The wedding lawn

It is a dull sort of day today, hence the blue sky I had hoped for in the background is missing. This is the wedding lawn at OGH, surrounded by iceberg roses.

The following report was written for me by Tina Gallasch, Secretary, Friends of Old Government House. She is the driving force behind this restoration project.

2017 has seen some very big changes at Old Government House in the Belair National Park.  There has been a complete change of administration and under the leadership and guidance of Dene Cordes as President, we are moving forward.

Possibly the biggest change has been in the Garden.  It has been neglected for many years, and a complete renovation/restoration is now under way.  It was once known for its fine collection of heritage roses, but sadly many of these have now died or have reverted to root stock.

The Rose Society of South Australia have been incredibly supportive, and came in to do the pruning in August, and came back in November to help identify the roses we have left.

The plan is now to restore and rebuild.  A very special project is to be called Dianne’s Garden, in memory of Dianne Cordes who sadly passed away earlier this year.  We are continuing the theme of heritage roses, and with that in mind will plant an avenue of “Little White Pet” leading from the gates to the Wedding Lawn.  The garden bed will be split into four quadrants, with a bird bath at the centre.  In the middle of each quadrant will be a red standard rose (Red was Dianne’s favourite rose colour).

In many ways, taking on this garden project has been a real joy.  The garden is an evolving, living thing, and one of the best bits is researching which plants will be appropriate  to grow in an 1860’s garden.  The Victorians were passionate gardeners, and embraced every new gardening trend with a real passion.  With roughly an acre of land, there’s plenty of room to try different things.  The soil is highly alkaline, so it’s a challenge to grow the acid loving plants such as rhododendrons and camellias.

We are working towards offering the garden as a venue for weddings once again – all-important for  fund raising; gardens on this scale do not come cheap.

We have a strong team of 6 willing volunteers who turn up without fail every Saturday morning and put in two hours or more clearing, weeding and planting.  The difference is really beginning to show.  Several members of Friends of Belair National park have joined in with Friends of Old Government House to take on this challenge.  The Garden provides a safe haven for those who still want to work with their hands but are no longer able to contribute to Bush Care projects.  If there are more people out there who want to contribute to a very worthwhile project, email friendsofogh@outlook.com for details.