6. Good Organic Gardening - November-December 2016 AvxHome.in

GARDENING FOLK | Ann & Steve Robertson
food &
flowers
Once part of a dairy farm, this picturesque property combines
a productive vegie patch with pretty cottage gardens
Words Carrol Baker
Photos Carrol Baker & Steve Robertson
In the lush, leafy Sunshine Coast
Hinterland is a charming country garden
that’s a pure delight to the senses.
Strolling around the beautiful gardens,
everywhere you look there’s something
wonderful to discover: sweet, fragrant roses,
rows of strappy agapanthus, mature exotic
trees, tactile earthy timber bails that tell a
story of a bygone era, and sweeping park-like
gardens with archways that frame majestic
mountain views.
Owners Steve and Ann Robertson bought
a 10-acre (four-hectare) parcel of an old
dairy farm 34 years ago, after the magical
mountain views sealed the deal for the
couple from Townsville in North Queensland.
“We had to wade through knee-high
kikuyu grass to view the property, but we
knew right away it was for us,” says Ann.
A blank canvas
The sprawling rural block was dotted with
coral trees, amid the old bails and yards of
the once thriving dairy farm. With a vision
to create a beautiful liveable space, the
couple quickly rolled up their sleeves and
went to work.
These days, the property has a large
selection of rainforest and exotic trees, four
acres (1.6 hectares) of lush lawns, cottagestyle
gardens and an organic vegie patch.
The resident cows graze on the other six
acres (2.4 hectares) of grassy paddocks.
There are multiple garden beds and
cottage-style gardens with delicate blooms;
a pastel colour palette interspersed with
pops of colour, with roses, camellias and
magnolias also featuring.
Embracing learning
Ann and Steve have a strong love of the land
and nature, and an organic philosophy that
supports all the projects they undertake on
their property. Ann regularly attends various
workshops and is an avid reader, eager to
embrace a holistic, earth-friendly way of
gardening. “We prefer organics because it’s a
healthy and sustainable way to live,” says Ann.
Now retired, the former real estate
salesperson and civil engineering draftsman
have two daughters and three grandchildren,
and love nothing more than working side by
side on their rural patch.
Ann has many fond memories of gardening
with her grandparents, who had a cane
28 | Good Organic Gardening