When Rex and Elaine purchased “Nakari” (indigenous for ‘beautiful place’), nestled at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, they made the bold decision to start almost from scratch, demolishing two of the three rundown dwellings as well as old sheds.
The property was once owned by the former deputy Prime Minister/Treasurer Dr Jim Cairns during his retirement. One house was renovated and another new one built allowing for generational living on the one property.
For the gardens, they spoke with several landscape architects and decided on using Phillip Johnson as he resonated with their dream for an Australian native garden with natural looking water features and rocks. The owners have reused many materials from the original site for indoor and outdoor furniture and for building a charming rustic fence from a 70 year old fence posts and a rustic miner’s cottage as COVID lockdown projects.
Phillip Johnson Landscaping started the project in January 2021, converting empty sloping paddocks and an old leaking dam into approximately 4 acres of garden. The garden, finished at the end of 2021, is now only four years old.
It features a creek, running to a small billabong and then into a waterfall flowing into the small lake (previous old dam), a swimming pool, a playground and sweeping views of the surrounding landscape and Dandenong Ranges. The garden is rich with Australian native plants and striking boulders sourced from the Mansfield Quarry. It's alive with native wildlife — you can hear birds singing and frogs calling throughout the day.
There is a Feijoa (aka Pineapple Guava) planted fence line, bees and chooks, all protected by an impressive 1.8-metre-high fence to keep out rabbits, foxes, deer and kangaroos which are abundant in the area. As part of the Yarra Ranges ‘Ribbons of Green’ program, the owners have planted 6,500 native Australian trees across the 21-acre property for wind shelters and native habitat.
Phillip Johnson will be doing a walk and Tour at 11am and 2pm on both days.
Vaughans Native Nursery, owned by Phillip Vaughan, supplied the native plants in this garden and will have a display and sales of native plants. Specialty Trees will also have trees on display and for sale.
Andrew Kimpton, from Made at Yandoit, supplied the hand rails at Nakari as well as at the Chelsea Australian garden in Olinda (see our event coming up soon). He will have a display and sales of Unique Metal Rustic Garden Products.
Some of the proceeds from this opening will be donated to Hope Builders International.
Nakari is located on the lands of the Wurundjeri People. Open Gardens Victoria wish to acknowledge the Traditional custodians of this land and we pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
Extra activities in the area:
Emerald Village, bakery and Emerald lake park
Belgrave Village and Puffing Billy
Strictly only opening on the dates and times listed on this website. 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.
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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.
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