ENGLISH snowdrops, roses and woodland plants take centre stage at Jim and Peronelle Windeyer’s pretty, scented Red Hill garden, with red brick paths leading visitors past layers of flowering shrubs, azaleas, perennials and other rare plants.

Much of the beauty of the garden is in the front, as the couple say that possums have taken control of the back.

“They also nibble at the roses out the front and have started eating our herbs, that they never used to eat before,” says Peronelle.

The couple’s very personal Red Hill garden will be open on the weekend of November 1 and 2, featuring rare plants from Peronelle’s father Barney Hutton’s garden in Mount Macedon, Victoria. These plants create a comforting and evocative reminder of her childhood and make the garden extremely special, she says.

“It’s wonderful to catch the scent of lilac, daphne, crabapple and azaleas as you walk past, and I love the peachy colours in the bed near the house,” she says.

“I go out into the garden most days to have a look at what’s happening, and end up staying to do bits and pieces.

“We work on the garden together, although Jim says I’m the boss and he’s the labourer!”

Indeed, Jim laid all the brick paths himself, and extended them when they reduced the lawn and extended the garden beds to make room for the plants from Mt Macedon following Barney’s death in 2005.

“My father’s garden was one of the first to open in the first year of the Open Garden Scheme, so it seems fitting that we are opening in the final year with so many of the same plants,” she says.

Growing a screen between the garden and the street was a focus for Jim and Peronelle when they started the garden 32 years ago, and the lawn has since been reduced and a tough conquest couch grass laid to save water.

“We often sit out the front to admire the garden, as it changes so much at different times of the year,” she says.

“We get a lot of birds, and love to see the little wrens coming in.”

50 Golden Grove, Red Hill, open 10am-4.30pm, Saturday, November 1 and Sunday, November 2. Adults $8, children under 18 are free. Funds raised will go to Open Gardens Australia and the Canberra International Music Festival. More information at opengarden.org.au

Photos by Gary Schafer

ENGLISH snowdrops, roses and woodland plants take centre stage at Jim and Peronelle Windeyer’s pretty, scented Red Hill garden, with red brick paths leading visitors past layers of flowering shrubs, azaleas, perennials and other rare plants.

Much of the beauty of the garden is in the front, as the couple say that possums have taken control of the back.

“They also nibble at the roses out the front and have started eating our herbs, that they never used to eat before,” says Peronelle.

The couple’s very personal Red Hill garden will be open on the weekend of November 1 and 2, featuring rare plants from Peronelle’s father Barney Hutton’s garden in Mount Macedon, Victoria. These plants create a comforting and evocative reminder of her childhood and make the garden extremely special, she says.

“It’s wonderful to catch the scent of lilac, daphne, crabapple and azaleas as you walk past, and I love the peachy colours in the bed near the house,” she says.

“I go out into the garden most days to have a look at what’s happening, and end up staying to do bits and pieces.

“We work on the garden together, although Jim says I’m the boss and he’s the labourer!”

Indeed, Jim laid all the brick paths himself, and extended them when they reduced the lawn and extended the garden beds to make room for the plants from Mt Macedon following Barney’s death in 2005.

“My father’s garden was one of the first to open in the first year of the Open Garden Scheme, so it seems fitting that we are opening in the final year with so many of the same plants,” she says.

Growing a screen between the garden and the street was a focus for Jim and Peronelle when they started the garden 32 years ago, and the lawn has since been reduced and a tough conquest couch grass laid to save water.

“We often sit out the front to admire the garden, as it changes so much at different times of the year,” she says.

“We get a lot of birds, and love to see the little wrens coming in.”

50 Golden Grove, Red Hill, open 10am-4.30pm, Saturday, November 1 and Sunday, November 2. Adults $8, children under 18 are free. Funds raised will go to Open Gardens Australia and the Canberra International Music Festival. More information at opengarden.org.au

Photos by Gary Schafer