“LOVELY gardens” have been feature of Jennie Waller’s life ever since she grew up in Yorkshire, England.
She has been influenced by the look of English cottage gardens, and her father’s love of plants, in how she has shaped her properties since moving to Mildura many years ago.
“My father loved his herbaceous borders of wallflowers, delphiniums, hollyhocks and lupins, always interspersed with daffodils, tulips, snow drops and crocuses in the spring. I learnt so much from him,” Ms Waller said this week.
“Although my gardens since then have been different from those English country gardens where I grew up, I have tried to emulate some of those ideas into my present-day gardens.”
Her current house, on Mayfield Rise, was bought as an investment property nearly two decades ago and needed plenty of work in the yard.
“A front garden became well established before I moved there to live several years later,” Ms Waller said.
“The back garden needed attention and a much larger verandah was built and many changes made.
“It had been mainly lawn, but with the help of a landscaper, it was changed in shape and flower beds created to give different interesting spaces wrapping themselves around the house.
“Seventeen years later, these flower beds are quite well-established.”
The bird baths are another feature.
“I love the many birds who visit the garden to drink and bathe in those places,” Ms Waller said.
“Bauhinias flourish with their beautiful orchid-like flowers. I’ve also planted many crepe myrtles, frangipanis, roses and hibiscus.
“The tree dahlias are about to flower, with their bluey, purple petals and yellow centres.
“And wind chimes, a present from my son many years ago, hang in the loropetalum which flowers two or three times a year with its pretty, spiky, pink flowers.”
She said that, like many other people, her garden became a place of “refuge” during the lockdowns over the past 14 months.
“I spent much of this time tending to my plants and trees,” Ms Waller said.
“I would often just sit and contemplate. I even walked a path around my back lawn at one stage and had to re-sow it.
“My garden has been a wonderful place for me to relax and meditate and to enjoy the sounds and aromas around me.
“I hope that I will making the most of it for some time to come.”
