Margaret Strelow welcomes us to her historic Rockhampton home

A LABOUR OF LOVE

Beverley and Graham Thompson devoted three decades to transforming their Mt Wilson garden from a back paddock to a parkland.

By KIRSTY MCKENZIE, photography KEN BRASS

These pages: A Monet bridge over the waterlily pond; white Wirrimbirra waratah Alberta spruce allée bordered by flowering cherries; the garden is an oasis of green and pink. W hen the Thompsons fi rst visited the Mt Wilson property that was to become their home in the NSW Blue Mountains, their responses could not have been more opposite. Beverley saw a block that was bare except for marauding masses of blackberries, bracken, thornbush and native undergrowth. Graham saw only great potential to create the landscape of his dreams, a sentiment reminiscent of one of his garden heroes, 18th-century English landscape architect Lancelot “Capability” Brown.

Thirty years after that initial viewing, it’s hard to imagine that the four-hectare showpiece garden inspired by the sweeping lawns and water features of English country parks was not always so. “Initially, Beverley thought I was out of my mind,” Graham says. “At fi rst I probably was as it took us four years to clear the land and build the homestead. The only plants remaining were the ›

towering gums and ferns, which are protected by conservation orders for being native to the surrounding Blue Mountains National Park.”

During his long career in manufacturing, Graham had spent many weekends while travelling for work visiting both public and private gardens in the UK, Europe and Asia. When he ventured into private consultancy, Beverley was able to accompany him and together they developed a clear vision of the type of garden they wanted to create. “From the outset we knew we didn’t want a fussy garden,” Beverley says. “We are both fans of Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Edwin Lutyens, so we wanted to achieve expanses rather than vignettes.”

The fi rst of hundreds of rhododendrons and azaleas went in along the northern boundary in 1984. Feature trees including cherries, magnolias, dogwoods and maples were added to give fi ltered sunlight. The Thompsons then added an entry avenue of alternate plantings of tulip trees and liquidambars. To soften the driveway, a curved garden bed of small to medium rhododendrons was established along with a canopy planting

These pages: Water adds a sense of calm to the property; redwing azaleas beneath a canopy of flowering cherry blossoms; the garden enjoys more structured features such as the hedges alongside nature’s random beauty.

These pages: Flowers are truly everywhere in this blooming garden; a bronze sculpture by David Mackay Harrison against a backdrop of vibrant redwing azaleas.

of spring fl owering trees. Two natural rock gardens were created where the rocks were too numerous or large to move. In spring, masses of bulbs — mainly bluebells and daff odils — carpet the ground and add interest before the deciduous trees burst into leaf.

Each year brings new projects. On alternate years in the early 1990s, Beverley and Graham attended garden summer schools at Oxford University and came home fi red with new enthusiasms and plans. A dam that was a remnant of the days when the property supported cattle was turned into a lake, which was lined so it could become a haven for 200 rainbow trout. In the mid ’90s a second lake was constructed, now home to a family of 13 carp including the spectacular Red Riding Hood and 10-year-old Hoover, so named for his prodigious appetite.

The major project for 1995 was the planting of an Alberta spruce allée with a granite fountain — a replica of one in Singapore’s Raffl es Hotel — as its centrepiece. The entry to this section is via an Asian feature known as a moongate, which frames porthole vignettes of the garden. In spring, fl owering cherries, wisteria and crabapples lend a profusion of pastels; in autumn, claret and golden ash, maples, golden elms and copper beech are ablaze with colour. Massed plantings of waratahs are thriving in their elevated position near the barn and in early spring they come alive with blooms ranging from creamy white to deep pink and scarlet.

These pages: View through the moongate to the Alberta spruce allée; a sandstone birdbath beneath a Floribunda crabapple in blossom; early spring growth on tulip trees with views to the lake.

The Thompsons also have a charming tradition of celebrating signifi cant anniversaries with additions to the garden rather than conventional gifts. Their ruby wedding anniversary was celebrated with plantings of Cornus rubra dogwoods; the sundial was installed for Graham’s 65th birthday; Blue Mountains sculptor Tom Coley created Motherhood for a commanding position overlooking one of the expanses of lawn; and a bronze by David Mackay Harrison stands by the western side of the house.

Astonishingly, Beverley and Graham managed the garden with the help of a gardener for just four hours twice a week. At time of this article’s fi rst print, they devoted three days to its upkeep and Beverley said that mowing the lawns took up two full days. Graham was in charge of the water supply, for which the property is entirely self-suffi cient thanks to a combination of rainwater tanks and bore water.

“It will always be a work in progress,” Beverley says. “There’s always something needs doing, but that’s how we like it. The aim has been to create something that will continue to give pleasure long after we’re gone.” ACH

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