Gardener’s glory

By Ed Merrison
THE artistry and skill of perhaps Australia’s greatest garden designer have been allowed to blossom again through a local historian’s new book, ‘Gardens in the Clouds’.
Edna Walling, a former Mooroolbark resident and architect of beautiful gardens throughout the Dandenongs and across Australia, is profiled in the latest book by author Volkhard Wehner.
Born in England in 1895, Walling spent her childhood at Bickleigh in Devon before moving to Australia in 1914.
According to Mr Wehner, Walling showed little aptitude for gardening as a child and it was as much chance as anything else that led to her enrolment at Melbourne’s Burnley Horticultural College.
Upon graduation in 1917, Walling started out as a garden contractor, but by the early 1920s had largely swapped hands-on work for garden design.
Before long her skill and poetic spirit were sought after by rich and influential Melbourne garden owners and architects of houses under construction.
Walling’s home, itself boasting breathtaking gardens, was Bickleigh Vale in Mooroolbark and of the many hundreds of gardens she designed between the 1920s and the 1960s the greatest density can be found in the Dandenongs.
Mr Wehner said where Walling’s early designs were influenced by her English upbringing, with birch and other deciduous trees featuring prominently, she gradually became more Australian in outlook and was a genius at recycling or reworking what a garden had to offer.
Not one for glaring colours, she championed the possibilities of grey and green, working subtle wonders with light and shade and using curves, falls and rises to create surprises.
Described by Mr Wehner as a hard worker and tough taskmaster, Walling cared little for fame, but was extremely proud of her unique style.
“She was her own woman. She was a liberated woman who had carved her own niche in life and did so by her own efforts,” Mr Wehner said.
Besides her garden work, Walling also spent many years contributing articles to newspapers and journals including the Melbourne Herald and the Australian Home Beautiful, a well-read and highly regarded journal that could almost be described as Australia’s first lifestyle magazine.
Mr Wehner’s book, subtitled ‘In Search of Edna Walling’s Friends in the Dandenongs’, also makes some interesting findings about Walling’s clients.
“For example, of the 22 gardens examined, more than half were owned by women and many were anything but what may be described as ‘ordinary’,” he said.
“Most were quite high achievers in their own right, much as Edna Walling was a remarkable achiever as a designer and artist.”
Mr Wehner said it was a matter of regret that many of the gardens examined in the book no longer existed or had been changed, subdivided or so neglected as to be scarcely recognisable today.
But with the new book he at least ensures that the lost magic of Edna Walling and her gardens come alive once more.
‘Gardens in the Clouds: In Search of Edna Walling’s Friends in the Dandenongs’ can be ordered by contacting the author on 9889 3511 or at volkhard@ozemail.com.au on the web.