Oak House garden in Kinglake West back in bloom after Black Saturday fires

JUDY Henry’s Kinglake West house survived the Black Saturday fires, thanks to the garden bearing the brunt of the flames. Eight years later it has regrown, and is now on show for others to enjoy.

Judy Henry is ready to reopen her Kinglake West garden following the 2009 bushfires. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

WHEN fire ripped through Kinglake and surrounding areas on February 7, 2009, Judy Henry and her family were some of the lucky ones.

She didn’t know how close it was, but a bad feeling prompted her to leave.

“As we were preparing to leave a friend of mine who was in the CFA in St Andrews rang and told us to get out, she later died and we were one of the last people to talk to her.

“We took our two cats and the dog then left home 20 minutes before the fire arrived.”

Oak House garden was damaged in the Black Saturday bushfires

But now it is back to its best and open to the public.

Mrs Henry then rang her son who was living in Kinglake and told him to get out.

“My son hadn’t left yet but I told him he had to go and he had to go now,” she said.

“We saw fireballs land in the paddocks as we drove to meet him in Yarra Glen and for about two hours we didn’t know if he was alive or dead, it was the most horrible thing to go through.”

Judy reunited with her son in Yarra Glen but the received some bad news from a neighbour.

“He said everything was gone, everyone was dead,” Mrs Henry said.

The gardens and bushland probably saved the house.

As luck would have it their house was the only one in the area to survive, but a third of her garden and bush surrounding the property was a smouldering black mess.

She thinks it was probably because her 1.2ha garden acted as some sort of fire break.

Almost immediately Judy set to repairing the garden and now, eight years after Black Saturday, she believes it’s back to its best.

“The garden is probably better now but it took a lot of hard work,” she said.

“Insurance didn’t cover it and we didn’t get much help after the fire which is fair enough considering what other people went through.

A far cry from 2009.

The colour has come back.

“Some of the trees had significant damage to their bark but we were loath to remove them but surprisingly many of the perennials bounced back quite quickly.

“Some areas have been difficult to re-establish since the fires and are constantly under review.”

This weekend, Judy will be opening up her garden to the public for Open Gardens Victoria.

She used to open her garden up before the fire and a few times after mainly to raise money for the CFA and cystic fibrosis prevention.

“As you walk around the garden you will find a variety of maples as we have a special interest in these because they make autumn a special time in our garden,” she said.

Not much survived the fires.

It was a bleak sight.

“At the rear of the property we have planted deciduous trees to create a park like area and at the top of the property you can take a walk on a little track to see how the bush is recovering.

“We love being in our garden and are quite happy to spend hours pottering around, and even though it is a lot of work it is immensely rewarding and satisfying to have created this sanctuary from the busy world.

“We consider ourselves extremely lucky we only lost our garden when many others lost houses and loved ones.”

DETAILS: Oak House Garden, 1434 Whittlesea-Yea Rd, Kinglake West, is open on May 20 and 21, from 10am-4.30pm. Entry $8 (under-18 free), students $5.