Friends Like These

They may not speak, but these plants have personality and can soothe the soul, according to the owner of this garden in country Victoria.

- Elizabeth Wilson

Theresa Albioli has spent 10 years shaping this garden in Daylesford, central Victoria. When she wanders through it – inspecting a leaf here, observing a patch that needs pruning there – she feels like she is visiting a good friend. “The garden has a life of its own,” says Theresa. “It’s a garden with lovely memories and it’s a living, breathing, beautiful thing. It’s almost like a person to me.”

The “beautiful thing” in question is the 2000-square-metre wonderland that surrounds The Garden House, formerly Theresa’s private home and now a luxury-accommodation property. Hidden behind a tall, thick cypress hedge that spans the entire street frontage of the property, the garden is completely contained and private. From the outside, there is no indication of its scale or head-high layers of green. Walk through the front gate, however, and the garden reveals itself as an inviting series of lush green ‘rooms’ and meandering paths.