In living memory

The late plantswoman Chris Steele Scott created this 2ha garden in the Adelaide Hills, now lovingly maintained by her husband.

Labour of love: the garden at Mount George. Pictures: Peter Knights

“She wanted a smaller house and a bigger garden that she could create herself,” says Nigel Steele Scott fondly of his late wife Chris. He wanted a farm, and they both sought proximity to the city for music and theatre, so in 2004 the couple moved to a 12ha property at Mount George in the Adelaide Hills. It had an old stone house at the end of a tree-lined driveway and an avenue of 50 cottonwood trees along the creek; the rest was all paddocks.

The couple were both in their sixties at the time, and still working – Nigel as chair of Horticulture Australia and Chris with several arts and horticulture projects. She was also a co-founder of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. While Chris was the plantswoman, they did most of the work on the garden together.

The house sits at the end of a tree-lined driveway

“She had a plan in her mind’s eye to make the garden as big as could be sensibly managed, and then we built a fence around that,” says Nigel, who estimates it covers about 2ha. They put in a large dam centre stage and it now reflects the superb autumn colours of the trees Chris planted around it, including pin oaks, maples, liquidambars, deciduous conifers and tupelo (Nyssa), as well as shrub dogwoods and irises. Further afield, Chris planted oaks in the paddocks and belts of native species for wildlife.

Under the trees that line the driveway is 30m of butter-yellow clivias, multiplied from the few that Chris sourced when they were still rare. They make a spectacular sight in spring. There are large collections of cyclamens she grew from seed and many scented plants such as Luculia, Daphne, Choisya, lilacs and a rare Japanese climbing hydrangea (Schizophragma hydrangeoides) covering the southern wall of the house. Hellebores and azaleas thrive beneath a mass planting of fine-leafed Japanese maples (Acer palmatum ‘‘Dissectum’); other choice maple species abound throughout the garden.

Autumn colour in the garden

To the west are many American and Japanese dogwoods, camellias and a rose garden (one of three) framed by standard grevilleas. A path leads between mop-top hydrangeas on one side and lacecap hydrangeas on the other to a large planting of deciduous magnolias. There’s always something in flower.

Looking down to the dam

“It’s a real pleasure to live here,” says Nigel. “I’m so proud of what Chris did and that’s why I opened the garden last year with Open Gardens SA.” He describes himself as the caretaker, not a gardener; he’s assisted once a fortnight by Dee Baker, who has worked in the garden for 10 years. “It’s not really an enormous amount of work,” he claims.

It’s eight years since Chris passed away. “You get used to it but never get over it, particularly with the garden all around me,” Nigel says. “But I can’t get upset when I’m working in the garden.”

Chris Steele Scott is remembered by friends and colleagues with a pavilion in the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden and the last of the 26 stone sculptures on the Hills Sculpture Trail, a project she helped create. hillssculpturetrail.com.au

Q&A

Why is my red gerbera producing some green flowers? It’s been outstanding for three years. Joanne McDonnell, Perth

According to the WA Gerbera Society, this is a disease called “green bud”, for which there is no cure. It can affect flowers of just a few of the crowns of a plant while the rest produce normal blooms. As it’s transmitted via sap-sucking insects, keeping plants pest-free helps limit the spread. Infected plants should be disposed of, not composted.

What small trees could I use to line the narrow, north-facing driveway of my garden for privacy without blocking all the morning sun? I like ‘Capital’ ornamental pears. Sandy Lackie, Toowoomba, Qld

Pyrus ‘Capital’, although just 3m wide, reach 11m tall and are fast growers so they’d require constant pruning to stop them blocking your sun. Purple-leafed ornamental plum (Prunus ‘Oakville Spire’) is 6m tall and 2m wide. The Skinny range of fruit trees such as ‘Dita Apple’ and ‘Crimson Rocket Peach’ grow 4-5m tall and 2m wide. Also consider ‘Diamonds in the Dark’ dwarf crepe myrtles and slim evergreens such as Pittosporum ‘Silver Song’ and Juniperus ‘Spartan’.

I have 50m of seaside daisy (Erigeron) bordering garden beds that for 12 years has responded well to an annual short-back-and-sides prune. Could I cut them at ground level for a fresh start? Meredyth Cilento, Willunga, SA

Erigeron are so tough you can do this. They’ll regrow and probably also regenerate from seeds in the soil. They respond well to a hard prune in late autumn and a lighter prune in late summer.

The June Gardening prize

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. Website: helenyoung.com.au. The best question for June wins $150 worth of products from Neutrog to nourish your garden, including Seamungus, GOGO Juice and Whoflungdung.