The garden

A SCOUT CAMP FACILITY SPREAD ACROSS 6.2HA AND REVEGETATED OVER 40 YEARS WITH 26 GARDENS SHOWCASING NATIVE PLANTS.

Who uses this garden?

Scouts, church groups and schoolchildren. How old is it?

I started planting here in 1976.

What was here to begin with?

A coal mine with a railway. The site was degraded. People said ‘you’ll never get anything to grow at Glenrock’. Scouts started coming here in 1932.

What attracted you to the site?

To celebrate Earth Week we thought we would plant some trees here. I realised we needed to heal the earth first.

Was the garden planned from the outset? There was a plan for providing shade trees around buildings. I built other gardens as I was inspired. They’re all different.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I read a lot, watch TV shows and enjoy visiting nurseries. I lived with my uncle for a while when I was a boy. He was caretaker for a property at Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains; those magnificent gardens always stayed in my mind. Have you ever studied garden design or horticulture?

I studied environmental health and pest control. We learnt so much about plants. I taught the subject for five years.

What is your favourite part of the garden?

The ‘wild’ garden with its understorey of native raspberry and other spiky plants, as it provides a safe harbour for little birds.

Is it irrigated or hand-watered?

I use a hose, but remote areas I water by bucket. I assess whether plants need watering. I don’t want to disturb tubestock by washing soil away.

Does anyone help you in the garden?

I do planting and weeding, but sometimes scouts participate. Volunteers mow and wheelbarrow things around for me.

What has been the toughest challenge? Salty winds, erosion and weeds such as blackberry, lantana and bitou bush. The coal dumps were challenging because the topsoil had gone, leaving rock-hard clay.

Does your garden provide habitat for wildlife?

It was barren. Now there are goannas, lizards and waterbirds. Kookaburras and wrens follow me around, and there are butterflies and pollinating insects.

Where do you source materials such as compost or mulch?

Every bit of vegetation ‘waste’ goes on the gardens. We use grass clippings and straw bales from the scouts’ billycart races. Sometimes mulch is donated.

Do you do any recycling or upcycling of materials in your garden?

Upturned weeds and prunings are left on the garden. Compost from underneath the scouts’ firewood piles is amazing. What has gardening taught you?

To always be observant and to visit gardens when we travel.

What would you say to new gardeners? Talk to other gardeners. Learn from

TV and radio shows. Visit the open gardens and be inspired by them.