Fairytale Ending

After spending 45 years creating a magical backyard for their family in Melbourne, it’s time for these dedicated gardeners to say goodbye.

- Jackie Brygel

Visitors to Christine and Ian Jelbart’s garden in north-east Melbourne need no prompt to stop and smell the roses. Brimming with fairytale beauty, it’s an ever-fragrant and colourful feast for the senses. “The garden changes throughout the year and there’s always something flowering,” says Christine.

The multi-level sanctuary that flourishes on the property today is a world away from its bald beginnings. Built in the late 1940s by Ian’s father and grandfather, Kinloch – a gracious manor-style home with Tudor features – was for many years missing its equally important partner: a garden.

“We moved to the property when I was six,” says Ian, a retired architect. “It was the era after the war, so there wasn’t a lot of money, and much of the mudbrick and render house was built by hand with very basic pulleys. The property was originally on 250 acres [101 hectares], but has since been subdivided; the main house is now on an acre and a half [6000m2].”