The glorious garden that grew from a horse paddock

Designer Deborah Hambleton’s Mediterranean-style garden at Malmsbury will be open to the public for the final time on November 18 & 19. Here Deborah discusses how the garden has evolved over the years.

Tell us about ‘Melrose’. What was here when you arrived 18 years ago?

The bluestone cottage dates from the 1860s. When we bought it, it had been derelict for some time. The garden comprised an original rose bed at the entrance, some shrubs on one side, a pear tree, an ornamental plum tree and a horse paddock!

Our essential criteria had been a renovated historic home and an established garden, so it was not quite what we were after, but it had potential. In fact, it was fortuitous as creating the garden and feedback from visitors led me to studying garden design at Burnley and creating my business, Potager Designs.

How did you create the garden?

We developed the garden gradually as building works and pool construction permitted. The final areas were landscaped and planted in 2011.

Much of the garden development took place during years of drought and then during extreme wet. This influenced the design. We wanted to create an environment that would provide sanctuary and protection from the harsh climatic conditions and, by necessity, comprise robust plantings.

The garden has been designed with a mix of elements – with some formality and symmetry, some romance and wildness, a mingling of ornamentals and productive plants, and the use of local recycled materials and artifacts from overseas.

What influenced your design for the pool area?

The aim was to integrate the pool into the garden landscape to create the sense of a pond instead of a traditional formal pool separated by paving from any garden elements. Plantings go up to and over the side of the pool and incorporate grasses to help create the feel of a natural water feature.

In another departure from traditional pool design, the pool area includes many productive elements – espaliered apples, a nectarine and quinces, as well as perennials, tamarisk and myrtle trees.

Recycled sleepers form the northern wall and iron decorative doors from India provide a feature at the front of the equipment area.

The pool shed was inspired by the hay sheds of central Victoria. The structure uses bush poles, recycled sleepers from the railways, recycled corrugated iron (including from the original derelict stables on the property) and recycled bricks. We use it to relax by the pool during the day and as an entertainment space in the evening.

How has the garden evolved?

The structure has stayed the same but the plantings have changed. We introduced an experimental gravel garden towards the front of the property, and that has now settled in. Some feature plants include Mexican Lily (Beschorneria yuccoides), Echium and Honeybush (Melianthus major ‘Antonow’s Blue’).

Early this year we finally gave up our attachment to the original lavender plants in the rose garden. This provided an opportunity to introduce perennials and a border of Westringia ‘Aussie Box’, which will hedge up over time.

We have significantly revamped the verge garden – not so much the Mediterranean section with the olives and serpentine privet (Ligustrum vulgare) hedge, but immediately in front of the house. A unifying plant is the Mexican Lily. The upper section primarily is a mix of native and exotic perennials and New Zealand wind grass (Stipa arundinacea). The lower section to the north is primarily a mix of native and exotic shrubs with Panicum Virgatum ‘Iron Maiden’. Most, although not all, of the plantings are relatively new so this is its first spring.

See the garden for yourself

🏡 Melrose, at 33 Clowes St, Malmsbury, will be open from 10am-4.30pm on November 18 & 19. Tickets cost $10 ($6 student) and are available from Open Gardens Victoria.

💐 Janae and Chris Paquin-Bowden, from Fleurs de Lyonville, will be selling seasonal flowers on November 18, and Tabatha Flores, from Botanical Treasures, will have plants for sale on November 19.

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Deborah Hambleton runs Potager Designs, a landscape and garden design service that creates “wild chic” gardens using ornamental and productive plants suited to the environment. She also offers a range of high-quality garden products, such as cloches, planters and tables, which are made in central Victoria.