Trisha's Meanderings: When Snow Changes Everything
Writing about snow will hopefully bring on the long-awaited snowfall in the mountains this winter.
Waking up to a wonderland of silent snow on a winter's morning is more than recompense for the myriad times of waking to frozen pipes and days too cold to venture outside. And so I find myself trawling through thousands of images on my computer, those few precious moments when it has snowed and so completely transformed the garden that it is hard to stop taking photographs.
Amongst the many images of Bobundara under snow are some absolutely stunning ones taken by friends from Bungendore, who have one of the most enchanting gardens I know. Made even more mystical under a carpet of snow, it is also home to what I consider one of the most brilliant pieces of garden design I have ever seen.
THE PRUNING BUNDLE
Tommy and Marty's property, Birkenburn, sits outside Bungendore in southern NSW, entered through a long eucalypt drive that sets the scene beautifully for what is to come. The Guildford Bell-designed home, built for Tommy's parents decades ago, is set against rolling landscape and the white-trunked eucalypts that are so particular to that part of the world.
Years ago, a Muehlenbeckia had been planted at the base of one of the entrance eucalypts, growing over time into a vast, overgrown blob of a shrub. Until the Christmas that Tommy gave Marty a hedge trimmer. Et voilà, a sculpture like no other was born. Stunning as an entrance in any season, under snow it becomes something else entirely.
As does the fire pit, made simply from crates of bottles rendered over to create an elegant gathering place at the front of the house. Under snow, even more magical.
Both, in my mind, are brilliant pieces of landscaping. And both are a reminder of how much fun a hedge trimmer can be. Mow a maze. Sculpt a shrub. Build a fire pit. Place a bench under the canopy of a tree, fashion a sculpture from fallen twigs into a birds nest or a teepee, or simply follow whatever whimsy takes your fancy.
THE PRUNING BUNDLE
Gardens are for fun and for creativity. And winter is the perfect time for dreaming up ideas to bring them to life.
Trisha xx
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