Teese Garden
Nurseryman, Barry Teese, showed Don around his garden, which is set amongst the rolling green hills of an Angus cattle farm. This beautiful garden owes its success to good drainage and the selection of reliable plants for cold and wet winters. As a nurseryman, Barry knows that plants are expensive to buy and that it’s disappointing to have failures, so getting the drainage right before planting is very important. After only 5 years the garden has shown tremendous growth and development. Barry puts this down to perfect drainage, good soil, fertiliser and a bit of care.
Garden features
There are sensational views of the surrounding countryside from the garden. Barry runs 250 Angus cattle on his 740 acre farm. This keeps him busy when he isn’t tending his garden or working at his nursery (The Greenery, Heidelberg).
Barry asked Rick Eckersley for assistance with the design, as evidenced by the formal layout and symmetry of the garden.
Perfectly sculpted Viburnum tinus, Ligustrum and Lonicera form living green fences to define garden areas. Barry does all the clipping himself. At first he makes sure the hedges are straight by using stakes and string lines, then once they are established it’s simply a matter of light regular haircuts with a hedge trimmer.
On the day we visited, around 40 silver birches (Betula pendula ‘Dalecarlica’) were in bud. The birches are underplanted with bulbs and hellebores (Helleborus x hybridus). Hellebores self-seed readily. They thrive in a moist position in semi-shade.
The four statues representing the seasons were brought back from Italy in the 70s by Valerie Swane. Barry, who had always loved these particular statues, purchased them after Valerie’s death.
Open garden
The Teese Garden at 220 Break O’Day Road, Glenburn, Victoria will be open on November 2-3, 10am – 4.30pm with Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. For more information phone 1902 261 026.