Herbie and Esme Kramhoft invited the Burke’s Backyard team to come and pay them a visit. Herbie was born in Germany and migrated to Australia in 1952. He and Esme have been married for forty odd years. When they first bought their house it was a little fibro shack with a tin roof, but Herbie set to work and used his bricklaying skills to transform it into a multicultural style brick bungalow.
The garden
Herbie and Esme put about twenty five years of hard work into the garden, but it was a labour of love. It is built on a steeply sloping block, and features a marble fountain, statuary, azaleas and camellias. Herbie has always had an interest in gardening; even as a child he did odd jobs and used the money he earned to buy seed. He misses the flowers and trees of his native land, but his Australian property has a strong European influence with masses of annuals planted both in the garden and in pots.
Further information
The Rockhaven Garden is on the corner of Winnicoopa and Koala Road, Blaxland, NSW, 2774. It will be open on two weekends, September 25-26. 1999 and October 2-4, 1999 with Legacy Springtime Gardens. Opening times are 10am-4pm. Cost: $2.50 per garden or $8 for all gardens. Phone: (02) 4757 1249.
