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More than meets the eye | Warners Nurseries
More than meets the eye
WARNERS NURSERIES
PICTURED ABOVE: THE AVENUE: SILVER BIRCH HYD SF: PERSICARIA LIGULARIA AJUGA
“When just looking at a garden the benefits are not always immediately apparent. It is when you immerse yourself and become involved that the real benefits of a beautifully designed garden are revealed. This garden invites you to explore its rooms, take time to discover its subtleties, immerse your senses, and discover ‘More than meets the eye.’” - Robert Boyle
The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show has always held a special place at Warner’s Nurseries.
The story begins in 1925, at the inaugural Melbourne Garden Week, when William Richard Warner (known as W.R.) exhibited with the aim “to further the love of horticulture in the community.” Warners’ continued involvement with MIFGS remains unchanged in the desire to foster the love of the garden.
When Warners was presented with the opportunity to design a garden for the ‘Best of the Best’ at the Garden Show in 2020, there was no question that we would be involved.
Bringing together Warner’s Nurseries and Robert Boyle to design a show garden celebrates a fifty-year relationship between the two in creating spaces of wellbeing and enjoyment for numerous families.
It represents the Warner’s story, contributing to the greening of Victoria, of promoting the importance of gardens and why plants are an essential part of human existence. Rudyard Kipling wrote in 1911 “the glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye”. When the Warners show garden was originally conceived, we knew that it had to be an ode to plants. It had to honour the generosity and beauty that plants bring to the landscape. With plants, a garden breathes. It grows and evolves. It changes, just like we do.
But it is also a nod to the significance of the connections that are created through plants. This garden reflects the power of plants to bring people together to create something more than a beautiful landscape.
We were honoured this year to receive a Gold Medal, and the HMA Award for Best Use of Plants. But perhaps our greatest privilege was to receive the People’s Choice Award, and the acknowledgement that our customers’ customers also know what we know – that it is plants, that make a garden.
What is achieved each year at Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show is what we try to achieve at Warners every day. Our goal is to work alongside our customers, our partners and our collaborators to create not only beautiful landscapes, but a united industry, a passionate workforce, and a spirit of innovation that will continue to inspire for years to come.
The Garden
Robert Boyle’s garden design represents unity, with six distinct zones coming together as one. The uniting element between the gardens are the plants – each variety is typical of a traditional Warners garden, but when combined in new and interesting ways, tells a story of contemporary landscaping design with the plants as the hero.
The gardens are linked by the bay hedge – the green spine of the garden - providing a backdrop and screening our view to gradually reveal four main gardens; a Traditional Parkland, Mediterranean, a shaded Urban Woodland and an Edible Garden with each area highlighting a distinctive look and feel with its diversity of plantings. The Arbour provides the perfect backdrop to view along the Avenue to the spire of the majestic Exhibition building.
The Mediterranean Garden
MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN: TEUCRIUM JUNIPERUS OLIVE CLOUD BAY
The heart of the Mediterranean Garden is the olive tree, which has been clipped into compact cloud shapes to add a sculptural quality to the garden. Pencil pine (Cupressus sempervirens ‘ Glauca’) evoke visions of Tuscan landscapes, where they stand like majestic sentinels amongst the vineyards & olive groves. Clipped Rosemary (Rosmarinus ‘Herb Cottage’ and ‘Chefs Choice’), Teucrium fruticans (Germander), English Box (Buxus sempervirens) and Lilly Pilly (Syzygium sp.) add to the sculptured, manicured quality of the garden. Additional plantings include Teucrium fruticans ball, Lambs Ears, Salvia, Euphorbia, Pittosporum ‘Tobira’ & Juniperus conferta.
The Woodland Garden
WOODLAND GARDEN: GINKGO LIGULARIA HEUCHERA ANENOME
In the Woodland Garden, a diverse collection of shade loving plants rest under a striking canopy of Ginkgo biloba ‘Piedmont Pillar’. The variety of understorey species that grow naturally in woodland environments is almost unlimited. Here are a few that we included: Persicaria, Ligularia, Hedychium, Cardamon, Ajuga, Fatsia, Rhaphiolepis and Heuchera.
WOODLAND GARDEN: PERSICARIA LIGULARIA AJUGA
The Avenue
THE AVENUE: BIRCH & HYD SF
The Avenue was deliberately located to align with the dome on the Exhibition Building , and uses an avenue of Silver Birch (Betula pendula ‘Moss White’) to frame the long axial view to the dome and then completed with the long grassed pathway and mass underplantings of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Sundae Fraise’ pbr.
The Parkland Garden
PARKLAND GARDEN: LOROPETALUM COTINUS LAGERSTROEMIA NATCHEZ
This garden could be anyone’s front or back yard. The bay hedge provides privacy from the neighbours; the curvilinear lawn area gives a relaxed, informal character, helping to make the area feel larger and also gives the children a place to play. The white Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Natchez’) is a wonderful small tree, providing dappled shade with masses of white flowers in summer, and a sculptural quality through winter. Other plants used in this garden include Buxus japonica, Loropetalum, Nandina, Cotinus, Raphiolepis, Juniperus & Lomandra.
The Edible Garden
EDIBLE GARDEN: HYDR SF POMEGRANATE
In this small space Robert has created a simple and small food garden that could fit into most back yards, using discarded orchard picking boxes and a few pots as an inexpensive way to start a food garden. Espaliered Nashi Pears and various citrus make good use of the boundary fences and walls. An edible garden is not complete without a Lemon tree and here we have also added Lime, Cumquat, Fig, Pomegranate & Feijoa and an abundance of various herbs & vegetables.
The Arbour
ARBOUR GARDEN: ASTER MONCH PRATIA
The arbour was built by Robert Boyle’s son Matthew from old reclaimed bridge timbers, and strewn with a 20 year old ornamental grape vine from Robert’s own garden. The plantings around the arbour are a blend of species that help to create an informal meadow or perennial garden. The species that have been used here include Miscanthus ‘Adagio’, Aster 'Monch', and Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, visually at their very best in the autumn months.
