Creating a country garden .. AT MY ROSE GARDEN

Our aim in creating a country garden is to develop a green space that is practical as well as beautiful; a place where people can rest and recuperate.  And a place that inspires creativity and an appreciation for the beauty of nature.  

The garden is only young and still very much in the early stages of development.   We started our garden with a small semi-circular bed cut into the lawn.  And from there we expanded one bed at a time.

This required some planning, of course, but the overall design evolved to include a central axis, or central focus, with matching garden beds on either side.  The building of the rose allee allowed for further extension of the central axis, with climbing roses planted on either side to soften the structure, in time.   

The garden design is simple and Edwardian in style to match the age of our Queenslander house, circa 1916. Edwardian designed gardens were formal, often with a small central bed and framed with semi-circular or rectangular beds.  

Over-time the design has been expanded and revised.  Drought in the early establishment phase meant we needed to re-think our use of plants.  Research and trial and error have shown us that some of the old-fashioned roses  recovered well after periods of stress. Tea roses, have proven to be the most resilient, provided they are well watered in the first year or two after planting.    

So our garden continues to be a work in progress, tweaking the initial design so that even more heirloom roses can be planted.  A garden is an ever evolving work, never to be completed, but always to be enjoyed.