History – back in the day

Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society Inc.

The Osage Orange Avenue and Windbreak at 22 Taverner Street, Maddingley are of local historical significance as rare surviving examples of the use of Osage Orange trees for landscaping purposes.

The long private driveway avenue and boundary windbreak of at least 50 Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) trees planted from seeds imported by A. C. Simon from the United States circa 1870s, probably originally intended as hedges. The landscape features are also of historical significance for their associations with local pioneering orchardist, A. C. Simon.

Mr Arthur Charles Simon was one of the earliest orchardists in Bacchus Marsh. With seeds sent to him by his brother in America, Simon planted the Osage Orange Avenue. Timber from the tree was good for wood turning & the shavings were used for fabric dye, but the fruit was inedible.