As a landscape gardener Phillip Johnson has been privy to helping people achieve their garden bliss. Clients come via word of mouth, recommendations, advertising, media and publications.
“Usually it's always straight forward,” the author of several garden books says. “People simply say they would be interested in having their garden designed and landscaped.” However, it was one out-of-the-blue phone call that changed that, and it was one he will always remember.
“Maria called me and said she contacted me because our surnames were the same. She asked me to help her create a garden in memory of her husband, Harry. I was blown away. It’s a sad but a beautiful story.”
They met, designs for the memorial garden drawn and the landscaping got underway. In 2013 the project which created a stream and native sanctuary in Maria Johnson’s front garden was complete. Harry's Garden was born.
By then, the award-winning landscape designer had headed to the UK to compete at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. Before he left Phillip received a letter from Maria. Its message prompted him to keep it close throughout his time at Chelsea. It’s message was simple, saying “thank you for helping me heal.”
“I took it to Chelsea and kept it with me. It was beautiful thing for her to do and it shows how gardens can help people find peace and heal,” he says. The garden his team produced at the international competition that year was named Best In Show. “It gave me enormous calmness through the show.”
Phillip will help Maria open the peaceful and inspiring private memorial garden to the public this weekend.
Opening for the first time with Open Gardens Australia, Harry’s Garden in Essendon is an Australian native garden. The owner says inspiration for it sprang from the love of camping she shared with her late husband. “Our favourite place to camp was in the beautiful, peaceful forests near Beaufort in Victoria," Maria says. "In this garden I wanted to recreate the sights, sounds and, above all, the fragrance of the Australian bush.
“Harry’s Garden is tiny but it gives me so much pleasure. It changes almost daily and I love spending time in it at all hours of the day. Most of the time I just sit, listen, watch and enjoy. Nature does the rest.”
Landscaping the small 2.4m wide plot was a challenge, Phillip says. “For a landscaper smaller spaces are always tricky. We always strive to do our best for each job we undertake but this one was a little special because we had never been asked to create a private memorial garden before.”
Harry’s Garden is tiny but it gives me so much pleasure.
- owner Maria Johnson
The garden recreates a peaceful bush setting and features a pond with small waterfalls. A fern walkway leads to a billabong filled with indigenous aquatic plants. Gums, banksias and native wildflowers add to the bush feel.
Since completion, Phillip and his team have returned to work on the back yard. Maria’s friends have helped her complete some murals, including one on a caravan “It’s a really, really special garden,” he says. “Everyone who visits and leaves this garden says it gives them something.”
Other thoughtful details in the garden extend to materials chosen for fencing and screens. Phillip’s team sourced reclaimed timber for the front fence. In a chance find the timber came from an old wharf at Appleton Dock. “When we told Maria, she said it was where Harry had worked. We were blown away. It was meant to be.”
Says Maria: “The timber for the front fence is wharf timber, which helps to screen the garden for privacy and creates a shady and sheltered environment for the plants,. It is also a tribute to Harry because many years ago he worked on the dock from which the wharf timber was sourced.”
Some money collected at the gate will help support Ensemble Con Fuoco, which celebrates the works of emerging Australian composers. Classical music was another shared passion for the couple, Phillip says.
Harry’s Garden is at 10 Hesleden Street, Essendon. It will be open from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. Entry is $8, with children under 18 admitted free.
