Merribee
Artisanal Topiarists are converging from Adelaide and Orange to join with Merribee’s own Resident Topiarist and Hedging Master to deliver Masterclasses on everything there is to learn about Topiary and Hedging on Friday 13 May and are providing Tips and Tricks the public at the Festival on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May. Visitors to the Festival can find out about how to successfully grow topiary plants, how to clip a perfectly straight hedge, what type of hedging tool/shears are right for them, how to look after their plants to gain maximum growth and health and more!
“People who visit the Festival will never look at a buxus plant the same way again!” said Lucy Marshall owner of Merribee. “They will be armed with so much knowledge about how to grow the most fabulous hedging and how to clip it into wonderful topiary shapes if they wish.”
Purchased in 2000 by Lucy and Richard Marshall when it was simple dairy pastureland on the banks of the Shoalhaven River, the garden has been planted with over 10,000 buxus plants – arguably the largest collection of topiary and hedging in Australia. The real ‘prize’ at Merribee is known as The Dordogne Garden – planted after a trip to France in 2016 to see the Gardens at Marqueyssac. Loosely based on the plantings in those gardens, The Dordogne Garden is a design of hundreds of buxus plants, placed in an organic pattern. In addition there are 1400 rose bushes in the garden, including a Heritage Rose Garden. Originally from Persia, the oldest damask rose in the garden has been in continuous cultivation in the west for 4,500 years. There are over 20 “garden rooms”, a Secret Garden, The Parterre Garden, Apothecary Gardens based on 7th century and 12th century plantings depicted in paintings and drawings from history, and more.
Tickets to the Festival are available at www.merribee.com.au
The garden is open every Wednesday to visitors from 10am-3pm and on Sundays during winter. Private tours are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays to groups over 10 guests.
/Public Release.
