Brenton Roberts and his wife Libby have restored an old garden in the Adelaide Hills. Watching over the property is a beautiful old stone home which is also under restoration.
Brenton grew up in the area, and as many people do, moved away with work to further his career. This took him to Ballarat and Melbourne for 8 years, but the goal was always to return home. Brenton tells us, “We knew what we were looking for; a few acres and a home which matched our style. We found our dream property, which although affordable, was run down and quite overgrown. We knew this would mean a tonne of work – especially to make more bushfire safe. Whilst I’d been living in Melbourne, I studied at Burnley Horticultural College and undertook a Graduate Certificate in Garden & Landscape Design, and our new property was the perfect opportunity to allow me full reign with my ideas, whilst incorporating our family’s needs and wants”.
Eight years later, the garden is a testament to passion, love of design and horticulture. A wonderful welcome as you enter the drive are the glorious Manchurian pears which look particularly stunning with their autumn colours. The garden has beautiful winding gravel paths; with colour, texture and form being provided by salvias, grasses, euphorbias, sedums and gorgeous succulents. At every point one looks, there is a feature to capture your imagination, be it a lovely gate, a corkscrew cypress, an ornament – or even a rascally goat doing what goats do, but shouldn’t be doing in a garden!
We asked Brenton about his particular loves in the garden. “My veggie patch is my pride and joy, along with my espaliered Manchurian pears which are on the house, and my corkscrew cypresses. I bought the cypresses as small plants for $15 and have lavished care, time and work on them until they are what you see today. I use Whoflungdung as the mulch in the vegetable patch. I love that it’s supplying nutrition to the veggies – even on those really harsh days during summer and winter. The veggie patch is so vigorous and healthy. Everything in the garden is fed with Rapid Raiser, and GOGO Juice is also another favourite. GOGO Juice and its beneficial bacteria really complement Rapid Raiser, and I also find GOGO Juice great for my bonsai. We’re enjoying seeing how the garden continues to grow and mature, and we really enjoy the feedback we receive too, from our followers” concluded Brenton. You can view Brenton’s Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/brentonrobertsgardendesign/
