The garden had very romantic beginnings when Sir Keith Murdoch acquired the property in 1928 and gave it as a wedding present to his young bride Dame Elizabeth Murdoch. She is well into her ninth decade of gardening at Cruden Farm which is unusual anywhere in the world to find a garden that has been designed, nurtured and developed by one person over such a long period of time.

A young garden writer and designer Edna Walling, who we talked about in an earlier Blog, helped to layout the garden and you can see her legacy with some of her signature stone walls defining parts of the garden.

You will be blown away by the 130 lemon-scented gums that grace the entrance along the sweeping driveway. Before arriving at this very sophisticated country garden which is a picture of perfection. It is a stunning time to view the garden with the autumn colors adding a beautiful mix of foliage throughout.

Do not miss this special weekend to see a garden of such rare beauty.

Directions: Cruden Farm is situated near Langwarrin, an hour’s drive south-east of Melbourne on the corner of Cranbourne-Frankston & Cranhaven Roads, Langwarrin (Mel. Ref. 103 G6) Open: 10am-4.30pm

Will Zara Peggy inspire some new designs? We will soon see but presently we just want to enjoy every precious moment with her.

I wonder if she will be christened in a bronze birdbath one-day?

Last Friday, we were treated to a visit by one of Australia’s most highly regarded landscape designers, Paul Bangay.  He was discussing his latest book, “Paul Bangay’s Guide to Plants”, at award winning Van Loons Nursery, on the Bellarine Peninsula.  The audience thoroughly enjoyed Paul’s presentation, followed by question time, with many of those present leaving with a copy of his book.

We could not help but reflect on some of Paul’s philosophies .  In his latest book, Paul states that his “ultimate goal is to create gardens that stand the test of time”. Although gardens always evolve if a garden is well designed it will become timeless. Paul believes that “the best planting scheme is the one that reflects the personality of the owners” which also makes alot of sense. All gardens are a places of refuge where the owners can relax, both enjoying and sharing their surroundings with family and friends.

For anyone interested Paul’s garden near Daylesford will be open next month:

19-20 Nov – “Stonefields”, Main Road, Denver 3461  03) 8415 1993

Directions: Follow the signs from Mains Road, Denver, off the Daylesford-Malmsbury Road. Tickets $20 at the gate. Please note that Stuart Rattle’s superb “Musk Farm Garden” is open on the same weekend and is 10mins drive from Stonefields.

She was particularly renowned for her use of stone and especially stone walls which Ardgartan is a clear example. This influence undoubtedly came from viewing stunning Spanish and Italian gardens and her childhood in Devonshire. She also managed to create a unity between the house and garden which has arguably been taken to another level again through current designers like Jamie Durie.

Another distinguishing feature of Edna Walling gardens are the creation of different rooms throughout a garden. There is often a separate room for a vegetable garden, water-feature or pool and gentle pathways are used to connect these rooms creating a romantic feel. Overtime she increasingly encouraged the use of hardy and low maintenance native plants in her designs. Gardening in her mind should be relaxing, enjoyable and rewarding and not a chore. I think we can all learn something from an Edna Walling Garden.

Directions:

Sunday 20th November. Ardgartan 3730 Dartmoor-Hamilton Road Grassdale. Directions from Hamilton are 38kms on the Dartmoor-Hamilton Road on the left hand side and from Digby approx 10kms towards Hamilton on the Dartmoor-Hamilton Road. 10am – 4pm

The Garden Frog designs are really fun and shows the Frogs enjoying themselves and having a bit of a pool party. This is really emphasised by the way the Garden Frogs are jumping into the water in different ways, in various poses and from different angles. They are enjoying the water and loving every moment.

We look forward to hearing your feedback.

If you are trying to decide on a sculpture for a particular space in your garden it can be helpful to have a rough measurement of the area you are considering placing the sculpture. Feel free to bring along a photo or two as well.

However the only place where you can see the full range of Willie Wildlife Sculptures is right here on the website. The website is constantly updated with the new designs that will be launched at the Chelsea Flower Show in London and the Architectural Digest Design Show in New York each year.

We hope to see you in the Grove sometime