Seaside havens opening their gates

A stylish new garden that harmonises perfectly with the superb old historic limestone home.

Moorakyne is one of Robe’s fine old historic homes.

Built in 1853, the twelve-roomed limestone house and several charming outbuildings sit in a prime position on an acre of coastal land.

In 2017, Margaret and Donald Ferguson bought the property and spent several years restoring the house before focusing on the neglected garden in 2020.

Early photos show there was originally a pretty cottage garden in front of the house, and remnants of original stone garden walls and borders remain, which have become the edging for paths and the lawned area in front of the house.

Around 1910, Norfolk Island pines were planted, and now, they provide privacy and personality to the property but also present challenging growing conditions.

The trees have been underplanted with arthropodiums, agave and convolvulus; a clever combination of plants that cope with the shade and root competition.

A border of hardy perennials maintains a touch of the original cottagey character.

Timber salvaged from the old Robe wharf was used to construct a substantial pergola, and superbly built limestone retaining walls beautifully complement the lovely old buildings.

Paths wind through the adjacent planting inspired by the vegetation on the nearby clifftops.

A fine-leafed frothy grass, Poa ‘Eskdale’, bird attracting natives including the lovely silver Eremophila nivea, purple statice, sedums, salvias, iris and cheery yellow kniphofia create a delightful mix of softly coloured foliage, flowers and form.

Bordering a path, Leptospermum ‘Foreshore’ has been clipped into a series of spheres, and a protective hedge surrounds a thriving vegetable garden planted in circular corten steel raised beds.

Extra Activities: Morning and afternoon tea. Plant Sales by McCourt’s Garden Centre.

Garden Size: 1 acre.

Charity: Royal Flying Doctors Service.

Address: Moorakyne – 4 Sturt Street, Robe

A flourishing, creative and quirky coastal garden.

Since 2015, Anna Leake has transformed a windswept coastal block into a pretty, eclectic and thriving garden packed with an extensive range of plants, sculptures and whimsical pieces of garden art.

The charming old church building known as The Kirk forms a backdrop to the garden, which Anna named after the now-extinct Toolache wallabies that once inhabited the area.

The westerly winds and the deep sandy soil over rock were a challenge, and copious amounts of compost, manure, and mulch have been added to improve the soil’s fertility and water-holding capacity.

A wall that divides the front and back gardens helps to reduce the impact of the wind, as does the front picket fence, its weathered wood colouring the perfect backdrop for the textural foliage and the soft silver and muted green tones of the plants that spill through the palings onto the verge.

A Norfolk Island pine and a casuarina tree in the front garden were already well established, and Anna has added many robust shrubs, herbaceous perennials, succulents, bulbs and natives that mingle happily together and make a lovely colourful mix of foliage and flowers.

Bird-attracting plants have been included, and the garden is now home to a variety of birdlife.

However, the many pieces of sculpture and the garden art dotted throughout make Toolache unique.

There are mosaic pieces, rustic old fence posts, unusual pots and rocks, and an enormous stone from Naracoorte that has become the base for a fish sculpture crafted by a local artist from discarded spanners.

Toolache is flourishing, creative and quirky – a lesson in successful coastal gardening.

Extra Activities: Sausage Sizzle.

Garden Size: 1500 sqm.

Charity: Royal Flying Doctors Service

Address: Toolache – 20 Sturt Street, Robe