FROM NATURE Organic gardening takes root at Heronswood Just up the road from Anthony’s Nose in Latrobe St, Dromana, sits a Mornington Peninsula landmark of importance. Heronswood. Here, where the bananas, paw paws and pomegranates grow with the eggplant, capsicum and citrus rooting below, bees buzz around edible flowers while fruit trees lull against the sloping land lunging towards the sea. Given to The Diggers Foundation in 2011 by former owners Clive and Penny Blazey and family, this magnificent ‘hidden garden by the bay’ exemplifies companion planting and extreme edible garden diversity beautifully. The garden grows on all levels. From the flowering perennial border, herb garden and Russian olive tree to the citrus, kale, purple sage, creeping thyme and cumquats growing in between, Heronswood is the gardening lover’s dream. Contour and colour are everywhere in this formal garden initially created by Clive and Penny in the English-French tradition. Layers of texture, space and shape abound. Look up to the sky and you’ll
( 62
find yourself sheltered by desert ash, a Cook pine or a 150-year-old Moreton Bay fig. Look to the ground, where a series of underground wells are believed to flow, and you’ll find chilli, onions, fennel and golden oregano. Herbs are incorporated into ornamental sections. Wasps battle with aphids. Ladybirds flurry in spots of red and black. Pinks, blues and greys bloom in summer to offer a cool, inviting view. The Heronswood ornamental and edible garden is completely organic. The gardeners here, who are profoundly committed to tending this 1.6ha plot of undulating land, work hard at letting nature do its thing rather than using manufactured chemicals. All organic matter is recycled. Seeds are collected and planted in the hothouse, then grown and replanted or sold at The Diggers Foundation garden shop. The Diggers Foundation, where Clive Blazey sits as chairman, promotes gardening education, preserves heirloom plants and seeds, and restores the historic buildings of Heronswood, among other things. Clive was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his “significant service to horticulture, to conservation and to the community”. Heronswood media and partnership manager Donna Morabito explains: “Heronswood was really the most incredible gift. Clive, Penny and their three children all agreed to bequest the property almost 10 years ago so as to preserve its beauty. The children had grown up eatdrinkmornpen
