first stood on the back deck and looked out over the long-established garden, they were smitten. Without wanting to alter the charm or design John has worked tirelessly to enhance this already beautiful, quarter acre garden abounding with rare and colourful plants showcasing the diversity of plant life on the Mountain. Sandy loves to plant flowers and continues to add more unusual and rare plants. Together they work with nature every day, honouring the history of this 100-year-old cottage while enticing the bird and animal life to visit from the surrounding forests.
Clive Lucas at Landscaping Supplies has also found himself in an established though much larger garden- almost 3 acres. Here you can see landscaping on a grand scale. Using massive boulders found on the property, the original owners created rock walls encasing expansive terraces. Repeated mass plantings of conifers, bird of paradise, viburnum, camellias, agapanthus and tree ferns screen and separate different utility areas, creating private spaces.
Sandy, John and Clive all see themselves as custodians of the properties they now call home. These two gardens demonstrate the diversity and splendour of the gardens you can visit.
Be curious. Come, explore, be delighted and leave inspired at this year’s Springtime on the Mountain.
Meander along pathways, noticing not only planting choices but also the solutions our garden owners have implemented in dealing with everyday problems- how to brighten that narrow walkway, manage that slope, provide a play area for kids, mitigate the run off during heavy rain, provide a space to gather, perhaps create a firepit.
At various gardens and with our community partners, visitors will find preloved books and healthy plants to purchase, choirs and poetry readings to pause at, food and coffee to enjoy.
Go to tamborinemountaingardenclub.org.au for more information. Purchase your early bird ticket online- $20 for all six gardens. Dependent children free. $25 from 1st August.
