Gardens: Vintage romance

On the outskirts of Launceston, this cottage garden is a tribute to its hard-working owners

Idyllic and quaint, this English-style garden on the outskirts of Launceston in Tasmania is an oasis of European charm, settled on hills dotted with grand peppermint eucalypts and kookaburras. “There was no garden or house when we bought the land 17 years ago – it was a bare block,” says Amanda, a vintage merchant and curator who, with her husband Skip, has lovingly transformed the empty paddock into a magical retreat.

After levelling the land and conditioning the clay soil, the couple set about designing a garden to suit the Edwardian-style home they built from scratch. With a verdant ramble of shrubs, veggies and delicate blossoms contained by manicured box hedges, gravel paths and stone walls, it’s the type of property that invites a stroll with a cup of tea in hand – which is precisely how you’ll find Amanda most mornings.