Creating beauty in a thirsty landscape

Working with the landscape brings added beauty to this regional garden.

Tenterfield garden Eagles Bluff designed by Carolyn Robinson, from the book Australian Landscape Designers. Pictures: Nicholas Watt

Landscaper Carolyn Robinson’s garden style has come a long way from the early 1990s when she admired the English formality of Vita Sackville West’s garden, Sissinghurst, in Kent.

“I started my gardening career in early 1990 and 1991 and the paradigm was the English garden model,” says Carolyn. “It was all about shutting out the landscape rather than being inclusive of it.”

There’s still a little formality in this garden, with repeat plantings and ornamental grasses. All pictures: Nicholas Watt

While her first garden Glenrock – once voted Australia’s best garden – reflected that style, her present garden Eagles Bluff, which she started in 2009, has a very different sensibility. Both are located on acreage outside Tenterfield in the New England area in regional NSW.

Carolyn does her gardening at the most comfortable time of day and is indoors by 11am to avoid working in full sun

Carolyn is one of 26 garden designers and landscapers in a new book, Australian Landscape Designers. She says her garden has been shaped by a desire to connect with the wild beauty of the site while building a garden that would still thrive in the harsh conditions.

The house and the garden were conceived at the same time.

Carolyn isn’t afraid to mix native and exotic species. She says it’s more important to choose plants that enjoy similar conditions

“I can honestly say that the garden has always been in the forefront of my mind when we bought the property but I wanted it to connect both with the house and the landscape,” Carolyn says.

“The wider landscape really dominates the whole site so I had to plan the garden to feel like an extension of it.”

She chose a mix of natives and exotic species to create a natural looking garden that complements the setting.

When you have a view you enjoy in the distance, design your planting plan to frame, rather than compete with it

“I’ve used a combination of natives and some exotics that work with them and enjoy the same conditions but they’re not all Australian natives,” Carolyn says. “I’ve added yukkas, buddleias and English lavender, whereas grevilleas need to be on their own. I have had a lot of fun experimenting here.

“All that knowledge I can translate to other sites I’m working on.”

It’s been a challenge keeping the garden in good shape during the drought

Carolyn’s understanding of the conditions has been tested further in recent years with the advent of the drought.

“This drought has taught me a heck of a lot,” she says. “A third of the plants I have not had to water in three months.

“The river is dry so I have kept the garden going with hand held hoses. It’s largely intact despite the weather but the next drought really is inevitable.”

Most of the garden is planted on the eastern and western sides of the house so as not to interrupt the views of the mountains to the northern side

Despite the challenges, Carolyn derives a huge amount of pleasure from her garden, especially at this time of year.

“Autumn is the nicest time of the year because the climate is stable and the light is beautiful,” she says. “Lots of people don’t get it — all they see is the work. But the enjoyment comes from doing it and seeing the results of your thoughts and ideas and your creative spirit.”

More: Australian Landscape Designers, Belle, $69.99