The term Chinoiserie refers to the fusion of Asian and European infl uences. That’s precisely what Dominic Wong has created at his Southern Highlands home

These pages: The garden is divided by trellises; a bird bath attracts local wildlife. springtime display includes more than 100 varieties of peonies — Chinese, Japanese, European and American tree peonies in every shade from white and yellow through to pinks, reds, purples and almost black. They are fl anked by fl owering fruit trees, a wisteria-draped bird house, poppies, roses, sweet peas, tulips, daff odils and a host of other plants competing for attention. “We planted lavender and daisies purely to attract bees,” Dominic explains. “The worldwide bee population is in crisis thanks to overuse of chemicals and monocultures so we try to do our bit to help that situation. If you don’t have bees you don’t have pollination and that would be a disaster for food production, not to mention fl ower growers and sellers.”

He acknowledges lots of generous people who have shared their knowledge to get the garden to its present stage and adds that he couldn’t do it without Chris’s help with lawn mowing and hedge trimming. “I’ve learned a lot from gardeners from all over the world,” he says. “I’m constantly gleaning from magazines and TV shows, and fellow gardeners are amazing when it comes to providing tips and advice.” Now the wheel has turned full circle and Dominic says there aren’t many people he can’t help with advice on how to grow peonies. “It’s a bit like a baby — you just need to work out what it needs,” he says. “But also like a baby, a great garden needs pretty much constant attention.”

However, he and Chris do allow themselves an annual break, which will often fi nd them travelling the world visiting other people’s gardens. “I love to go to England and Europe and see what’s possible there,” Dominic says. “I defy anyone to visit a garden such as Sissinghurst in Kent or Beth Chatto in Essex and not come home inspired to try something new. It gives me the motivation to keep striving for that elusive something special.” ACH

THE FAMILY TREES

A couple’s move to country Victoria sows the seeds for a thriving orchard and fruit tree nursery

By CHRIS STAFFORD, photography by KATE BLOOD except fi ve by FLISSY JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY

These pages: Professional horticulturists Kate Blood and Rob Pelletier have spent nearly two decades creating a garden, orchard and thriving fruit tree nursery.

Afew kilometres outside the town of Beaufort in western Victoria is Glenview Park Farm, a 145-acre property owned by husband and wife Rob Pelletier and Kate Blood. The farm comprises many acres of bushland, some pastured areas, an orchard and a fruit tree nursery.

No one driving past would guess the extent of the garden hidden behind the hedges. The front of the house is mown grass with well-spaced trees and behind the house is a “relaxed perennial garden” with deciduous trees.

“There are several diff erent areas in our garden and bushfi re protection is a big infl uence on their location and design,” says Kate. “We have larger areas of grass with curved hedges, specimen trees and avenues of deciduous trees.”

Rob and Kate are both horticulture graduates from Burnley in Melbourne. He’s well known as a radio and TV gardening broadcaster and, with the help of Kate and nursery staff , has managed Heritage Fruit Trees for nearly two decades. Kate also works off -farm in conservation.

It’s a family thing and the couple have lived their lives in gardens. Rob’s parents were both avid gardeners and Kate grew up with a milking goat, chickens and a father with a fl ourishing vegetable garden that kept her mum busy trying to keep up with processing and preserving the produce. Kate’s fi rst choice of career, up to the age of 10, was to become a fl orist.

Their extended families continue to grow fruit and vegetables and share the harvests between them.

Away from the gardens, Rob enjoys woodwork and cooking for family and friends, while Kate does various crafts including garment making and ecoprint dyeing onto natural fabrics using plants from the farm.

The gardens Beaufort, an old goldmining town between Ballarat and Ararat, is nearly 400m above sea level. Its temperate climate ranges from hot, dry summer extremes of 40°C to cold winters with the occasional -6°C frost and even the odd snowfall: in short, an ideal climate for fruit trees.

The Glenview Park gardens comprise roughly an acre with nearly another whole acre given over to the main collection orchard.

“The Pear Garden is a large formal hedged garden containing a central avenue of eating and perry pear trees,” says Kate. “In this half-acre garden there is a formal rose garden with 52 diff erent varieties, a contemporary parterre of Buxus species and Japanese maples, raspberry beds (six varieties), about 150 trellised fruit trees (80 varieties of apples, pears, apricots and plums) and a large vegetable garden with a netted tomato hoop house.”

The collection orchard includes more than 350 varieties of apples, 40 mostly table grapes and 40 mixed fruit trees including many fi g varieties. The scion orchard contains about 100 apple varieties and over 50 pear varieties including Asian, European and perry pears.

“We grow rootstock and propagate many fruit trees sold in our nursery,” says Kate. “We follow many organic gardening principles. We compost, have a worm farm, generate solar electricity, recycle and harvest rainwater from our house and sheds. Mulching and drip lines help reduce our water use in the gardens,” she adds.

The property’s large areas of bushland are home to many native animals, including a big mob of kangaroos, while

These pages: An early-morning summer garden; alpacas and sheep make perfect companions.

frogs, reptiles and birds visit and live in the gardens. “It’s a treat to watch nesting fairy wrens and mistletoe birds raise their clutch each spring.”

The produce As well as Wiltshire Horn sheep, llamas and alpacas, the property has a number of chickens to keep up the supply of breakfast eggs and the couple eat and preserve produce from the orchards and vegetable garden.

They preserve tomatoes, basil in pesto, fruit, berries and other produce to use throughout the year in the kitchen. “Rob’s homemade pizzas are loved by friends in Australia and overseas,” says Kate. “We think the home-grown tomatoes help give that extra zing.

“Visitors enjoy our homemade cakes that often contain berries and other fruit from the garden. We preserve many berries each season in the freezer and use Mum’s old Fowlers jars to store lots of fruit and tomatoes.”

Since they moved to Beaufort in 2001, Rob and Kate have slowly built the gardens and orchards. “We’re particularly proud of the collection of rare fruit trees we grow and make available to others through our workshops and nursery.

“Farm visitors including our workshop participants enjoy exploring the gardens and orchards.” ACH

Heritage Fruit Trees is active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and its website, heritagefruittrees.com.au