GARDEN DELIGHT, FRANKLIN.

Garden Delight Franklin, is a picturesque two-acre garden on a scenic slope surrounding the property house, built around 1910.  It was bought by the present owners, Kevin and Jane, in 2006.  The house was in bad repair and had no garden. Kevin and Jane have renovated the house and built a beautiful garden all while battling three rounds of cancer. Jane calls the garden her ‘healing place’.

The grounds feature multi distinct garden rooms built this way for easy maintenance of watering, weeding and pruning.   At the entrance are two large green gates that open to invite you to explore.

On the left is the first mosaic, a large snake and then a terracotta collection with succulents and a shelter with a seat.  To the right is the Grasslands Garden with a mosaiced kayak and a tall emu succulent sculpture.

From here you can go through the fernery to the large gold fish pond or up the DIY stepping stones with both ways leading to the Japanese Torri Gate that leads to a tea house, small pond to the side of the bridge, 3 bonsai stands and statues and more mosaic art work.  From here you can explore the conifer lane to a gated arch hiding an orb along a stone path.

The new Rose Room has been replanted with 90cm standard roses due to the possums and wallabies destroying the bush roses. From here you can go up to the Veggie Garden or across the grass to the Cottage Garden with a white picket fence with a few bird house features on the fence itself. From the Cottage Garden and through to the driveway you find a 60 meter mosaic wall, starting at the Orchid Wall and all the way to an Alice in Wonderland Room.

 It starts  with a mosaic pot with the White Rabbit outside the blue door then the Mad Hatter, large clock and other little metal cut outs.  Once in the room you find a mosaic table with Alice, March Hare, Tweedledee and Tweedledum and the Cheshire Cat.  You then pass a large book made of wood painted with the  Alice in Wonderland book cover.  A walk up the slope takes you to a secret garden where you can sit and take in the quiet and the view.  Behind is a row of conifer varieties like a Wollemi pine. Across from here you have a forest, a rose arbour and other rooms back to the front gate.

As you walk through this garden you will feel the love that has gone into making it a great place to visit.