LOVE BLOOMS

GARDENS

A couple fall in love with a 120-year-old garden and bought this property in Western Australia after just one viewing.

FORD HOUSE, LOCATED IN the elbow of the Blackwood River where it bends to meet the village of Bridgetown, was built in 1896 for the magistrate for the Blackwood area, William Ardagh Gardner Walter. Today it’s a stately estate set among two hectares of garden and parkland, shaped by successive owners over more than 120 years. Taking over the custodianship of such a storied property would daunt even the most seasoned of horticulturalists. But in 1995 it took Jennifer Brickwood and Ken Rotman, two keen yet novice gardeners, only minutes to decide that they had to own it. “We loved the old house but it was also the oak trees and the river — the sound of the water and the colour of the light — all those romantic things,” says Jenny. “We instantly fell in love with the house and property. We thought, ‘We can’t possibly do anymore here, it’s perfect’. But from that day on, we started doing things.” For the first two years, both continued to do the commute to Perth for their jobs: Jenny worked as a photographer and Ken as an environmental scientist. According to Jenny, it was “very difficult”. “Every time we had to leave the property, we just got sadder and sadder,” she says. “We were so addicted to it. When we’d come back and it was dark, we’d be out there with torches seeing what had begun flowering while we were away. “We didn’t have children together, so it was like our baby. We were constantly thinking about what we could put here, or plant there. It was a beautiful obsession.” Many of the works undertaken by the couple — creating ‘rooms’ with hedging and walls of camellias, and clearing spaces where, as Jenny says, the “eyes can rest” — were inspired by a trip the pair had taken to Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, England. “I had studied that garden while taking a course, and after we visited it, that’s when Ken got interested in gardening,” says Jenny. “I think that subconsciously, we brought a lot of it here.” She describes her approach to gardening as “live and let live” — albeit within reason. “If something comes up somewhere, unless it’s very out of order, I leave it,” she says. “But I do think that having things such as trimmed hedges does help to make order out of the chaos. “Some gardens have every plant you can think of in them, and they’re all beautiful, but you don’t have space to look at them. Small patches of lawn and paving can give you that. Here, the river does that, too.” >

With its rich loam soil and cool climate, the garden’s growing conditions are ideal for a vast variety of plants and trees, and — unlike much of the rest of the state — each season brings its own colourful showing. In spring, satsuma plums, crabapples and cherry trees are awash in pastel blooms in the arboretum on the river flat and around the original homestead, while heavy shocks of wisteria border a parterre garden. Warmer weather brings on banks of roses and hydrangeas, while from April the deciduous trees, including two giant pin oaks (Quercus palustris) and Japanese maples, flare with autumnal reds and golds. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a sharp learning curve. “I planted a whole lot of ‘Purple Heart’ (Tradescantia pallida) thinking it looked like a hardy plant,” says Jenny. “But the next day we went out and there was none there. The frost just destroyed it. That’s one of the things that some plants can’t tolerate here.” Sadly, Ken passed away four years ago. “We were so lucky that when he did get ill he was in a beautiful environment that he loved,” says Jenny. “Right on his deathbed he was saying ‘I love Ford House’. I would say, ‘What about me?!’ He’d just say, ‘Oh yes, you too, but I love Ford House.’ ” Today, a wander around the garden is akin to turning pages on the story of the couple’s life together. They were married under the Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila), as was one of Jenny’s daughters, Susie. “We planted two ‘Bridal Pink’ roses on our wedding day and then sent a rose to our family and friends to know that we had done the deed,” says Jenny. An avenue of ‘Seduction’ roses always brings a smile to her face when she sees it in bloom. “Ken planted these roses. I said, ‘Oh that’s so romantic, every time they flower I’m going to seduce you.’ But I didn’t realise they were floribunda — so I had to tell him I lied,” she says, with a smile. Other areas represent memories more fraught. “Neither of us were a pushover and we didn’t believe in compromise,” says Jenny. “We believed in trying to convince the other person that we had the best idea. “We called the parterre garden The Argument because we had so many arguments about what we’d plant there. And then the rabbits ate the roses and the frost killed the pelargoniums. So now it’s planted with succulents. It’s not a precious garden, but I think the shape is lovely. And when Ken got very ill, that’s what he’d say to me, ‘finish The Argument’.” “Every part of this garden is special, and I think that that’s how gardens should be. They should grow over time, and as your memories evolve.” Ford House offers accommodation, and its shop and café are open daily. For more information, visit fordhouse.com.au