HILLANDALE

NS YET HOLM E, YET HOLM E, N SW In Yetholme — one of the coldest regions in Australia at around 1150 metres above sea level, and about two-and-a-half drive from Sydney — lies an incredibly inspiring and exciting garden, created by owners Sarah and Andrew Ryan. In 1999, they purchased the property from the Willotttt family, who’d had a long history here and were responsible for planting most of the mature trees that provide a beautiful atmosphere and maturity to the space. Since taking ownership, Sarah and Andrew have been sensitively rejuvenating the garden, hoping to retain the original gardener’s vision, while adding new areas and expanding and evolving the planting. Sarah has cast her wonderfully artistic eye over this 2.5-hectare garden, part of the couple’s 70-hectare property. The garden consists of several areas, which include a vegetable garden, cut flflower bed, glasshouse and shaded glen with native ferns, rhododendrons, azaleas, maples and hydrangeas. From here, a narrow, beautifully shaped spring-fed water rill winds down to a lake where the garden opens up and feels like an English landscape garden. In 2003, on the sunny northern side of the garden, Sarah and Andrew created a stunning, dreamy herbaceous perennial border. It’s 120 metres long and designed to be walked through in order to “immerse oneself in the planting, hopefully awakening and delighting the senses”. Sarah has never travelled outside NSW, but has still managed to create a garden that feels very international and in line with the movement towards a naturalistic style of gardening. She became interested in perennials about 20 years ago, inflfluenced by the naturalistic planting style pioneered by the Dutch and spectacular herbaceous borders prevalent in the British Isles. The borders are experimental, and a lot has been learned over the years as Sarah has gained experience. I love how she considers the inflfluence of light in the garden and how it catches and affffects the grasses and flflowers. She’s used more than 300 difffferent species to create “movement, structure, texture and drama”, and also plants to attttract birds and insects into the garden. The border peaks at the end of summer and continues through into autumn. This is a garden I want to continue visiting, and one I hope will inspire many other gardeners. It’s one of the great gardens, revealing a combination of immense skill, love and the desire to be immersed in a beautiful, tranquil space connected to nature. It seamlessly transitions from old to new and out to the landscape. For more information, telephone (02) 6337 5234 or visit hillandalegardenandnursery.com.au