By Parker McKenzie
Brookdale Farm garden in Emerald will open to the public on 5 and 6 March to raise funds for Global Gardens of Peace.
The property is an ornamental and productive garden with trees from its 1930s origin, located on a 0.9 hectare block in the Dandenong Ranges and is owned by John and Michelle Rayner.
Mr Rayner said the couple have been caretakers of the garden before they owned a part of it.
“We’ve been here for 30 years, but the first 12 years of that were as caretakers,” he said.
“We’ve been gardening here for the last 20 years, because the first 10 years or so we were just doing weed control and fencing, and doing a lot of improvements to make sure the property was safe and maintained.”
The property has a conservation covenant with Trust for Nature to permanently preserve and protect the land.
Mr Rayner is a lecturer in urban horticulture and Mrs Rayner is an environmental educator at The Patch Primary School, which he said has helped inspire their love of gardening and plants.
“This garden is a reflection of that,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to having people come and see the garden.”
It contains an orchard of fruit trees, a kitchen garden, vegetables herbs and sunflowers. Closer to the house is the oldest part of the garden where a large Algerian Oak, ancient tree ferns and woodland plantings are located.
The garden extends further down the gully to a collection of older trees including copper beech, London plane and douglas fir.
Tickets to the opening will cost $10 for adults, $6 for students and children under 18 can enter for free. All takings from the event will go towards Global Gardens of Peace, an Australian charity founded in 2013 to create gardens to support vulnerable communities, families and individuals.
the property is located at 12 Charman Avenue, Emerald and will be open from 10am to 4.30pm.
