Woolomin garden to open Sunday, October 28 for CanAssist

Sam Reardon, who worked as a landscaper in Sydney and on Queensland's Sunshine Coast for many years, took over from his parents, about seven years ago and set about putting his stamp on the garden.

The senior Reardons planted all the existing large trees in the garden, and his mother loved roses.

Their son returned home with slightly differing tastes, introducing more natives - planting lots of callistemons and bigger trees.

"I'm not a big fan of roses - too spikey to work with - so as the roses have gone I've replaced them with more friendly plants, such as diosmas, native sea-side daisy, lomandras, crepe myrtles and star jasmine," he said.

Mr Reardon described the garden today as "country style", which rambles through different zones, and still features a few of his mother's roses.

"There is something to look at wherever you walk," he said.

"I prefer to use soft foliage pants, which can be easily managed, like diosma, and nandina and star jasmine."

The garden is created in clay-loam soils and is located on top of a hill, overlooking the Peel River.

The location can be quite windy, so Mr Reardon has put a lot of effort into creating windbreaks by putting in hedging pants such as box, may bush and bamboo, and using trees.

"I've added a lot of pines, elms, plane trees, and ash," he said.

"The garden has deciduous and evergreen plants, but everything must be frost hardy, as the winters here are very cold yet the summers can be very hot."

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Mr Reardon said a lot of his plantings had been "trial and error" to see what could survive

"Magnolias and camellias wont survive, but May bush is very hardy," he said.

One of the major changes Mr Reardon has undertaken was to remove a gravel driveway and roundabout installed by his parents and replace it with pavers and turf to soften the area and reduce the heat sink effect of the gravel.

Mr Reardon said an open garden day, such as that for "Clylie", allows people to see what might, or might not, work in their garden.

"Woolomin is not a difficult area to garden in, but you did need to know what will survive, the same approach should be taken in any area - you need to look at other gardens nearby and identify what might be best suited to your area," he said.

"Clylie" is just under hectare (two acres) in size and now features mix of standard shade trees and small shrubs, and everything in it is frost hardy.

"Clylie" will open to the public as a fundraiser for Tamworth's CanAssist group on Sunday, October 29.

The garden is located at 2472 Nundle Road, Woolomin (from Tamworth take the Nundle Road from Dungowan and follow the signs), and will open between 10.30am to 3.30pm.

Entry costs $10/person.

President of the Tamworth Orchid Society Jack van Hest will be guest speaker, providing visitors with some top tips for growing orchids.

Visitors are encouraged to bring their lunch and a chair, while tea and coffee will be provided.

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