Garden Notes
Before launching into the Garden Notes (which are updated every few years), we wish to point out that the Garden at Glenmore is not a manicured garden. It has come about through no grand design (obviously!). Instead, it has grown out of romantic notion. Many of the reasons for specific plantings may not be appreciated from a quick walk around. For us they evoke the memory of some far flung garden or country, or even a person, and/or relate directly to the rooms in the house or other outbuildings. Many of the plants are located for their heady perfumes which scent the house, or perhaps they carry the observer's eye beyond a fall of printed cotton at a window. The Garden fills our lives inside as well as out - whether a single rose on a dressing table, jugs of basil on the kitchen windowsill or a stem of ginger on the bathroom shelf. It gives us fresh orange juice, roasted beetroot, bowls of tomatoes, windfall frangipani and more. Now back to the Garden notes!
When we acquired Glenmore in 1989, from descendants of the original settlers, we found a collection of overgrown, ramshackle and near derelict farm buildings, most dating from the mid-1800s. There were also some eucalypts and peppercorns, and a jumble of mixed plants of which a few roses, hydrangeas and iris survive. Our first efforts were to tidy up - to remove the lean-to sheds and outhouses of little merit and to restore the House, Barn, Hayshed, Stables and Dairy. It's these buildings which now form the structure of the Garden and delineate the various 'rooms' we are striving to create. The hills of the Razorback Range provide the backdrop and distant views.
You will arrive at THE HAYSHED with its now level, gravel floor and tankstand waterfall. We have edged it with rosemary to form a hedge (replanted from cuttings last year)Facing you, along the pool fence, is a hedge of Osmanthus fragrans.. THE ORCHARD (adjacent to the Hayshed) began with olives & almonds to remind us of Mallorca, Spain, but figs, apples and now crab-apples have crept in over the past few years!
From the Hayshed, proceed straight ahead through THE BORDERS. The plants here have greatly contrasting leaf shapes and mostly simple flowers, giving a tapestry effect. They include rugosa roses Frau Dagmar Hastrupp and Sarah van Fleet, alongside echium, sedum, dianthus, centranthus, knautia macedonia, dahlia, iris, cistus, yarrow, buddleia, salvia turkestanica, tree lupin and flax.
Up two steps between the obelisks with the Alba rose New Dawn and the hedge of murraya and turn to your left. Here you will find the former Stables, now the pool-house (No Access) and a slow-growing hedge of lilac. THE STABLES GARDEN is up two steps to your right, through the pair of apricot flowering daturas (newly planted, replacing the 8 year old ones that gave up last year). The rugosa rose Blanc Double de Coubert has been planted to grow into an enclosing hedge atop the dry-stone wall, with white oleander, a rustic "x-framed" fence, a bench and arbour on the eastern side to enjoy favourite views. The fourth bed contains two small (and oh so slow growing!) lemon trees and a Seville orange which provides enough fruit each year for several batches of marmalade. They are underplanted with rosemary and a row of lavender taken from last year's cuttings of a variety we're calling our Laundry Lavender. A white wisteria shades the kitchen verandah from the summer sun and is heaven in the spring and we breakfast here most Sunday mornings.
Take the small path (on your left) with the pomegranate, cordyline, cistus; rose Constance Spry and clump of nicotiana sylvestris (so scented in the late afternoon & evening) and pass through the pencil pines, which are gradually becoming a signature throughout the garden. Go up the rough stone steps into MRS R's GARDEN, a small lawn tucked into the northern side of the House, where we can shelter from the strong southerly spring winds. This has become a suntrap for the yellow & white flowering frangipanis, underplanted with nicotiana sylvestris, crocosmia, ginger and the dahlia Bishop of Llandaff. A solandra maxima is finally making its way up the chimney breast, and a Burmese honeysuckle is now scrambling over the laundry - we eagerly await its long & fragrant flowers each year. The roses in the little enclosure are Bourbons Mme. Isaac Pereire and La Reine Victoria, as well as the shrub Seafoam. A pony-tail tree now anchors this bed which also contains sisyrinchium, aquilegia, isoplexis canariensis, nepeta, baptisia australis and valerian.
Carry on to the table & bench opposite the front of THE HOUSE. This gravel courtyard and dry-stone wall are the most recent developments here, now about six years old. Facing you, up near the front gate, are a pair of mature Persimmons - the prettiest trees in the garden, a macadamia, Chinese elms and various eucalypts. We plan to keep this top garden park-like and enjoy the view of the hill behind. Beyond the front drive, you will glimpse a recently installed bronze sculpture - Harmony - by Sydney artist Helen Leete. Now turn and face the front of the House. The palms (to the left, the Canary Island date palm/to the right, the jelly or wine palm, butia capitata) and the agaves (which were given to us by the generous owners of a nearby property) were introduced when we created this courtyard. We hope they are all starting to look as if they've been there since the 1840's! In the little breezeway between the old house and new south wing (built in 2000) is a collection of tender favourites, placed to good effect when viewed from inside. They include an ornamental banana, the climbing solandra maxima and a highly fragrant white ginger. To the left is a bed of crinum, strelitzia and Sydney rock orchids, all leading to the southern side of the house which is planted with shell ginger. A row of elderly peppercorn trees line the house car park, underplanted with cliveas divided from a small clump found under the loquat tree at the front fence and agapanthus donated by the generous owners of several local properties (thank you!).
Squeeze down the narrow gravel path beside the ginger and pick your way along the few paving stones in the clivea bed (close to the southern corner of the House) and you will arrive at the green garden gate. This brings you to THE COURTYARD. Overshadowed by the huge boughs of a large peppercorn tree (over 150 years old) are a raised sandstone pond, a pair of lutyens style benches and stone steps which lead to the garden door. The House is not open to visitors, so please do not proceed beyond these steps. The steps are flanked by a pair of standard bay trees; other plants you will find here include the hybrid musk rose Prosperity, teucrium fruticans, Japanese windflowers and oak-leaf hydrangeas underplanted with hellebores. A tree gardenia now dominates the northern corner; it flowers in late summer and early autumn. Behind is an obelisk supporting the David Austin rose Leander. Pyramids of box give structure and definition, echoing similar shapes elsewhere in the garden and an ever-increasing number of pots lend an air of informality.
Opposite the courtyard is THE ARC, with Humphrey's Bench facing back towards the House. As a point of interest, this bench, given to us by a Scottish friend (Humphrey!), is sited to be in a direct line with the raised pond, the garden door, the front door and the bench in the front courtyard on the other side of the House. The Arc begins at the garden gate (now on your left) near the large peppercorn, with a spring focused planting of heliotrope (Cherry Pie), solomon's seal, bluebells and aquilegias softening the entrance. Much of the Arc is in full and often burning sun and so holds more Mediterranean-style plants - the teucrium has finally taken hold on top of the wall and euphorbia, yucca, ceanothus, nepeta, tradescantia, phlomis, rosemary, iris, philadelphus, acanthus and romneya coulteri fill this garden. The climbing rose Sombreuil winds its way through the obelisk, while the Jacobite Rose alba Maxima and centifolia Fantin Latour bring you around to the Barn Garden. On your right, next to the kitchen steps, is a tiny garden for quick culinary pickings!
You will now find yourself in THE BARN GARDEN, where the two philadelphus Beau Clerk scent the spring air. David Austen roses Abraham Derby flower almost constantly and white lilacs attempt to fill the corners. Plants here also include echium, aquilegia, ceanothus Gloire de Versailles, lysimachia, hellebore foetidus, true geranium and the damask rose Mme Hardy. We still mourn the loss of the pair of pyrus salicifolia;which have been replaced by a pair of very wee gooseberry bushes.. The pair of trees in the lawn are Malus ioensis plena; the rose on the Barn is Felicite et Perpetue. Rosemary, lavender, thyme and santolina anchor the Barn and all recur throughout the Garden as you will have seen.
From here, please walk (carefully) down the steps onto the back drive. Turn right and you will find the recently established VEGETABLE GARDEN. We did attempt to plant vegetables here some years ago, but due to a combination of work, children and drought, they struggled and a rather wild garden ensued! The bones of this new garden were completed in January 2008. The right-hand beds are planted in a more uniform or traditional manner, where we are practicing crop rotation.. The left-hand beds are planted in the 'guild' method favoured by permaculturists as an experiment to see which works best! Specific plants and herbs are planted around the outside of the boxes; with the intension of keeping unwanted pests at bay. The fourth bed contains berries. A row of espaliered fruit trees lines the back of the garden,and the chooks are moved around on a regular basis. This area is the focus of our Kitchen Gardening courses.
To make way for the vegies, we moved two quince trees which we'd planted several years ago - one to below the hedge in the potting shed/drying green, and the other to the Dairy bed behind you. Some old roses also moved to this bed - Quatre Saisons, Trigintepetala, Ispahan, the mosses Mmme. Louis Leveque & Gloire des Mousseaux and the rugosa Roseraie de l'Hay. They are all underplanted with perovskia and, the hybrid musk rose behind the bench is Felicia. .
The Citrus bed, adjacent to the Dairy bed and comprising two navels and two valencias, now give us six months of oranges. The Clementine (in the centre) was planted on the christening of our eldest daughter. During the summer, pumpkins happily ramble all over this bed. The two Rose beds, which sit between the Vegetable Garden and the paddock fence, contain what's left of the roses we found when we came to Glenmore plus others we have added.
Turn to your right as you face the paddock gate (closed). This grass path will bring you up to a little lawn overlooked by the Dairy chimney; it's bordered by iceberg roses & lavender. Tea, coffee and the "loo" are available inside THE DAIRY.
From the Dairy, return to the Car Park via the Croquet Lawn - note the Ficus rubiginosa in the western corner which was moved to this position from close to the Stables seventeen years ago (it was smaller then!).
Overall, this is a simple garden, uncomplicated and unpretentious. It's a garden where a determined and perhaps obstinate passion outweigh the problems of regular water shortages, poor soil, high summer temperatures, occasionally severe winter frosts and merciless seasonal winds. It has evolved from the inspiration of landscapes we have enjoyed and gardens where we have meandered. We hope you've enjoyed your visit to the Garden at Glenmore. Come back again soon!
L & M R February 2009