Australian Garden History Society 39th Annual National Conference
Southern Highlands, NSW, 26th-29th October 2018
Gardens in times of Peace and Conflict
The annual Australian Garden History Society (AGHS) conferences are always a stimulating fusion of on topic lectures and garden visits that showcase the host region’s garden-making history. The 2018 conference was held in the Southern Highlands of NSW which has a permanent population of approximately 50,000. The lectures and garden visits focussed on the broader landscape and the townships of Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale, Bundanoon and Robertson as well as the historic town of Berrima. At just 110 km south-west of Sydney, the Highlands geographically sit between 500m and 900m above sea level on the Great Dividing Range. The region’s cool temperate climate, fine wines and beautiful gardens attract local and international visitors alike.
The area boasts an eclectic mix of contemporary homes and historic cottages as well as many magnificent ‘estates’ set amongst beautifully landscaped grounds. Evergreen hedging and conifers are the preferred property boundary-markers augmented by Australian trees and a wealth of evergreen and deciduous European trees. Beautifully presented gardens large and small are evidence of a very enthusiastic gardening community. The larger more prestigious properties are kept in pristine condition by a local cohort of horticulturists, arborists and landscape contractors.
The lectures commenced with an introduction to the physical and historical evolution of the landscape and the establishment of the some of the earliest gardens including Oldbury Farm (1822), which we had the privilege of visiting over the weekend, and the Parsonage at Berrima (1850s).
Craig Burton, architect/landscape architect, suggested that the historical evolution of the area, from the last 40,000 years to the present, could be seen in six historical layers as follows,
- the Indigenous cultivation of the landscape over millennia
- the adaptation of the indigenous park-like setting for Colonial occupation
- the establishment of a network of roads, railway, paths and village centres evolving to towns throughout the rural region
- the introduction of exotic flora, particularly the impact of Pinus radiata tree plantations and the introduction of cool climate coniferous species as well as deciduous and flowering plants
- subdivision of larger rural estates and the introduction of row plantings of coniferous species
- the threat of invasion of new land uses on a larger scale than previously existed such as mining and gas fracking, ironworks, shale, oil, coal, cement works and stone quarrying.
The Conflict aspect of the conference theme of Gardens in times of Peace and Conflict was explored through many of the lectures. We were inspired to learn of the Remembrance Driveway that runs from Sydney to Canberra. Ian Scott AM and Greg Jackson described how the Driveway was established in 1952, the Driveway honours those who served in the Australian Defence Forces during World War II. It is marked at the Sydney end with two plane trees planted by Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in Macquarie Place in 1954. The Remembrance Park behind the Australian War Memorial, at the Canberra end, features three red spotted gums, planted by the Governor-General in 2002. The Remembrance Driveway has continued to evolve as roads have changed with some re-routing, and rest areas dedicated to Australian Victoria Cross recipients from World War II and Vietnam have been enhanced with new plantings and infrastructure.
Through a lecture by Frances Simons, we also learnt how garden making ingenuity was exemplified by the creation of some very large, productive and ornamental gardens in a Berrima camp for prisoners of war. At the outbreak of the First World War, Germans, Austrians and Hungarians living in Australia were declared enemy aliens by the Australian Government. Thousands of men were imprisoned from 1914 to 1919 in internment camps throughout Australia. The Berrima camp was established in the area they called New Pomerania. Using found materials and a great deal of ingenuity, gardens and huts were built along the Wingecarribee River. Essential for the mental and physical health of the prisoners the sharing of plants and produce with the local population fostered good relationships and a peaceful existence throughout the years of conflict.
A lecture on ‘The war on weeds’ by Dr John Dwyer gave us a rather different perspective of the theme Peace and Conflict. Dwyer’s research into our often conflicting and emotional response to weeds, or what we perceive to be weeds, was derived from his well received 2016 publication Weeds, Plants and People. John encouraged us to ‘ be slow to judge plants by their origin, and to accept that native species are weeds when seen as too successful; and should not allow ourselves to be conscripted to attacks on plants that cause little harm.’
A Parcel from France: The Poppy Seed Project was a fascinating talk by Linda Emery about the origins of the red poppy grown in many Australian gardens today. Much respected as a symbol of individual sacrifice Linda described how a parcel of poppy seeds was sent to Joseph Henry Maiden, the director of the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, in January 1920. The poppy seed had been gathered in the Somme Valley by the school children of Villers Bretonneux and came with a request that the seed be distributed to the relatives of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers that had fallen fighting on the battlefields. Lynda explained that as ‘Joseph Maiden was a meticulous man, with a methodical mind ad working habits he had kept registers of seeds and plants coming in and out of the Botanic Gardens. The names were recorded of all those people who applied for and received poppy seed to plant in their gardens in memory of their loved ones. The Poppy Seed project has involved tracing the recipients of the seed and the soldiers in whose memory they were planted.
Further talks covered War memorials, Avenues of honour, and Gardens of Remembrance resulting in a much-improved understanding of the region before embarking on our tour of local gardens.
The garden visits are enjoyed over two and a half days if one includes the optional extra day after the conference officially closes (Delegates can also attend a pre or post conference tour).