A restful garden in a beautiful rural setting dotted with big old red gums

The road to the Skilly House Garden follows the Skillogalee Creek through the picturesque and peaceful landscape of the Clare Valley. Bordered with the rolling Skillogalee Hills and areas of natural vegetation interspersed with grassy paddocks and grazing sheep, the road winds through the scenic valley to where The Skilly House sits in an idyllic setting dotted with majestic big old red gums.

However, with the natural beauty of the site come extras - kangaroos, rabbits and deer, all with similar taste in plants as the owners! Overnight, cossetted plants become a living feast on these regular foraging visits but owners Jo and Mark have discovered by trial and error and plenty of persistence that there is a limited range of species that are not damaged. Cypress, diosma, nandina, hibiscus, lomandra and other often fragrant or fuzzy foliage are usually untouched, but to overcome the challenge, large areas have been lawned, which, with a number of mature deciduous trees and the indigenous red gums, create a park-like look.

The garden slopes and some areas have been terraced with gabions and retaining walls built with stone collected on the property. A slate and gravel path leads to the highest part of the garden and to one of the many seats placed to take in the tranquility and views of the property.

A high fence largely encloses a well-stocked vegetable garden and keeps out hungry intruders; there are fruit trees and a series of compost bins have been cleverly constructed using recycled wooden pallets.