Note: This garden was opened in 2022
Located on the western slopes of Mount Buninyong, this large country garden looks towards Gariwerd (the Grampians) and the Pyrenees ranges. Commenced during the millennial drought by trained Horticultural Therapist Ricky McLeod, its terraced design responds to the challenges of a steeply sloping site with granite outcrops, and no reticulated water supply.
Entering the property, gravel paths lead in one direction to a courtyard garden, and to a raised vegetable patch and chicken coop in the other. In front, a Japanese inspired planting of Acers welcomes you to a pavilion draped in ornamental grape, a cool summer retreat from which to appreciate the view. Nearby is a labyrinth recessed into lawn. A ceanothus hedge encloses a perennial garden from which a path edged with lavender leads to a terrace bordered with prostrate grevilleas, and succulents, and to a garden folly surrounded by mass tree plantings. A path between a double row of Chinese elms on a lower terrace leads up the hill, through a birch woodland underplanted with bulbs and hellebores and to a petanque piste.