ROCKY ROADS TO GREENER PASTURES
27 Aug 2011
There's so much more than beautiful plantings to see at this amazing property at The Basin, in Victoria
Amazing gardens: Como Gardens
Rocky roads to greener pastures
There’s so much more than beautiful plantings to see at this amazing property at The Basin, in Victoria
George Hetrel was quite keen to acquire the formal garden area with the intention that it would keep his wife busy. “I thought it would be great because Pat would never run out of projects ... and she hasn’t. We’re still starting new projects as we go along.”
It was then that Pat spotted the supposedly extinct freshwater crayfish. But there’s more: there are platypuses, too, though Pat admits she hasn’t seen one for a year or so, but she’s adamant they are still there.
Apart from his wonderful historic vehicles, George’s museum houses a wide range of signs, antique oil cans, petrol bowsers, bicycles (including a penny farthing) and early fire-fighting equipment. He even has models of a WWI Sopwith Camel fighter biplane and two Mr Mulligans.
If there ever was a garden to dream about, it would have to be Como Gardens at The Basin in Victoria. George and Pat Hetrel, owners of this glorious property, have spent the past 14 years growing, designing and maintaining 15 acres of beautifully manicured gardens.
Founded on Rocky Roads chocolate, George and Pat’s success story was a mix of good timing, a quality product and excellent service to over 2000 independent milkbars that soon spread nationally and into New Zealand. Today, the business remains in the hands of the family, though many offers have been brought to the table. George and Pat are content with its level of success and with being in control of product quality. “Many copies will be produced, but none will ever be as good as the original,” says George.
The property has a proud history. In 1873, William Chandler brought his family to at The Basin in a weatherboard home built using straight manna gums found on-site. In 1875, Arch Chandler was the first white child to be born at The Basin. To commemorate the occasion, the first oak tree in Australia was planted; it’s now classified by the National Trust Foundation.
In 1996, the Chandler Gardens were subdivided and put up for sale. George Hetrel was quite keen to acquire the formal garden area with the intention that it would keep his wife busy. “I thought it would be great because Pat would never run out of projects ... and she hasn’t. We’re still starting new projects as we go along.”
Today, the garden has two main collections of plants. Along with more than 55 magnolias and prunus, there are many other beautiful trees and shrubs throughout the property. They make a wonderful sight at any time of the year.
On our visit, we sat on the patio of the barbecue area enjoying a cup of tea as we talked, totally surrounded by wonderful plant life. That and the sound of running water from the manmade mini-stream made it the perfect environment after a hard day’s work — actually, it would be perfect at any time of day.
But it wasn’t always like this. When George and Pat first bought the property the area was used as a horse paddock, so it was quite fertile — no wonder the camellias and rhododendrons grow so well. They also built the large lake that’s just over six metres deep and home to many different water birds and fish. The soil that was excavated to create the lake was moved to the home site to give it some elevation.
The property has three creeks which the humans share with the wildlife, including the powerful owl and freshwater crayfish, which had been considered extinct from 1911 but were lately rediscovered in these waters. With the recent severe drought, all the creeks dried up last year, so Pat ventured out every day to clean out the debris on the creek beds.
This was an adventure for her as each day would bring something new and exciting. As the rains returned, the water began to rise, reaching only a couple of feet deep and crystal clear. It was then that Pat spotted the supposedly extinct freshwater crayfish. But there’s more: there are platypuses, too, though Pat admits she hasn’t seen one for a year or so, but she’s adamant they are still there.
However large or small a property, when it comes to allocation of duties it always seems to be the same deal. The husband gets the vegies and fruit trees and the wife gets the ornamentals. In this case, I think George got the short end of the stick; on 15 acres, his section is only an enclosed vegetable garden covered with chainwire mesh in an area about 30m x 20m. He had to completely cover the vegie garden and chicken pen to protect them from wildlife. “It would be virtually impossible to grow any type of vegetable and not have it devoured by rabbits and foxes, so I covered it all with the mesh,” he says.
There isn’t a day that Pat doesn’t venture into the vegie garden to gather some produce for a healthy lunch or dinner. Just the week before we visited, the couple had hosted a little party for which Pat had prepared eight different salads with all the produce freshly picked from the garden. The Caesar salad was the only exception. “I didn’t have the anchovies and I didn’t have the goat’s cheese. I think I’ll have to work on George on that one for next time.”
Even though Pat has full control of what does and doesn’t go on in the garden, George is always by her side helping in any way he can, and if he’s not working in the garden, he’s playing on his 650-metre mini-rail. George has lots of toys, the steam train and locomotive being just a couple among many.
When they first started to design the Como Gardens, George and Pat decided a railway track would be perfect for entertainment. There’s a station where passengers can board the train that travels through six acres of formal gardens, traversing three trestle bridges then going through a laburnum arch before returning to the Como Gardens station. It’s a great attraction for the whole family when festivals and events are held at the gardens.
However, building the railway track wasn’t as easy as it might seem, says Pat. “Getting the right radius on the track was a bit tricky. The radius you need is very, very big. Even though it’s a small train, you still need to have that big radius, otherwise the train is going to derail.”
They made a bit of a mistake when they first built the lake, making it a little too wide. To include the driveway and rail track they were forced to move the creek. “Well, it was actually like a BHP project at one stage,” says Pat. “We’ve had our fair share of dramas, that’s for sure, but we have our fun and no visit to the Como Gardens is complete if you haven’t had a train ride,” says George.
Having only a vegie garden and mini-rail compared with Pat’s 15 acres of glorious ornamental gardens hardly seemed fair to George, so in his initial planning stages, he decided to build a museum as well to house some 16 antique cars.
What started off as a hobby has now become a professional pastime, with cars such as the Benz Velo that dates back to 1896, which George bought over the phone at a London auction in 1982. It was a complete car, which made it much easier for George to restore it, a labour of love spanning a three-year period and faithful in every detail to the creation of its maker, Karl Benz, recognised as the father of the automotive industry.
It has a single-cylinder open-crank motor that boasts 3.5hp that can do a reasonably safe speed of 15–20km/h. George’s Benz Velo competed in the famous London–Brighton event in the 1996 centenary celebrations and was successful in 1998.
The museum houses two other London–Brighton runners: a 1903 curved-dash Oldsmobile and a 1903 Type 56 Peugeot. But my favourite is the 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540Ks, with only 406 produced and selling for three times the price of a Rolls-Royce. This particular vehicle was brought to Sydney in 1989 and became entangled in legalities, but was finally released as customs property in 1994 and put to auction. George conveniently bought it in a phone bid.
He’s also the proud owner of a 1927 Bugatti Type 35C straight-eight supercharged on a sesame seed bun Grand Prix car with a top speed of 220km/h, which he races regularly in historic events across Australia.
Apart from his wonderful historic vehicles, George’s museum houses a wide range of signs, antique oil cans, petrol bowsers, bicycles (including a penny farthing) and early fire-fighting equipment. He even has models of a WWI Sopwith Camel fighter biplane and two Mr Mulligans.
Outside the museum, the trees are blossoming. There are more than 40 maples, a collection of oak trees, pin oaks, prunus, magnolias and, because the last Chandlers had a love affair with the beech tree, Pat is now blessed with some of the most beautiful beech trees around.
Every tree on the property has been documented and catalogued by the last Chandler who lived there, John Chandler, who had recorded when each Chandler brought in what tree to the property, dating back to the late 1800s. The Magnolia denudata, one of the first trees ever planted there, is alive and well today. Unfortunately, Pat’s Magnolia campbellii, a medium to tall deciduous tree with large pink blossoms and shallow roots, was lost just over four years ago when excessive moisture in the ground combined with high winds to uproot it.
Sadly, they weren’t able to save the tree, so George had a wood turner make some furniture out of it. Magnolia is known for its exquisite colours of blues and greens, depending on the species, and the wood is highly sought after for making fine furniture. Pat had a spoon carved out of the wood in memory of the tree. Another tree found lying down on the job was their mulberry, but they were able to rescue it.
When John Chandler found out how Pat was landscaping the property, he went to inspect and immediately asked to look at Potter’s Cubby, the creek he dug out. He had planted the area with rare species, but unfortunately didn’t remove the blackwood and over the years the blackberries took over. The blackwood canopy grew heavier and heavier and eventually the resources were so depleted the entire area went to rack and ruin. “It was the first area we cleaned up and as we began clearing the site we discovered the creek. Until then we didn’t even know it existed,” says Pat.
Almost 15 years later, Como Gardens has reached a stage of self-sufficiency. All the wild weeds have been eradicated, trees and underplanting have been established well enough that they require only the occasional pruning and cleaning, which can be done in the course of a relaxing morning stroll through these amazing gardens.
Como Gardens hosts two events a year in celebration of spring and autumn. These are held on the third week of October and April respectively. For further details, visit www.comogardens.com.au or email comogardens@bigpond.com.