La Vendura Toppa – the veggie garden. Spinach just keeps going, the rosemary hedge has taken over everything in its path, camomile is in flower, citronella is keeping away the mosquitos – and mint is everywhere – and I did not plant it!
Next to “The Bank” is the edibles area. We built raised garden beds, and a large chook pen area called Casa di Paola with a Rosemary herb wall. We are constantly changing the plants seeing what works – sage ended up taking a whole bed here but when we moved it to the kitchen garden it looked very sad – too shady. The artichokes…
Abutilon or Chinese lanterns many different colors and so easy to look after. They come in many colors and can be cut back hard and will reflower quickly. There is a Flea Beatle which seems to feast on the leaves – so we have been spraying with some oil and also digging up around roots – sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.
Roses are a must in any garden – there is a place for them anywhere even if it is just a pot! We built the Il Pergolato Di Rosa as the main feature but all around Uccello Lane there are roses – so we always have flowers somewhere.
Our love of the Salvia knows no bounds – rugged, forgiving and just keeps flowering – often when other parts of the garden are having a rest. Planted next to Hebe they look great and both plants seem to be able to even survive the frosts. The Argentia Salvia looks like an alien with big fluffy silver leaves. Salvias also compliment plants like Loropetalum,…
We moved into Uccello Lane in 2012 – it was a mudbrick house on a lane that led to the Yarra River – with a garden that was very natural and overgrown but all the hard landscaping and rock work had been done. Every room had floor length windows so you really felt like you were at one with the outside. For the winter…
By late spring in 2019 after the hot summer we had some good rainfall – and “The Bank” was lush. Everything was in flower the wisteria, snowball trees, lily pillis to bring the birds and lavender. “The Bank” is viewed from the study, the craft room or the conservatory. It is always on show – but it was not always this way – in…
A stone wall is part of any Garden that is influenced by Edna Walling. We knew there had to be one but not where. The pathway had continued after the Secret Garden to where we wanted to make a “woodland” – it became clear this is where it should be. Firstly we had to build the “connector” which was a boardwalk that would gently…
“Walling’s style was demonstrated with her magical method of placing silver birch trees in subtle harmony with one another, she took five potatoes from a bucket, threw them all in the same general direction and said “There!” It was no more haphazard than nature’s way.” The Birch trees are now in their 7th year – they are not quite a forest yet but soon….
We had a wisteria that had been neglected on the back fence, but as you know that does not stop wisteria – in fact they thrive on neglect but it did not seem to flower! It has been a couple of years in the making but yes the Wisteria Colonnade is now complete. It fits into the garden in scale and provides the feature against…