2 Edna Walling Lane, Mooroolbark, 3138Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th October 2024
10.00am - 4.00pm
Strictly only opening on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th of October. Please respect the garden owners' privacy and visit only during opening hours.
Garden NotesSonningfield Cottage was established in 2012.
As a small child, I remember visiting Miss Walling and running around the paths and the borders of Sonning's garden with my friend and her mother in the early 1960's. I presume they were discussing the progress of various plantings. In 1998 we bought our treasured half an acre subdivided from the woodland area of Edna Walling's original garden "Sonning"; we were then faced with the challenge of building a Heritage Victoria acceptable house within Bickleigh Vale Village. We finally realized our dream and moved into our new home four years after the planning process started. Sonningfield is crafted in Castlemaine Rock and the timber shingles are Bloodwood. At all stages of construction, preserving the safety of tree canopies and root structures was given the highest priority. We have many significant rare trees within our garden including a Quercus stellata, the only known one in Victoria and now one of two trees in the village to be listed as a significant tree by the National Trust. We continue the challenge of establishing garden beds in heavy shade and root infiltrated soil. Two Edna Walling rockwork projects long since forgotten and covered in dirt and ivy along with the vast moss lawn have been restored. The garden structure and planting are an ongoing work in progress. We have collections of crab apples (including two specimens of sonningenisis), camellias, roses, hellebores and dogwoods. In late winter early spring, the side oak lawn is covered with jonquils and the back wilderness is covered with daffodil and bluebells. Coral and Peter Cunningham |
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