PAUL BANGAY RIVERSIDE GARDEN

Acclaimed garden designer Paul Bangay takes us on a tour of one of his favourite projects, a country garden on the Murrumbidgee River in the NSW Southern Tablelands.

As I drove down the Hume H ig hway f rom S yd ney towards Yass I was filled with excitement as I contemplated the project ahead of me. It involved a very old home, situated on a unique property in one of the most beautiful rural areas in Australia.

The site is unique: the Murrumbidgee River winds around a small headland crowned with ancient river red gums and the house sits there, surrounded by large established oaks. The homestead, which once belonged to an old pastoral family, had been neglected since the last family members left 10 years earlier.

The new owners, having worked closely with a heritage architect, wanted the garden and the house to be landscaped at the same time. This is always preferable because country houses and gardens are intrinsically linked.

My first task was to redesign a section of the driveway. We made it more formal by planting a short avenue of lime trees with a grass strip down the centre. Just before the main gate to the house there were the remnants of an elm drive; we kept the best of the old golden elms and replanted the rest. They provide an interface between the raw beauty of the red gums in the paddocks and the more refined beauty of the inner garden.

Two large oak trees helped dictate the layout of the main garden. One was located adjacent to the deep front verandah overlooking the floodplain. This was the main view from the house, with all of the main windows and doors facing this direction. Because this vista was critical to the success of the garden, we decided to make it the main feature. We created a large lawn, as wide as the building’s main facade, which flowed from the verandah under the oak tree until it reached a ha-ha wall that allowed you to see the river flat below.

We planted a few more trees to provide the lawn with shade and balance, and built a low stone retaining wall on one

‘Given how harsh the Australian summer is, it is crucial to have shady areas in which to sit and cool down.’ Paul Bangay

ABOVE A rose-covered pergola links the main lawn with the pool pavilion. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The picking garden with bespoke stone bench and spheres of hollyhock among roses. Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’; so named because in a breeze they...