Enjoy Dame Elisabeth’s legacy

Cruden Farm is an internationally famous property consisting of manicured lawns, stunning gardens and majestic trees, all surrounded by a rural vista. Created by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, the place offers calmness and restoration as you wander among the gardens she planted and tended for more than 80 years. Dame Elisabeth left her precious garden to the people as a place of recreation, and now more than ever it provides solace and serenity as well as visual splendour.

It is a place of lushness and greenery with hundreds of roses and a variety of other scented and radiant flowers to enjoy. The original driveway is flanked by more than 120 lemon-scented gum trees that smell wonderful and create an iconic image of arrival. And when you kick off your sandals, the rich, grassy turf feels truly fabulous underfoot.

Winter brings a quieter time in the garden, as well as frosts and fog.

There is a meditative stillness to Cruden Farm in the colder months; the sculptures in the garden are more obvious, as are the massive stone walls, the stables and the chimneys. Yellow tones abound among huge carpets of daffodils and the laden lemon and grapefruit trees. The garden and the farm meld into one vast space at this time of the year and the lake appears to be twice its normal size. Textures too become more easy to identify, be it the lichen on the trees’ bark or the actual structures of the trees that, now leafless, reveal their architectural bones.

Spring makes every corner of the garden burst with growth and blooms and the air is filled with noises from the many types of birds who live at Cruden Farm. The purple of the famous wisteria covers the front of the house and there is a sense of renewal across every part of the garden. Healthy clumps of fresh new green foliage appear everywhere as the spring-flowering plants do their work.

There is a real contrast between the manicured turf around the house and the tall rural grasses growing out in the farm areas beyond. Throughout spring, roses, sweet peas, alstroemeria and clematis bloom and once again fill the garden with terrific colour and heady scents.

Feel free to bring a picnic and your camera and spend a relaxing time among nature, enjoying Cruden Farm’s diverse birdlife, lakes and dams, wellestablished trees, luxurious flowers and interesting sculptures.

Cruden Farm is generally open Monday to Friday and once a month on a Sunday. It’s also a working farm, so no pets are allowed.

To avoid disappointment, you need to book.

CRUDEN FARM, 60 Cranbourne Rd, Langwarrin

T: 9789 1676 W: www.crudenfarm.com.au