Matt Hewson
Part of the beauty of planting and maintaining a garden is watching it change over time; from season to season, but also over the years.
Award-winning landscape designer Peter Shaw has spent his life creating gardens for others, but perhaps his greatest triumph is his home garden Sunnymeade, which his family will open to the public with a special twilight event and open days from 10 to 12 April.
Shaw and his wife bought the Anglesea block in 2000 after walking past one Sunday afternoon, instantly identifying it as a place they could transform into a fun, welcoming and easy-to-maintain garden.
“I’ve always had the philosophy that gardens should belong where they are, they should feel comfortable in their surroundings,” he said.
“Often a homeowner or client will want a Balinese garden, a tropical garden, or an arid garden. But sometimes they’re out of context, they just feel wrong.
“That’s something I’ve stuck with…we’ve said no to projects because they just don’t quite fit with what we’re on about. But people come to us because of what we’re on about.”
Shaw kept the existing mature stringybarks, initially using a palette of robust natives and introducing play elements for their children to enjoy.
The children are now grown, the flying fox and cubby gone, but Sunnymeade has continued to grow into a welcoming and playful space.
“It’s evolved over time…to have more colour, more interest, and to be of more benefit to birds and the environment,” he said.
“No garden is ever finished; it simply moves through its stages. Sunnymeade continues to evolve as our family and our ideas change.”
Visit opengardensvictoria.org.au/whats-on for tickets and more information.
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