By Mikayla van Loon
Creating a garden is one thing but creating a seamless movement from space to space with the use of plants is something else entirely.
But that’s what people will get to experience when Kilsyth resident Sandra McMahon opens her garden to the public for Open Gardens Victoria on 29 and 30 October.
“It’s a garden of rooms but it’s an informal garden of rooms because above all I’m a plant person and I design from a point of view of achieving structure using plant material,” Ms McMahon said.
The garden and home known as ‘Woodcote’ was designed and constructed by Ms McMahon and her late husband Warwick when they moved to the half acre block in 2008.
Beautifully designed and constructed, both the house and garden take inspiration from many sources, including Edna Walling, the arts and crafts movement and Japanese and Chinese culture.
“[The garden follows] that juxtaposition of sharp shapes and soft shapes which is the yin and the yang Chinese philosophy,” Ms McMahon said.
“If you just rely on flowering plants, they’re lovely at the time, but you’ve got to look for plant material that looks interesting and has interesting textures and colours at all times of the year.”
Colour and texture, different heights and forms, perennial and deciduous plants, and native and non-native plants combine to create a peaceful flow and guides the viewer through the property.
Beginning at the front, wanderers are greeted by an all native garden of gums and wallaby grass, with pebbles and rocks outlining the space for a river bed.
Moving through from front to back, China gold bamboo leads the experience from Australian native to Japanese inspired, that merges to form a woodland garden surrounding a billabong.
Feature at the centre of the backyard is an 80 year old elm tree that Ms McMahon said was perhaps her pride and joy in the entire garden.
Placed throughout the garden are old gates, a motif of sorts which Ms McMahon said “suggests old pathways through the garden, a desire line where people might have once gone.”
At every twist and turn a new area can be admired, like the rose garden or the orchard by following a path through the foliage.
“I want people to come right through the garden and get somewhere and think, ‘Oh, how did I get here?’ because it’s just led you on.
“But then if you analyse it you’ll see that the plants in the different zones do relate to each other in a relaxed way.”
Whenever Ms McMahon opens her garden to people, she hopes they walk away feeling inspired or perhaps able to envisage their own space in a similar way.
“I’m very fortunate to have this half acre area and I know that people are always interested and they enjoy walking past and stopping. It just seems like the obvious, generous thing to do.”
Each time Ms McMahon has taken part in either the Victorian or Australian Open Gardens she organises for a different charity to receive the funds from ticket sales.
“We’re opening for the United Nations World Food Fund because so many parts of the world, for reasons of war and whatever, may struggle to find food in times to come,” she said.
As a landscape designer of 25 years, Ms McMahon said “it’s really rewarding when people do enjoy coming and the feedback is very nice.”
There is so much to explore and get lost in and inspiration to be found at Ms McMahon’s Woodcote garden. To find out more or how to book, go to opengardensvictoria.org.au/Woodcote
Woodcote is located at 73 Pascoe Avenue Kilsyth and will be open from 10am to 4.30pm Saturday and Sunday.
