John Rayner, Senior Lecturer in Horticulture at Melbourne Uni’s Burnley campus is opening his garden at Brookdale Farm in Emerald over the weekend of February 14th and 15th as part of the Open Garden Australia scheme. A portion of the gate takings will be donated to Global Gardens of Peace.

Set on more than two acres, the Brookdale Farm garden is designed around recycled-reused-repurposed materials, rich plant combinations and productivity. Entry to this fascinating garden is framed by two imposing trunks of Alnus cordata (Italian Alder), providing a view over the garden and to the hills beyond. Hedges, low fences and mass plantings create divisions through the garden, with old gates, fence posts and found objects used creatively throughout. However, it is the plants that are the real stars here with many colourful combinations of flowers and foliage; grasses, succulents and herbaceous perennials being particularly prominent. A walkable spiral of the attractive grass Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ forms a dreamy spectacle and adjoins a large and bountiful kitchen garden where recycled materials are again put to good use. Espaliered apples and cherries and a mixed berry patch form the other productive spaces in the garden. Nearby are masses of sunflowers, planted along a fenceline made of trunk rounds to form a spectacular vision across the property. The lower garden surrounding the house, is a more traditional hills garden from the 1920s and combines older camellias and rhododendrons, with more recent under story plantings of foliage and spring flowering perennials.

Brookdale Farm – 12 Charman Avenue, Emerald, Victoria

Open Saturday 14th February & Sunday 15th February 10am – 4pm

Entry Fee $8.00 (children free)

Further details, including Garden Notes can be found at Open Gardens Australia: http://www.opengarden.org.au