Cloudehill Feature Story
Segment: Cloudehill Feature Story
Episode: 13
Presenter: Melissa King
Date: November 17th, 2018
In the Dandenong ranges you’ll find Cloudehill, a garden that is the absolute pinnacle of great garden design. Jeremy Francis has spent the last 25 years nurturing the landscape, helping it grow and change throughout the years.
- Jeremy considers his role watching over the garden to be an absolute joy. When maintaining a garden such as this, there are certain plants that he is able to rely on, as well as some that he has to figure out year by year. Gardens are always surprising, with some plants growing well, and others disappearing.
- There are jobs that crop up every few years in Cloudehill – hedges grow year by year and occasionally need renovation, and if a tree becomes diseased it has to be removed. This can leave a large hole in your garden, but also gives the opportunity to rethink the whole section of the garden.
- Cloudehill’s hornbeam hedge was planted in 1992, growing to around 2 metres high and half a metre across. After 25 years, the hedge became too large and had to be cut back with a chainsaw. Since this, the hedge has burst out of the old wood, looking absolutely incredible.
- With about 25 compartments in the garden, it changes every season. There are specific compartments for each season, with winter in particular having the plants revert back to their original architecture.
