Rolland Asley

Umpherston Sinkhole Garden Mount Gambier South Australia

While researching how best to make lush a border including some Hydrangea with an existing Tazmanian Tree Fern Dicksonia antartica, I happened upon a blog posting on the Umpherston Sinkhole Garden.  Its inherent interest lies in its below-ground-level orientation.  I recently photographed a below ground level garden at CornerStone Gardens which is topographically similar to the sinkhole garden.

Inspired by the Umpherston Sinkhole Garden, another lush residential garden border including Dicksonia, Hydrangea, Gunnera, etc. and several specimen shrubs and trees that I found at Singing Tree Gardens, a local nursery in McKinleyville, California with plantings that they sell installed in their own botanical garden; I am consumed with the idea of merging these plantings and gardens to create my own uniquely inspired border.  The moment when all of the parts have been found and seem to belong with one another, I am ready to design my garden border and motivated to take my ideas further and apply them to other potential/hypothetical projects, for instance, an old quarry site, which offers the same comforting below-ground-level vibe as the Umpherston Sinkhole Garden, a seemingly perfect place for a unique and stimulating garden experience.