Gardens Gardens JULIAN JULIAN KINGMA KINGMA
S U E WA L L AC E
“To surround yourself with beauty in your garden is as good as sitting by a beach in Greece.”
Living sanctuaries
The garden has come into its own as a vital extension of the home in these testing times, with even purists embracing the idea of the indoor outdoor ‘room’ 26
MANSIONAUSTRALIA.COM.AU
G Gardens have been the big winners during the COVID-19 lockdown, as many home dwellers turned their skills to creating pretty–– green havens and flourishing vegetable plots while dishing out plenty of tender loving care. Those who once couldn’t tell a petunia from a peony or a marigold from a Monks Hood have found gardening websites and books to nurture their virgin green thumbs and turn them into devotees. At Bunnings Garden Centres, often swamped by wannabe gardeners, vegetable and flower seedlings became almost as scarce as loo paper at the height of the pandemic. The result is a gardening resurgence, prettier flower beds and bountiful vegie gardens. Victoria-based garden design celebrity Paul Bangay, whose property Stonefields, located between Kyneton and Daylesford, showcases his talents, says he has noticed a huge increase in interest in gardening. “People have fallen in love with their gardens all over again, if they were not before,” he says. “I think it’s due to the fact we may now not be travelling overseas for a while, or indeed interstate. To THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
| AUGUST 8-9, 2020
