A classic Italianate style garden – pencil pines, symmetry hedges, topiary, softened with many roses, lavender and other Mediterranean plants

The gumtree-studded surroundings are unmistakably Australian, but Bellosguardo Estate has all the hallmarks of a classical Italianate garden—symmetry, tightly clipped hedges, topiary, pencil pines and more!

From an almost blank canvas 22 years ago, there is now plenty to interest and immerse you in this large garden. Tall and small hedges, some punctuated with topiary clipped into a variety of shapes, add structure and some formality. A parterre garden has several species of hedging plants entwined in an intricate design, their varying foliage adding interest and definition. There are many roses, and the parterre is entered through an arch covered with Pierre de Ronsard, with more David Austin roses and lavender adding colour and fragrance.

An avenue of liquidambar and espaliered fruit trees borders the tennis court and leads the eye to a picture-perfect view of neighbouring vineyards and a large lake. An impressive formal picking and produce garden is packed with vegetables and flowering plants in eight beds, each framed with a low stone wall. The area is enclosed with trellising espaliered with citrus and evergreen fruit trees, and in the middle of the long central alley that divides the beds, a small pergola covered with a glory vine makes a shady sitting spot with lovely views over the vineyards.  Pencil pines underplanted with white agapanthus border the driveway and are dotted throughout the garden like tall green exclamation marks!

The garden owner, Peter Bellosguardo, was a stonemason, and his work is evident throughout the garden - a wisteria arbour and more stonework are still in the planning stage. An impressive highlight is the striking spiral sculpture created from bricks by Peter’s artist son, Steven.

Bellosguardo Estate, as its name says, is a beautiful garden!