Edna Walling and my weird 6 degrees of separation summer
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| Young Edna |
This year , early as it
is , one person has been constantly appearing as a footnote to events that have
happened to me or I have been involved
in. That person is a legendary garden design/ landscaper, writer, photographer,
conservationist and godmother of the girl power movement - the late Edna
Walling.
It’s like some weird six
degrees of separation that involves Miss Walling and me.
I recently found out from a Facebook group dedicated to the
suburb where I grew up, that within 200 metres of my family home in Jordanville (now Chadstone were
two Edna Walling gardens.
Our house was on the very eastern
edge of the Housing Commission estate and up the hill situated on the aptly named Grandview Parade was a very fine property called
Robin Hill that was so out of place it resembled the mansion above the
suburbs in the movie Edward Scissorhands. The home belonged to Lewis B Milne an
executive for the company that owned Skipping Girl Vinegar. The house was built
in 1946 during the height of Walling’s popularity. In its position, it
commanded views almost equal to that from the top of Mt Dandenong.
The original
owners had long sold it and moved on before I arrived. The Commission estate
began construction in 1949 and the view from the front yard was rapidly
changing, instead of empty paddocks was now rows of concrete houses.
I’d
move too.
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| Robin Hill today |
The
high walls and steel gates only offered a glimpse through the bars but I always
remember the gardens were so lush and well maintained, whoever the owner was
at the time. The other was supposedly on the other side of the railway tracks on Salisbury road but I don’t recall any house even remotely impressive as Robin Hill on that street. But it was
there, I’ve seen the plans.
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| Robin Hill before the estate with acres of paddocks.Circa 1946 |
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| Robin Hill (highlighted) during construction of the Housing Commission estate |
The Lady, the legend.
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Edna at work
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By
the 1940s Walling's was a household name and she capitalized on her popularity
by publishing a string of successful books, as well as this she was a keen
photographer with well above-average skills. She obviously liked taking photos
more than being in them, for finding multiple images of her is difficult.
Interconnecting Universes.
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| Tudor Village at Mawarra Sherbrooke |
In early March a rather
influential gentleman and talented artist was taken from us before his time. Jamin
Swaneveld. He had a remarkable memorial service in Lake Emerald Park the same month and it stirred up some long dormant memories.  |
Jamin building the Village
|
About 15 years ago Jamin and I often chatted in his little shop in Belgrave. One of our
conversations was how he and his family were temporarily lodging in a bungalow
that was part of an estate next to Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenongs. This
particular estate had a garden that was designed by Edna Walling and it was
still in pristine condition. He said he was going to make a Tudor Village that
would fit perfectly with the aesthetic of the garden. I remember saying how
that would be a novel idea and that was the last I thought of it. After Jamin’s
death, I was looking through old photos and found a picture of him in his shed
working on the almost complete village.  |
| The Village prior to installation |
Then, whilst researching Miss Walling a
bit more discovered the estate he was referring to was Mawarra, a
famous example of Edna Walling’s design work and incidentally one of her own
personal favourites. To add sugar to the dessert I found an old video from a
mid-2000s episode of channel 9’s Postcards, and right at the end, we
have the presenter Lauren Phillips tiptoeing through the miniature
village that Jamin constructed.
It was a glorious find. |
| Before |
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| After |
A new home another connection
There are a few local connections
to Miss Walling. When she was in her mid-20s she established a residence in
Mooroolbark and named it Sonning.
This became her base for almost 40 years establishing her nursery and gathering around
her a group of like-minded people for whom she designed picturesque 'English'
cottages and gardens. She named the area BickleighVale village in honour of the town she grew up in
England. It became a sanctuary of sorts and its residence were predominantly female. The village still
remains, and its roads are still unpaved, it was and remains an extraordinary
experiment in urban development.
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| A retired Edna |
I
was looking through the excellent collection of Walling designs at the StateLibrary online, and discovered a plan for a Mrs Jessie Cook of Boronia
but as yet haven’t been able to locate the address or if it was a commission
piece.
Edna
Walling’s style was influenced by her memories of the English gardens of her
childhood, the stonework of the aptly named Ellis Stones and her love of
Australian flora. Her designs were often water coloured to give clients a more
intimate feel of how the finished garden would appear.
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| The Boronia Garden for Mrs Cook |
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| An example of Walling's water coloured plans |
Walling
left Melbourne in 1967– though she travelled far and wide during her
career for her work- to the warmer
climes of Queensland and died in 1973.
Edna
Walling was truly a great Australian who left a massive legacy and I recommend
researching or even visiting her existing gardens in the area if the chance
arises just like I have, thanks to a few chance events and some great memories.
EXAMPLES OF EDNA WALLINGS WORK
Bibliography
www.adb.anu.edu.au/biography/walling-edna-margaret-11946
Wikipedia
State Library Walling
Design archives
www.bickleighvalevillage.com.au/
