Open, rain, hail or shine

Sandra King looks forward to showing peoplee through her open garden.

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The King Garden at Nunderi

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GARDENS love the wet weather but Sandra and Tony King are praying for a fine weekend when they open their Nunderi property to the public as part of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme this weekend.

If it’s raining bring your gumboots or joggers and an umbrella Mrs King said, as there will still be plenty of places to sit and admire the garden in the wet.

“People can sit and enjoy the tranquil surrounds and if it rains it will be just as pretty,” she said.

“All the rain has been lovely and has our dam running over and everything is lush and beautiful.

“It’s just so nice to be able to sit and relax in this setting.”

Mrs King said it had taken 20 years to get their sub-tropical garden in tip-top shape spreading over their two acre property.

“I have always loved tropical gardens so once I had a dam with plenty of water, that’s what I decided to do. I started by putting paperbarks, liquidambars, Java Shower, palms and many more large trees around the boundary for shade and to protect understorey plants,” explained Sandra.

“Then the rest of the garden just kept growing more and more every day. Lots of my plants came from cuttings. In my spare time, I enjoy potting up plants because I can always find room for more.

“Our garden doesn’t need a lot of maintenance now that it’s established and it’s so densely planted that we don’t get many weeds. When rain comes or it’s time to water, the thick groundcover keeps the moisture in and the sunshine out.

“I don’t put a lot of hours in anymore as it’s so compact – all it needs is a good haircut in winter to get ready for spring.”

Mrs King said some of her favourite plants included the gingers, cordylines, iris and bromeliads.

The Kings were selected among the four finalists for ABC Gardening Australia’s Gardener of the Year in 2006 and their garden featured on the television show and in the magazine.

Together they have created a tropical paradise from a bare paddock with the spring-fed dam providing ideal growing conditions for bamboos, palms tree ferns and willows.

“The garden is changing all the time as Tony is always busy building something whether it’s a little bridge or one of the many recycled timber huts around the property,” Mrs King said.

“We have opened our garden three times previously with the Open Garden Scheme and are happy to be part of it this year,” she said.

“The ladies from Murwillumbah High School canteen will be here again and they do a beautiful job of morning tea and lunches with all the money they raise going to the school. We will also have live music to enjoy, so it should be a great weekend.”

Getting there

• The King Garden is located at Lot 27 The Grove, Nunderi and will be open this weekend (March 20 and 21) from 10am to 4.30pm (DST). Entry $6 (children under 18 free).

• DIRECTIONS: From Murwillumbah take Tweed Valley Way towards Tweed Heads for 6km; turn right into Clothiers Creek Rd; travel through Nunderi and turn left into Norths Lane, then first right into The Grove.