Spend Mother's Day weekend at this elegant garden with trees in all their autumn glory

Hilltop in autumn is sensational! The many deciduous trees scattered throughout the 9 acres of park-like garden become a stunning kaleidoscope of oranges, yellows, purples, reds and russet.

After the devasting loss of their beautiful Georgian house and garden in the Port Lincoln bushfires in 2005, Lindy and Richard spent three years searching for a place to rebuild their lives. 
Eventually they found Hilltop in Stirling, a large garden with many mature trees, a lake and some fine stone walls. The garden had been originally developed by Alice Howard, the granddaughter of Sir John Downer who established Glenalta, the garden just north of Hilltop. In 2008 they moved in and Lindy immediately set about removing some of the declining trees and shrubs to create long vistas and improve the balance between open space and secluded corners.

Tall October Glory maples line the entrance drive which winds gently through the trees and opens to the striking Dutch Colonial house. In May these and the many other deciduous trees on the property create a magnificent autumn display with the greens of the huge evergreen trees a foil to their dazzling colours. A lawn terrace, stone walls and paths lead down to a little Italian pond with its charming bronze fountain and an informal woodland garden wraps around the sunken lawn. Large classically styled urns mark pathways and shade-loving plants including hellebores and autumn flowering plectranthus thrive under the canopies of the big old trees.

The courtyard garden links the front and back terraces and there is an elegant garden room, built in 2020 in the same architectural stye as the house. In keeping with the theme, a small Dutch garden is being developed with abelia, rosemary, iris, lambs’ ears, Dutch box and a sundial which was one of the few garden ornaments which survived the Pt Lincoln bushfire. At the other end of the long pergola a small pond is surrounded by sycamores, laburnum, Chinese elm, dawn redwood, and weeping Greenstead cypresses.

The garden extends past an old cottage to a lake and a stand of candle bark gums with an underplanting of native shrubs and grasses.

Hilltop is a garden of trees and vistas – serene and green in the summer months but transformed in autumn to an unforgettable display of vibrant rich colour.

NOTE: Limited disability parking close to house.  If you have difficulty with parking & mobility, ring John 0419 587 444 for a pickup spot