Meet the gardeners and their garden

It was 1972 when Kris and Philip first moved to this farm where they raised their family and farmed sheep for many decades.  Kris describes their garden as “a garden of transplants and memories”, because so many of the plants and cuttings were gifted to them by friends.  As an active member of the San Remo gardening club, Kris now shares her plant cuttings and experience with other gardeners, completing the cycle of gardening learning.  In addition to the edible garden, visitors can explore the extensive rose garden, succulents, orchids, native plants, oak trees, magnolias and an unusual tree dahlia, with glimpses of the Kilcunda coastline and cliffs in the distance. 

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Come to see, learn and be inspired!

• A large, fenced vegetable patch, reminiscent of English allotment gardens, with an adjacent chicken run making it easy to feed the chickens with salad greens

• Calendulas, borage, edible chrysanthemums and nasturtiums are mixed in with the vegetables to encourage pollination

• Rabbits and possums are an ever-present challenge, breaking through fences and eating their way voraciously through almost ripe vegetable crops

• Fruit and nut trees planted by Philip include lemons, Tahitian lime, quince, plum, cherry, apple, mulberry, finger lime, pomegranate, tamarillo, almonds, macadamia and figs; there are also strawberries and raspberries in the vegetable patch

• The aim has been: more plants = less lawn and less mowing! 

• Wormwood has been planted on the property boundaries to protect against wind

• This garden has many microclimates, so a key lesson is ‘finding the right spot for the right plant’, often involving trial and error!

 

Parking and accessibility

Parking is on the grassed edges of the access road at the front of the property, just off the Bass Highway (absolutely no parking on the Highway where it is a 100km speed limit).  Walk up gravel driveway (several hundred metres).  This is a sprawling rural property and there are some uneven pavements and some potentially slippery sections.

 

Address

3340 Bass Highway Kilcunda (just after ‘little Kilcunda’ on left of highway heading to Melbourne), watch out for concealed road sign as you crest the hill and it’s a hard left turn.