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Garden’s opening offers a view to classic past

March 18, 2005

TREVENNA 2.jpg
A rare opportunity to glimpse the grounds of Trevenna, the historic residence of Professor Ingrid Moses, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England, will be afforded this weekend to the public.
As part of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme, the grounds will be open for the first time in nearly a decade, from 10am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Designed by Boston-trained, 19th Century architect, Horbury Hunt, Trevenna was originally the home of the Wright family. Some of the trees in its garden, including horse chestnuts, pines and planes, date back to the 1890s, when Trevenna was built.
The homestead and its grounds were bequeathed to UNE as the Vice-Chancellor’s residence in 1960.
The garden is constructed on several levels. A sunken garden, complete with stone sundial, is on one side of the house while on the other, a series of hedges encloses a private lawn.
The front garden slopes away into a series of ha has, and wide perennial borders lead the eye to the city of Armidale. These wide borders are planted with a variety of shrubs including camellias, rhododendrons and a range of Autumn flowering perennials. Ivy and grapevines scramble along the old stone walls around the garden while at the rear of Trevenna, a wide sweep of lawn leads down to another sunken garden.

A magnolia is the centrepiece in a small oval bed, which is planted with dry shade lovers. A shaded border planted with hellebores, windflowers and violets provides a soft, leafy barrier between the garden and the tennis court.
Professor Moses said the gardens’ beauty was refreshing.
“The view from our upstairs sitting room across the garden and towards Mount Duval is worth painting,” she said.
“Every morning I enjoy the views across the lawns, the sporting fields towards the colleges. In winter the fog floats on the fields and creates images of lakes. It is magic. I walk through the gardens daily, they restore my equanimity after long days at work."
Trevenna’s garden was last open to the public in November, 1996 and once featured in a Women’s Weekly special edition in 1971.
Australia’s Open Garden Scheme is a non-profit organisation begun in Victoria in 1987. It aims to promote the pleasures of gardens and gardening by opening about 650 private gardens to the public each year.
Entry to the Open Garden at Trevenna costs $5.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at March 18, 2005 10:12 AM