Crowden family’s Kaydale Lodge Gardens, Nietta, Tas

This family thrives on its garden obsession.

Kaydale Lodge Gardens, Nietta, Tasmania. Picture: Lesley Crowden

We did most of this stone front wall working nights between 7pm and 3am,” laughs Lesley Crowden, as if it’s the best fun she’s had. She and her sister Amarlie are powerhouse workers whose idea of a good time is to work 24/7 in the family business, Kaydale Lodge Gardens at Nietta in Tasmania. They finish each other’s sentences and laugh constantly. “We have 10 LED headlamps recharging on constant rotation,” Lesley explains. Adds Amarlie: “Mum flashes the outside light when she thinks we should go to bed – but sometimes we sneak out again.”

When the Crowdens describe their 2ha garden as a family obsession, they’re not exaggerating. Parents Kay and Robert started it in 1979 from a bare paddock around the house Robert built. Using stone from their fields, they built walls and archways while running the cattle and cropping farm, raising the girls and establishing a business offering accommodation and meals. Now in their 70s, they’re still going strong, although Amarlie (40) and Lesley (38) are becoming the driving force. “We worked out that you don’t ask permission, you ask forgiveness,” Lesley grins.

Kaydale Lodge Gardens, Nietta, Tasmania. Picture: Kim Woods Rabbidge

They’ve been crafting stone walls since 2003, as well as paving, creating mosaics and pouring concrete columns for the white wisteria pavilion. “Happiness is Lesley with a cement mixer,” jokes Amarlie. When they built the huge rockery and waterfall, they moved 160 tonnes of rocks and 27 truckloads of soil. But first Lesley worked on a potato harvest for six weeks to help buy the excavator.

The garden was developed for all seasons. In spring, massed Trilliums flower under a magnificent Mt Fuji cherry tree and the Fritillaria meadow is dotted purple and white from thousands of bulbs grown from seed over six years. Peonies are Robert’s “obsession” (he has 7000 plants of 140 varieties), grown on Peony Hill, which looks over the garden to Mt Roland. He’s equally obsessed with daffodils, with 1800 varieties and tens of thousands of bulbs; garden visitors in spring are all given a bunch. Lesley is the small bulbs fanatic; she grows them from seed in a purpose-built bulb rockery.

Kaydale Lodge Gardens, Nietta, Tasmania. Picture: Kim Woods Rabbidge

In summer, Lilium, Allium and Gladiolus varieties flower among colourful perennials, while the thyme lawn is a purple carpet. The vegie garden is in full production. Berries ripen in succession (strawberries, jostaberries, loganberries, blueberries and blackberries), supplying fruit for jams, sorbets and crumbles in the lodge’s dining room. In autumn, maples in the woodland garden glow with colour above massed cyclamens either side of the stream (built by the girls), while curved rows of Colchicum (pictured page 39) and Nerine bulbs stripe Peony Hill. The pear walk, a tunnel of espaliered beurre bosc pears Robert planted in 1994 and interlinked with 180 grafts by Amarlie, is ready for harvest.

During winter, snowfalls can blanket the garden. The Zen garden comes into its own and hellebores, which Amarlie collects and breeds, start flowering. The plant knowledge of this family – and their energy – is extraordinary. Do visit.

Open daily 9am to sunset; $5 entry. Kaydalelodge.com.au

Q&A

Why are my summer harvests often lacking sweetness, or even bitter, despite good soil and regular liquid feeding? Dani Chatfield, Mt Macedon, Vic

Leafy vegetables become more bitter as they age; pick them when young and tender. Some fruits need long sunshine hours to ripen. Brix levels measure the sugar content of plants, using a hand-held refractometer. Influences include light levels, soil pH, potassium-to-nitrate ratio, and calcium and trace element levels. Increasing organic matter and using seaweed extracts can help. High Brix (above 12) indicates better taste and overall plant health. To establish soil nutrient levels you need lab testing.

How do we get rid of horrible onion weed? Shane Byrne, by email

Trying to dig out the deep underground bulbs makes the problem worse as it dislodges many tiny bulbils that spread in the soil. Suppression is most effective. Lay newspaper 8-10 sheets thick, overlapping well and working around existing plants. Wet it down and cover with 50mm of mulch. Unlike plastic weedmat, newspaper breaks down over time.

What’s the best way to kill ivy that is covering a fence? Spraying didn’t work. Erica, Hobart

Ivy is invasive and can cause respiratory problems, especially when removing heavy infestations. The waxy leaves are impervious to herbicide sprays. To kill established plants use the stem scraping method; it’s slow but safe. With a sharp knife scrape off some thin layers of bark around the main stems and immediately paint herbicide onto the exposed green tissue. Don’t ringbark the stems or the herbicide won’t get transported through the plant.

Wallgarden, worth $140

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. Website: helenyoung.com.au. The best question for July wins 20 Multi-Hang modules to make a 1.2 sq.m vertical garden on any backing. Worth $140 from wallgarden.com.au