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Garden Guide

The Castlemaine and District Festival of Gardens offers visitors an opportunity to get away from their homes to explore the gorgeous gold fields country of the Castlemaine district in central Victoria.

It is an impetus to stay in a range of accomm ...

Clontarf - Castlemaine

'CLONTARF' is a sublime fusion of old exotic trees c.1862 providing lush surroundings for a Castlemaine historic house and gardens.

Established c. 1862 is the original house, double-storey stables and outhouse cottage on 1.2 hectares.

The garden consists of exotic trees, old gums, new plants including perennials, fruit trees, and a walled vegetable and herb garden with large tanks to collect water and a worm farm.

The borrowed landscape adds significantly to the property including a sandstone walled paddock, once called The Pleasure Garden opposite the Botanical Gardens and next door to beautiful Forest Hall.

Antares Iron Art Garden, Newstead

Ever expanding beyond its boundaries, this enticing garden of sculptural wonders will intrigue and inspire!

Created of found and re-imagined objects of stone, bone, wood, glass and iron, there is always more to see and explore.

Perched above the Loddon River at Newstead, Antares enjoys wide views of the sur rounding landscape, including majestic Mount Franklin.

Featured on Gardening Australia, ep.19: 'Rusted On'

Eco.Abode Gardens - Chewton

Nestled amongst 30 acres of Nature Trust bushland with views out to Harcourt Valley and Leanganook (Mt Alexander) is Eco.Abode Gardens.

This naturalist native and coastal inspired garden sits atop a heavily sloping block and offers meandering paths and tiered garden beds, balancing indigenous and native flora with glimpses of its cottage style past.

Eco.Abode Gardens is an off-grid property and has been developed to be water conscious - fed only by harvested water from tanks and dams. Fire resilience is a key feature, including a fully landscaped rock garden surrounding a fire storage shelter. While off-grid, Eco.Abode Gardens is not disconnected. The house benefits from smart home features that control and manage most facets of the home and garden.

The garden has been through a large transition over the past 2 years, with its new owners committed to creating a native wonderland amongst the tough conditions of Central Victoria. For this reason, the garden is young, but growing fast and they're looking forward to having you come on the journey with them, as they grow their knowledge of native plants and landscape design.

La Colline - Harcourt North

The garden, like the house, dates to 1917 and is nestled in the foothills of Mt Alexander. The property has been, at times, a stonefruit orchard, an almond orchard and a tomato farm.
La Colline is a country garden with a large orchard and over 200 fruit and nut trees including a young pistachio orchard. An ancient and wonderfully fruitful mulberry tree dating from the early 20c shades the chook pen, planted in the days when there was a silk worm farm on nearby Mount Alexander.

It is a fairly waterwise garden, with many drought tolerant succulents and large trees. Recent plantings are largely Mediterranean - salvia, lavender, rosemary and artichokes. A pomegranate hedge borders the orchard and a young privet hedge is slowly creating a wind break from the south west.

An avenue of 100 Chanticleer pears approaches the house and almost evergreen Winter Glow pears line the west boundary. The pears have been stoic and thrive in spite of a difficult position, the ones on the east side of the drive having their roots submerged in a channel of water for many months at a time each winter.

A citrus grove is settling in around the old shed that has been repurposed as a pergola by the bocce pitch.

Some spectacular granite boulders are scattered around the garden and add scale and a little grandiosity, as does the huge ancient eucalyptus in the south west part of the garden.

In early spring bulbs proliferate and later the many roses come into bloom. Many are quite old and unidentified, but there are lots of hybrid teas and David Austins from more recent plantings, particularly in salmon, peach and soft pinks. The Albertine on the wood shed wall has triumphed in the last few years and looks as good in winter without her leaves as she does in the full flush of spring with the round pruning that's been undertaken in the last few years.
There are many young trees that have been planted in the last few years - eucalypts, wattles and other natives and also ashes, elms a

Stringybark Hill - Castlemaine

Catherine and Neil Tait have transformed 3 hectares of neglected overgrazed bushland into a haven of natural bush incorporating an extensive indigenous planting and an artistic garden setting.

The house garden has evolved into a haven of Irises and perennials with interesting flowers that contribute colour throughout the growing season.
Featuring drystone walls, sculpture features and entertainment areas. Planting trees for height and shrubs as structural and background elements.

The plant selection is based on the artist's colour palate, Violets to the east
progressing to the yellow and reds to the north, White, unifying all the colours, creating a harmonious balance.

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