Walter and Kay Duncan have a beautiful rambling garden at Gillentown in the Clare Valley. Their garden covers five acres in the beautiful Skilly Valley. Walter told us the fabulous story of how he came to find the block of land which would become the future home and garden for him and his wife, Kay.

It was a very hot day, a day which was unpredictable and unpleasant to work outside. Walter had been asked to help a colleague to move some field bins. When this job ended, they decided to drive home along the back road, just to see the shadows of the gum trees on the road. A few kilometres along the track, they stumbled across a ‘For Sale’ sign attached to the fence, so they stopped and were really attracted to the flat paddock which lay before them.

Intrigued by the property, Walter was eager to take a closer look at the soil. With no spare spades lying around, Walter and his colleague travelled home to collect some tools. On their return Walter began digging random holes on the surface of the soil and was thrilled with what he saw.

The water, which would be needed for plants to grow was another matter. There was a brick well by the creek with a broken-down windmill turning aimlessly in the wind, so they decided to contact a water boring contractor to establish an independent source of water. To their surprise he was able to sink a new bore which produced enough good water to enable them to have the garden that they so desired.

This was the beginning of a new venture. At the same time, Walter’s boyhood home had deteriorated over the years and was only fit for demolition. And it was decided to sell. Kay and Walter now had a block of land in the Clare Valley but without a suitable house! So, the demolition of Walter’s boyhood home filled this gap. They then transported all of the old material from Adelaide to Sevenhill, with plans to rebuild on their new block.

The new house was completed in two years and in 2000, the garden was established with trees, lawns and of course roses, all fed with Sudden Impact for Lawns. They also planted a quince orchard with 200 trees that are seasonally enhanced with Whoflungdung. In addition to that, the intricate parts of the garden are supplemented with GOGO Juice or Seamungus.

They have now been at The Heritage Garden for twenty years and the wonderful green spaces have given so much pleasure to all who visit. Kay and Walter have opened the garden for most of those years with proceeds going to the Royal Flying Doctors Service and Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide.

Walter and his family also have a long association with the Royal Adelaide Show, both in Agriculture and Horticulture. Walter’s passion has always been Horticulture, and you would find him in the horticulture hall at the Royal Show talking to all his ‘green’ friends. Roses were always his firm favourite, as he inherited that love of roses from his mother. Even as a schoolboy, Walter grew silver birch trees for the Nursery industry.

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