30 Your Garden Your Garden 31

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Art takes the form of topiary, exquisite ornamental gardens and a variety of exotics in this

Queensland paradise

WORDS LISA DOUST PHOTOS CLAIRE TAKACS

beautyBellthorpe

Gardens Sounds of nature

Fertile ground – lush and colourful, the spectacular garden has been lovingly created over the past 30 years.

32 Your Garden Your Garden 33

Gardens Sounds of nature

S et over 16 hectares in Bellthorpe, a locality of Queensland’s Moreton Bay region, Elaine

Armstrong’s expansive garden has a magical quality that allows you to imagine fairies and miniature trolls coming out to play after dark.

“The block is bordered on two sides by Bellthorpe National Park, and the house and garden are built on a ridge that slopes down from a mountain, with deep rainforest gullies on each side,” says Elaine. “When I moved here 30 years ago, a creek flat and the ridge within the forest had recently dried out and there were trees piled up.”

A commercial artist by profession, Elaine decided she would build her dream

house alongside the nearby waterfall and create a lush garden on the site. “I made a commitment to spend the rest of my life building this garden,” she explains. “After all this time, I’ve become a master gardener.”

Rather than mapping out a garden design on paper, Elaine says she simply started planting and allowed the property’s finer features to slowly reveal themselves.

“Along the way there has been much changing and replanting so that one can stand anywhere and be surrounded by a visual circle of intricate and balanced design,” she says. “That design has kept stretching into the distance.”

Outside the box Impressively, Elaine estimates she has put around 15,000 plants into the dark and sandy loam on her property, ranging from the tiniest wildflowers through to rainforest species and the region’s stunning native Moreton Bay figs (Ficus macrophylla).

“My emphasis has been on the birds, butterflies and bees,” says Elaine, who grew up on a Queensland cattle property and was enthralled every time wildflowers emerged after the rain. “It’s wonderful to sit and listen to nothing other than the sounds of nature.”

Inspired by her passion for beauty and colour, Elaine created an exquisite ornamental garden at the front of the house, with a clearing of lawn drawing your eye to the nearby dam. “I planted orchids in the cleared spaces next to the dam and, based on what looks right, I’ve planted a diversity of exotics directly around the house,” says Elaine.

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)

Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla )A talented artist, Elaine’s sculptures appear

throughout the garden, adding fabulous focal points.

Trees and bushes of all shapes and sizes

give the garden an enchanted feel.

Elaine’s bright and beautiful home has been painted to blend in perfectly with the garden.▲

34 Your Garden Your Garden 35

Gardens Sounds of nature“There are magnolias, wisteria, irises, several roses, lilies, conifers, box hedges and lots of topiary.”

Elaine’s natural talent for topiary really does make her garden appear enchanted. Rather than opting for the classic and well-defined topiary shapes popular in English and Italian gardens, Elaine has clipped English box (Buxus sempervirens) into loosely structured cones and mushrooms. It’s a clear demonstration of her gentle nature, artistry and patience.

“Topiary isn’t difficult – it just takes time and plenty of mulch, fertiliser and water,” says Elaine, who relied on her intuition and deft hand to learn this ancient art. “I also recommend using a quality pair of clippers.”

Elaine has created equally beautiful spaces on either side of her house. On one side, a circular flower garden is hedged with English box and shaded by a magnolia tree, while the other side features two large vegetable gardens. A veritable cornucopia, these

According to Elaine, the best way to approach topiary is to allow the plant to choose its own shape and keep the following in mind:l Several tough, evergreen species are suitable for topiary. As well as English box (Buxus sempervirens), try Dutch box (Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’), Japanese box (Buxus microphylla ‘Japonica’), box honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida), Juniperus chinensis ‘Keteleeri’, Juniperus chinensis ‘Spartan’, yew (Taxus baccata), Camellia sasanqua, lilly pilly and Chilean myrtle (Luma apiculata).l When shaping your topiary, make sure the plant is sitting centrally over the pot or hole, and that the topiary is crafted directly over the trunk to ensure an even result.l Topiaries require plenty of light, regular watering and good nutrition. To create tight foliage, hold back on the fertiliser until the shape is established.l Prune lightly in spring to remove wayward growth, but leave structural pruning until winter.l To keep density at the back, rotate it a quarter of a turn every month.

Topiary tips

circular beds produce tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, beetroot, strawberries, peas, capsicum, okra, eggplant, corn, onions, pumpkins, zucchini, lettuce, radish, sweet peas, passionfruit and herbs.

“Having the vegetable patch in full working order makes me feel grounded,” Elaine reveals. “Fortunately, the climate here provides perfect growing conditions – we have good rain, nice fogs and short and tolerable summers, and it’s cool in autumn, winter and spring. Fern and moss grow naturally and mangoes and daffodils thrive.”

Naturally beautifulFurther away from the house, Elaine has planted a selection of natives. Banksia, boronia, flax-leaf heath myrtle (Baeckea

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)

Louisiana iris (Iris ser. Hexagonae)

A sheltered area set deep within the garden encourages

you to sit down and behold the glorious surrounds.

Large and inviting, Elaine’s elevated deck allows you to look out

over the treetops.

A supersized Platycerium

emerges from a

Burdekin plum tree.

▲

36 Your Garden

linifolia) and melaleucas live in harmony with tea tree (Leptospermum), mint bush (Prostanthera), waxflower (Chamelaucium) and an extensive cross-section of wildflowers. The final flourishes are provided by Elaine’s sculptures.

Elaine generously allows garden groups, solo visitors and birdwatchers to explore her property during the spring months when the entire garden comes alive and the wildlife is teeming. Along with multiple bird and butterfly species, generations of wallabies have happily made their home here.

“The gentle and pretty-faced wallabies are the descendents of one mother who moved in many years ago,” Elaine recalls. “The joeys practice hopping throughout the garden and the weeds are grazed on – they are very chilled and low-maintenance pets.”

Unless it’s unbearably hot, you will typically find Elaine doing what she enjoys most – soaking up her glorious surrounds. “What I love about the garden is that it’s just simply beautiful,” says Elaine. “It allows me to exist within a living work of art, with the birds, insects, flowing water and wind serving as the orchestra.”

Gardens Sounds of natureElaine’s talent for artfully

shaping English box is evident throughout

her garden.

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