Photography: Earl Carter
When designer Collette Dinnigan purchased her homestead in Bowral, NSW, in 2018, the garden wasn’t at all remarkable. “There were a few hydrangea bushes and some well-established trees,” she recalls of the two-hectare property. However, while she wasn’t well-versed in garden design at the time, she ploughed ahead and tapped into her intuitive style to create her own Eden, striking a balance between chaos and order.
“I wanted my garden to be charming, enchanting, whimsical, kind of effortless, and to feel just natural. But on the other hand, I’m quite structured. I like borders and I like the lawn to start where the garden ends. So, I contradict myself, actually!”
Read More: Step inside Collette Dinnigan’s rambling Bowral homestead
Collette’s dear friend, the late Harriette Conway, helped carve out some order early on. “She was a garden designer,” says Collette. “She drew a plan so that, initially, when I wanted to plant roses, we had some structure to work from.”
On her friend’s advice and aided by gardeners, Collette removed an old gravel road that once ran past the house, along with a layer of clay, then aerated the earth. “We made a worm farm and added new topsoil – we really started from scratch.”
While making tasteful updates to her late-1800s weatherboard, Collette slowly transformed the entire grounds, replacing a tennis court with a pool and a wisteria-laden cabana. She converted a barn into a guesthouse, and a garage into a cottage for her daughter Estella. “Around her little cottage, I’ve put in stepped-down garden beds and planted English lavender and rosemary,” says Collette. The main house is wrapped with a wisteria-framed verandah. “It’s absolutely stunning in spring!” An outdoor pizza oven, an orchard and a vegetable garden complete the romantic scene.
While, sadly, Collette and Harriette never finished many of the plans they’d discussed before Harriette’s passing, her friend’s legacy lives on in the seasonal cycle of Collette’s flowerbeds.
“I wanted the garden to be flowering all year.” Harriette shared her knowledge so that the designer’s dream could come to life. “In February all the windmill daisies come up and suddenly the garden is all white,” says Collette. “There are so many different layers – she was excellent at that. I now know what flowers when.”
PLANT LIST
TREES
- Birch (Betula)
- Ornamental pear (Pyrus ussuriensis)
- Pencil pine (Cupressus sempervirens glauca)
- Plum tree (Prunus domestica)
SHRUBS
- English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
- Roses (Rosa)
- Salvia (Salvia)
PERENNIALS
- Winter rose (Helleborus)
- Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
- Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota)
CLIMBERS
- Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)
- Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda)
These days, Collette’s garden is ever-changing, each season bringing different colours and varieties, many of which she loves to gather and display in vases indoors. “In winter, I’ll cut a huge bunch of rosemary and put it in the kitchen. When I have to prune the plum trees, I’ll keep some of the blossoms for the house in spring,” she says.
While June and early winter is quiet on the flower front, mid-winter sees an abundance of jonquils (Narcissus jonquilla) blooming, with winter roses (Helleborus) arriving in July. Tulips breakthrough in August, with daffodils, ranunculus and delphiniums flowering next.
“I have spent years planting and reseeding the flowerbeds.”
COLLETTE DINNIGAN, OWNER
The garden comes alive in spring. Foxgloves line the driveway with blossoming apple, plum and pear trees. Then October brings a burst of colourful poppies. “Over summer the house is filled with roses and hydrangeas,” says Collette, of her favourites. As autumn sets in, gardens are cut back and the cycle begins again.
“I try to plant for all seasons,” she says. “There’s so much to be said of harvesting seeds – you end up with the most beautiful, organic garden. For instance, on Anzac Day I plant poppies. I harvest all their seeds in November-December. I do the same with fennel, Queen Anne’s lace and catnip, and throw the seeds back into the garden at the beginning of autumn. In summer, every year now, it becomes so congested. But it is so beautiful.”
After dabbling in broccoli planting (Collette found invading caterpillars hard to vanquish with her regular stints away), she’s found success in herbs, celery, rocket, artichokes, leeks, spring onions and broad beans. Bringing “a touch of the Italian life”, basil and tomatoes thrive in summer.
On rotation on her kitchen-garden menu you’ll find celery juice, fennel tea (made from dried harvested seeds), broad bean bruschetta with goat’s cheese and thyme, pasta with passata made from harvested tomatoes, and a particular favourite, anchovy-sage leaf: “I dip it in rice flour and soda water and fry it, then put salt and saffron on top – it’s so delicious!”
Collette has created an enchanted, rambling wonderland. “Every time I leave I think, ‘This is so much work!’” she admits, as she often travels. “But each time I arrive I think, ‘This is home.’ It’s just so beautiful and extraordinary.”
Read More:
Collette Dinnigan: collettedinnigan.com
Shop the look
Take inspiration from Collette Dinnigan’s effortless country garden style to create your own paradise at home.
Icon Chef Hand Woven Carry Basket
Kitchen Warehouse, $109.95
Barebones Artisan Pruning Shears
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Woodfire Outdoor Pizza Peel
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Sophie Conran Garden Fork
Aura Home, $55
