Sweet Success Created from scratch, this Tasmanian garden has a refined European sensibility.

Over two fruitful decades, Debbie and Cameron Wilson have created a little slice of Europe in the middle of Tasmania.

Sweet is the garden grown from scratch and nurtured over many years, evolving in tandem with the owner’s growth as a gardener. The longer the journey, the deeper the experience. And the greater the rewards.

This is the case with Debbie and Cameron Wilson’s garden in the historic village of Oatlands, Tasmania, an hour north of Hobart. The 3000m2 plot of land has consumed the couple since they bought an “almost demolishable” stone cottage on the site 28 years ago. Built in 1827, the home is one of the oldest in Oatlands. It has thick, camel-toned walls and cedar trims and, on Debbie and Cameron’s first inspection, sat in a weedy paddock, any semblance of a garden long faded.

“There was no garden – only a few old rock beds and a couple of pine trees out the front,” says Debbie. “We took all of those out and had to start from scratch.”

The couple spent the next few years clearing a century’s worth of debris from the block and planning how best to utilise it. Their first foray into planting was a bed of perennials – penstemons, lavender and roses – along the front of the cottage and a row of iceberg roses along the property’s border. These coincided with the launch of their business, Provincial Antiques, which they operated from home for the next 15 years while raising sons Dillon, now 18, and Liam, 15.

What Debbie lacked in gardening know-how she made up for in energy and vision, creating a simple European-inspired country garden. “We changed it many times,” she admits. “I was a black thumb at the start; I’m totally self-taught.”

Debbie and Cameron created a 60m-long gravel driveway and edged it with box hedge. They split the back paddock into two, transforming the bottom level into an orchard of nashi pears,

Crofton apples, quince and hazelnut trees. The upper level became a prized herb, vegie and berry garden.

Never shy of change, Debbie pulled out the iceberg roses and replaced them with ornamental pears. These now fringe the driveway, with box hedge on the other side. “Visitors walk along the drive and say they’ve been transported to Europe,” she says.

Twelve years ago, with their home bursting at the seams, they built a stone barn to house the antiques business. Debbie then launched two more branches of the business, Provincial Interiors (furnitureandsoftfurnishings)andTheJardinRoom,specialising in European-inspired garden furniture, objects and vintage garden tools, which she runs from a little timber cottage on site.

These changes prompted the couple to convert the entire garden into a series of outdoor rooms to showcase the wares they manufacture and sell. There are now 10 ‘rooms’, all bordered by dry-stone fences made by Cameron using rocks collected from local paddocks. Each is peppered with obelisks, pots, tables and chairs – “lots of objects and things I love”, says Debbie.

There are larger, architectural statements in the garden, too, such as the colonnaded walkway. There’s also a pear walk, a mini version of the one at Cruden Farm, the famed garden owned by the late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch in country Victoria.

With the exception of her beloved lavender, Debbie has now removedalltheperennialplants,replacingthemwith“interesting, architectural ones” such as acanthus, rosemary and artichokes. The latest cause for excitement is her new potager, bursting with seasonal produce. “We have a barter system with friends, trading in vegies and herbs,” she says.

This winter, Debbie is ‘laying’ a Hawthorn hedge, weaving the plant into a living fence with traditional techniques. There are always ideas to explore in this ever-changing garden. The Jardin Room; 0429 941 514 or wintoncottage.com.au. The wall around this parterre garden was built by Cameron using local ‘paddock rock’. At the centre, an armillary sphere sits atop an octagonal sandstone sundial, both from Provincial Antiques. To the sides, obelisks covered in thornless raspberries are encircled by English box hedge. “The raspberry bushes are prolific,” says Debbie. “I used to make raspberry cordials with them, which our boys sold under the banner of Wilson Brothers Cordials at the farmers’ market.”