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Establishing this charming cottage garden was a silver lining for garden designer Ashley James during the pandemic.
In 2020, he and wife Bianca, along with their three children, relocated to his childhood home in Kangaroo Ground just outside the Yarra Valley — an enchanting weatherboard cottage built in the 1860s, which originally served as the area’s dairy farm.
But shortly after relocating, lockdown put his work and business to a halt.
‘While my company crumbled like an old biscuit, I seized the chance to spend quality time with my family,’ Ashley says.
‘It was during this unexpected pause that I decided to revamp the cottage gardens and establish the now-beloved potager garden.’
‘Amidst the chaos of empty supermarket shelves, I realised I wanted to grow my own food, not just to put dinner on the table, but also to teach my children where their meals come from and the hard graft that goes into cultivating what we eat.’
His vision was to create something that was both functional and beautiful; a visual feast that could also provide a bountiful harvest.
Taking inspiration from the whimsical style of Beatrix Potter’s endearing illustrations and picture story books like Peter Rabbit, Ashley crafted a traditional picket fence with a custom-timber gate.
‘Like Mr. McGregor [from Peter Rabbit], I found myself in a never-ending skirmish with the local rabbits, often seen brandishing a rake and shouting various unrepeatable names at the furry little thieves,’ he says.
It’s made even more picturesque by the abundant wildflower meadow that now envelops the fencing. It’s filled with cut flowers of Cosmos bipinnatus (garden cosmos), Centaurea cyanus (cornflower), and Daucus carota (Queens Anne Lace).
‘Not only do these blooms look amazing, but they also create a bee paradise, buzzing with life as they pollinate my thriving harvest,’ Ashley explains.
Recycled timber frames were strategically placed to support climbing vines of beans, cucumbers, and peas, alongside stakes for tomatoes. In the backdrop of these productive elements, he created a sprawling sunflower bed, filled with variations like the fluffy petals of ‘Teddy Bear’, and majestic ‘Giant Russians’.
There’s also a nostalgic cubby house Ashley built for his three kids, amongst more colourful picking flowers, adding to the fairytale ambiance of the country garden.
‘Now, in its fifth year, the paint on the cubby house is flaking, and the timber of the picket fence has greyed like an old man’s beard,’ he says. ‘But the garden? Oh, it just keeps getting better!’
