Paradise found

A PASSION FOR OVERSEAS GARDENS INSPIRES A GLORIOUS SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS PATCH THAT HAS GROWN IN TANDEM WITH ITS OWNERS

- KARINA MACHADO

These are the days when tangy woodsmoke scents the air and bursts of russet and gold ignite the landscape in Melinda and Tom’s glorious garden in the NSW Southern Highlands. Lovingly brought to life over nine years, the formerly sparse two hectares offer the couple an experience to savour in every season – yet it’s in the cooler months that it becomes a full-sensory delight. “I love those mid-winter afternoons with friends around the bonfire,” says interior designer Melinda, the founder of Melinda Hartwright Interiors. “Whenever we’ve got a big pile to burn off, we get friends around. Everyone brings camp chairs and we sit around the fire with bottles of champagne and bowls of soup, all rugged up, as it gets dark.”

With its pin oak, silver birch and London plane trees, hydrangeas, entertaining area, sparkling pool, orchard and the classiest vegie patch you’ve ever seen, this garden is an indispensable part of life for Melinda, Tom and their children, Charlie, 15, Poppy, 12, and Amelia, nine.

However, when they moved here from Sydney’s northern beaches in 2013, the outdoor spaces were almost bare. “It was a pretty vacant block,” says Melinda. “There were some established trees and a few hedges, but not much else.” A major renovation of the traditional-style home began six months later – the first of three, the last of which was recently completed – and the garden “has been a work in progress”.