Justin Hemmes: Nice serve

Justin Hemmes swaps tennis for chooks and vegetables against a priceless Sydney Harbour backdrop.

Oasis: Hemmes’ garden in exclusive Vaucluse. Picture: Jason Busch

We used the tennis court every day when I was a child,” says Justin Hemmes, looking out over his garden in Sydney’s east. “My parents, neighbours, friends, we all loved playing tennis.” When they stopped using it more than 10 years ago, he turned it into a vegetable garden and chicken run.

Justin Hemmes vegetable garden. Picture: Jason Busch

The Hermitage, a Victorian Gothic house built in 1831 and owned by the Hemmes family since 1974, fronts the harbour in Vaucluse. Hemmes, CEO of hospitality group Merivale, enlisted Daniel Baffsky’s firm 360 Degrees to reinvent the entire garden. “Literally every nook and cranny has been replanted in the past two years,” says Baffsky. “Justin has made the garden his own. He’s very collaborative and very much involved.”

The feel of the garden is part Mediterranean, part whimsy and part plant collector’s trove. The mix of plants ranges from palms and rainforest trees to cactuses, native woolly bush (Adenanthos), gardenias and a superb, ancient olive tree in pride of place. “I didn’t want anything that others were doing,” says Hemmes, 43. “I love the journey through a garden and wanted it free-flowing, as if it could have naturally grown like this.”

Chickens roam Hemmes’ garden. Picture: Jason Busch

The replanting involved lots of mature trees, some of them 10m tall. Date palms, the striking silver Bismarck palm, curly palm (Howea belmoreana) and a rare flamethrower palm (Chambeyronia macrocarpa) were among those craned in, along with umbrella trees, crepe myrtle, macadamia, camellias, frangipani and that gnarled old olive.

“This is one of my favourite spots,” says Hemmes, indicating an outdoor bathtub set into a garden bed, capturing views down the harbour. Does he use it? “Oh yes. And Alexa,” he replies, his face lighting up at the thought of his seven-month-old daughter with partner Kate Fowler.

The property’s original well has been resurrected as part of the garden works. “We never paid much attention to it when I was a kid,” says Hemmes, “but now we’ve hooked it up to a 50,000 litre tank at the back of the old tennis court and it delivers fresh water to the garden.”

The tennis court was one of the first areas to be transformed. “Being into cooking and healthy eating, I was getting so much pleasure from the small vegie garden at our south coast retreat that I thought I should do something here,” he says. “The flavours of home-grown produce are remarkable and you just can’t compare the taste of our chooks’ eggs with supermarket eggs.”

Despite its favourable northwest aspect, the productive garden has a garage below it, and the soil depth is mostly less than 30cm, so fruit trees have to be grown in raised planter boxes aligned above the supporting pillars. The chickens are free to roam between them.

Other plants in the “world food garden” include native Davidson’s plum, finger lime and midyim berry (Austromyrtus dulcis), along with coffee, galangal and pawpaws. A blackberry that fruits all year flourishes beside the chicken run, next to a rampant choko. It’s all grown organically and weeds are dispatched with a butane heat gun – all except the dandelions, spared because the chooks love them.

The feel of the garden is part Mediterranean, part whimsy and part plant collector’s trove. Picture: Jason Busch

Q&A

I have moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) that seem happy. How often should I water and fertilise them? Should they be repotted?

Rita Opit, by email

Moth orchids love bright spots out of direct sun, with high humidity and temperatures above 22ºC. Water when they just start to dry out; how often depends on heat levels. Overwatering or water sitting in saucers causes root rot. Mist plants on dry days. Use a soluble orchid fertiliser fortnightly. Repot every two years, after flowering, using orchid bark. It’s normal for roots to grow at the top of the pot as moth orchids grow naturally on trees. After flowering, don’t cut out the flower spike as it can grow new branches of flowers.

Tiny brown bugs with tucked-under tails and jointed antennae are infesting the mulched areas of my garden. When disturbed they jump. I’ve been treating with Confidor but it’s a drop in the ocean as they’re everywhere. Am I on the right track?

Emm Williams, Adelaide Hills, SA

Springtails scavenge in moist organic material; they’re harmless, even beneficial decomposers, except for one species that chews on vegetable seedlings and lucerne crops. They reproduce rapidly. Predators include beetles and mites. There are no chemicals registered for home use but control is not usually necessary.

The bougainvillea we bought in 2010 has grown strongly in all directions with healthy leaves, but sadly hasn’t flowered. I thought they were easy to grow?

Peter Golding, Sydney, NSW

Bougainvilleas are tough but they love intense sunshine to flower well. Strong leafy growth suggests too much shade or high-nitrogen fertiliser. Try increasing sun by pruning nearby trees or regularly apply flower-promoting soluble fertiliser such as Thrive Flower & Fruit.

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. helenyoung.com.au. The best question for June wins a set of two vanilla-scented Luminara Wax Flicker LED candles worth $198 from isgift.com. May’s winner is Trevor Sauer.