Melbourne
International Flower & Garden Show 2004
The
garden 'Pa's Shed' pays homage to the founder of Warners Nurseries,
William Richard Warner. His descendants still run the
nursery today.
The
garden is set in the late 1940's. Rather than old rusty corrugated
iron, everything is still in pretty good condition and looking
fresh. There are many facets of this era that would be deemed
fashionable today.
The
idea was to replicate a small working garden with some vegetable
furrows, as well as many 'Show Garden' quality garden beds displaying
a vast range of the Warners stock line. The garden includes
as its nucleus, a potting shed which demonstrates the central
story of the garden and how the Warners name has grown over
the last 90 years. The potting shed includes many original Warners
relics and tools from its earlier years.
Dry
stacked stone retaining walls provide the front and right hand
aspects to the garden. The stone is Colac rock and is sourced
from paddocks and was returned from where they were hand selected.
A
vista leads the eye through the right hand side of the garden,
through a timber arbour to a gate and curious pathway at the
back of the site. All timber is treated using an old style of
treatment common to that era.
Another
vista runs across the garden from the right hand side to the
left. Pavers of natural bluestone, interspersed with impregnated
pebbles, demonstrate how the style of garden construction of
that period was heavily influenced by our English heritage.
To
the left of the site is a replica gravel drive, complete with
potholes, and a garage which houses an authentic 1942 Warner's
Ford Ute.
Water
features are subtle. A replica tap and hose from the period
serves as the primary water feature. All nursery watering at
the time was done by hand and hose and this reticulates onto
the pavers, running into an underground sump where it is pumped
back through the tap. This also helps educate how efficient
the nursery industry has become in modern times with water conservation.
A downpipe reticulates water into an old wine barrel which was
an old method of re using rain water from the days of old England
and is still common in English gardens today.
All
plants are current Warners stock and include mainly foliage
plants suitable to dappled light conditions as well as a small
amount of full sun varieties.
The
garden was not intended to break any new ground with design
ideas. Instead it aims to replicate a piece of history and tell
a story of the beginnings of 'Pa's Shed'.
|
|
|
