A garden that is an imaginative living artwork by and internationally knowns glass artist

Nick Mount is renowned and celebrated both in Australia and internationally for his stunning glass-blown art, but he and his wife, Pauline, are also enthusiastic gardeners.

Over the last thirty years, they have created an eclectic small garden that is a workspace, an inspiration and a refuge with a strong emphasis on fruit and vegetable growing.

Their open garden is a rare opportunity to see how an artistic collaboration has created an environment fashioned over decades. Nick uses his garden not only as a productive and decorative outdoor room but as an integrated part of his artistic practice. The garden seamlessly embraces his studio, workshop and open-sided “grinding Cabana”.

An alfresco eating area is shaded by an avocado tree that fruits profusely and provides shade. An adjacent small lawned area is delineated from the productive area by a pair of faux Roman pillars; there’s an Etruscan-style fountain without water and a dovecote without doves.  A thick mooring rope links to a productive mound massed with vegetables, and in lieu of raised beds, three small dinghies carrying a cargo of herbs are anchored on a sea of green foliage. A vertical green wall unit is a clever way to grow strawberries.

There is evidence of hands-on creativity throughout - several olives have been clipped into shapes, one forming a huge heart and another sculpted into clouds. Plants with bold leaf shapes and strong form are well used and provide structure and year-round interest, with examples of Nick’s glassmaking adding an artistic element.

In the front garden, an imposing grapefruit tree contrasts with a crab apple tree which Nick has trained to look windswept.