When Amelia Langton and her husband set out to redesign their Aldgate garden, they had a clear goal in mind. They wanted to create a “sanctuary” – a place where they could entertain friends and spend time as a family.
The couple moved to the property about 16 years ago and since then have gradually transformed what was a fairly formless space, shaded by large pine trees.
The centrepiece of their back yard – which Amelia refers to as their “summer garden” – is a swimming pool surrounded by bird- and bee-attracting Mediterranean perennials, crepe myrtles and towering gum trees.
Sandstone garden walls provide structure and height in curved lines around a lawn, which leads to a cosy paved sitting area around a fire pit.
The centrepiece of their “winter garden” – a long shady area along the front of their home – is an ornamental weeping apricot tree that provides a vibrant pop of colour just when many deciduous plants are settling into hibernation.
“In June that is full of pink blossom,” Amelia says.
“When everything has just started to go quiet this goes ‘boing’ and that will be in flower for a good six to eight weeks.”
About six years after she moved to the Aldgate property, Amelia studied horticulture and she now designs gardens for others through her business Amelia Langton Garden Design.
But her love of gardening began well before then, in part, inspired by her grandparents.
“I had two very keen gardening grandmothers, so that was probably where initially that interest came from,” she says.
“… One set of grandparents lived across the valley at Aldgate and they were from Leicester in England and so they loved the Adelaide Hills because, I suppose, it reminded them a little bit of England and Nana was really keen on plants.
“She was very knowledgeable and I remember as a little kid, Mum and Nana after lunch would go for a wander in the garden and they’d talk about the plants and I don’t think I was necessarily tuned in, but … like osmosis, when you’re young (it has) that impression on you.
“And then when I was about 12 I asked my parents if I could take one of the big garden beds at our house and redo it.
“Which now I think back, it’s probably a little bit unusual for a 12-year-old.”
Today her garden doubles as an experimental patch for her design business, trialling plants she later recommends to clients.
But it has also become the sanctuary she set out to create.
“It’s a place I go when I need to just decompress a bit,” she says.
“It’s a place where you disconnect and I think there’s something about being in nature that’s very calming and it’s about observing and it’s also the surprises in the garden.
When you’ve got bulbs that pop up … it’s like old friends coming back to say hello
For those who aren’t sure where to start to create their own sanctuary, she says watching where the light falls across the space helps to determine which plants will thrive, while Open Gardens can be a great source of knowledge.
“Particularly if you’re going to open gardens in your local area, because you can almost guarantee what’s growing at that house, if it’s in the same conditions, will work at your house,” she says.
But ultimately, she says the key is just “having a go”.
“We all make mistakes, but that’s how you learn,” she says.
