This rambling country garden and beautifully renovated 1917 weatherboard farmhouse have overlooked the Harcourt Valley for more than a century. Developed over generations and enhanced by successive custodians, La Colline is a garden of discovery where productive plantings, remarkable trees and dramatic granite outcrops combine to create a landscape full of character.
In keeping with the region's rich fruit-growing heritage, food production remains central to the garden. Orchards of apples, pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries, quinces and mulberries produce abundant harvests, while citrus groves, pistachios, walnuts, almonds and pomegranates add further interest. Vegetable gardens with highly successful wicking beds, demonstrate the owners' ongoing commitment to sustainable food production.
Visitors are encouraged to wander the network of gravel paths, and pause to enjoy the views from many well-considered seating areas. Spectacular granite boulders emerge throughout the landscape, providing structure and contrast to the plantings. Mediterranean-inspired, water-wise gardens feature succulents, pigface, cotyledons and massed pomegranates, while spring brings bulbs, hellebores, roses, echiums and arthropodiums into flower.
Trees are a particular passion of the owners. A magnificent avenue of more than 100 Chanticleer pears lines the driveway, while maples, elms, eucalypts and ornamental pears create shade, structure and seasonal colour throughout the property. A towering yellow box, believed to be 400 to 500 years old, anchors the native planting area, while a grand old black mulberry recalls the district's nineteenth-century silk-growing history.
Rather than reinventing the garden, the current owners have carefully built upon its existing framework, respecting its history while introducing thoughtful new plantings. The result is a welcoming and highly individual country garden where old and new coexist harmoniously, and where productive landscapes, beautiful trees and ever-changing views reward exploration at every turn.
La Colline Garden is located on the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung People. Open Gardens Victoria wishes to acknowledge the Traditional custodians of this land, and we pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
Extra activities in the area:
Castlemaine botanical gardens and local gardens
Cider tasting at Harcourt Apples
Castlemaine Gallery and cafes and shops
Strictly only opening 10am to 4.30pm on the dates listed above. Please respect the garden owners' privacy and visit only during opening hours. There will be no early entries.
Entry: $10 Adults, $6 Students (with ID card). Free for visitors under 18 or students who have purchased an annual Student Pass (with ID).
Tickets can be booked and pre-paid online via TryBooking. You can also pay on the day.
Sustainable practices are important to OGV, therefore where possible please either print your own garden notes or save them for viewing on your mobile device.
If you’re a tertiary student, why not purchase our OGV Student Pass, providing you with entry to all our garden openings for the year for just $25. Find out more and purchase your pass via TryBooking.
Become a Friend of OGV and receive two x 2 for the price of 1 garden passes, plus a one off 10% discount to some of Victoria's best garden centres via Trybooking.
Please stay at home if you're unwell
