This photograph of The Old Cottage Garden was taken by Rick Martin in April 2010. It shows the basic layout of the garden as it has been since around 1880 with a straight path edged by pieces of white quartz gathered from the goldfields and creeks of this area. On the right can be seen the camellia tree planted in this garden in 1880 by descendants of James Blackman, one of the first Europeans to enter the Mudgee valley.
Although the old design is of historical interest, and is an example of a local style of garden developed during the Gulgong gold rush, we have felt for some time that we did not want to be prisoner to the past and that it was time to rethink the garden. While we intend to maintain strong references to the original style, we feel the need to develop a design more in keeping with the contemporary architecture of the new house that we have built here and reflecting a twenty-first century rural lifestyle and outlook.
It is time to move on. This winter we have begun work on redesigning the garden, so this photo will now become a useful and very beautiful archival record of the way things once were. For more on The Old Cottage Garden click here
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