The Journey – Where did we start?

With Edna…..

Before the Garden:

Edna Walling was a big fan of birches so it made sense to start here, to form a centre piece for the back garden.It also meant we could start clearing the weeds and overgrown plants to see what was really there – and hope for the best.

We found a gently sloping area and a state of the art irrigation system!

Building the Garden:

We watched the seasons come and go – making plans to be ready for the next planting opportunity. The Rosa di Pagola also took advantage of existing infrastructure – a cement cricket-pitch at the front of the garden, followed up with a Rose garden and covered in a grapevine – right next to the orchard and the olive trees.

It is even more stunning in Autumn as the vine turns red for ages before all the leaves fall off.

There is a giant wooden apple just so you know you are in the “fruit” garden along with the blueberry bushes.! We built a woodland with a dry stone wall, waterfall, Secret Garden – the birds came – as well as the kangaroos!

Next there was the Wisteria Colonnade where we took advantage of a very old wisteria – planted a couple more and built a Colonnade along with a Mary-lou Pittard tiled panel on the floor.

Growing the Garden:

We are now at the stage (2026) where we can revisit some of our early work and update – such as the Perennial Garden, Birch Forest and the waterfall. Also fencing with black square wire to keep the rabbits away.

Also the kangaroos are plentiful but they can go where they like and as you know they are usually very relaxed.