A Brief History of "The
Shambles"
Moving to Montville
from Brisbane seventeen years ago so Michael
could begin his Medical internship at Nambour
General Hospital on the
Sunshine Coast was the beginning of a new stage
of life for the Simpson family.
With two little girls
already and a boy born two weeks after arriving,
our family has really grown up at ‘The Shambles’
We
had a little
painting, on a place mat, of a farm house in the
mountains that we longed to have" says Kyleigh.
After finding the run
down farm house on an almost level acre of land
only a kilometre from Montville we set about
making
our new
home.
House renovations were
first on the agenda which gave us time to
explore the remnant garden and plants around the
house
A huge Duranta
hedge which tipped out onto the road hid the
house. A dense overgrowth of small and large
leafed privet lantana encroached along the
Western boundary. These hedges were originally
planted as wind breaks and when the August gales
arrived w arrived we wisely decided to trim back
the hedges rather than the herculean task of
having them cut down.
The mature surviving
trees in the garden included Macadamia, old
astringent Persimmons, grape fruit and Custard
apple.
Ornamental shrubs such
as Azaleas, Brunfelsia, Spiraea, Hibiscus
and a very large Camellia (Aspasia
Macarthur) with
variegated pink
and white flowers were there to be rescued. Our
mature specimens came with epiphytic orchids and
fernsIn spring there emerged Hippeastrum,
wild gladioli and Arrowroot.
Having
little money to spend we began the garden with
tube stock and cuttings from local gardens.
Friends gave us trusty e agapanthus that grow
prolifically in the area and can be dug up in a
clump and planted at any time of the year.
Agapanthus,
Bromeliads and Clivea are great
survivors and flower beautifully in Summer.
From early on a
rainforest was created along the western side of
the property which has created lovely summer
shade.
Before that, months
were spent hacking back privet and lantana to
reclaim space and a chook house was built half
way
down the yard. Around
the house a large productive vegetable and herb
garden was established and the children acquired
numerous pets and the days of escaped guinea
pigs in hedges and amongst the vegetables will
never be forgotten.
"Our children have
always played outdoors and having a baby in a
pram and the girls playing nearby I was always
able to
work outdoors", says
Kyleigh. As the garden is quite large it has
evolved into sections and whole days could be
spent
working in an area.
However with kindy, school runs, art, household
and work activities gardening has never been
considered as labour
intensive and more as relaxation and exercise.
To Michael and Kyleigh
the garden has always been satisfying and the
changing mountain weather is something you never
tire of. "We love the
fog enveloping the house and the drippy branches
weighed down after rain. The crisp, cleanness of
the air is lovely but
the red dirt and getting bogged in your own
driveway could be a challenge. Drying nappies in
prolonged wet weather
also stays in my memory and recently the
discovery of a mushroom growing in the bathroom
reminds us we really
are in the clouds", says Kyleigh.
Over the years we have
collected and conserved many different
traditional plants, inspired by the remnant
garden.
The large conifers in
the north of our garden started as our family
Christmas trees and were planted out after the
festivities each year.
The China and Tea roses
are Michael’s particular interest and he is on
the committee of the Heritage Roses in
Australia,
with their national
tour coming to "The Shambles" in 2010. The old
fashioned roses have much to recommend them with
repeat flowering,
disease resistance in our weather and an amazing
link to Queensland’s garden heritage. There are
year
round cut roses for the
house. Kyleigh loves to pick flowers for vases
and is not fond of floristry style arrangements
preferring random
bunches. Sometimes this means just wandering
around with the secateurs choosing all the pinks
shades
or the blues and
mauves.
Other interesting
shrubs we have collected are the species
Camellias, Michelias, Weigelas, Buddlejas,
Abutilon, Spiraeas, Brunfelsias and a myriad of
Salvia types.
Aromatic herbs such as
Heliotropes and Rosemary are among my favourites
said Kyleigh and common Pentas are long
lasting in the vase.
The appearance of
maturity in a garden is a very rewarding aspect
to strive for. In Queensland this maturity can
be
achieved relatively
quickly.
Our garden is a
place where our family and garden have grown
together, giving us all a heritage which builds
on the
traces left by other
families her over the last century. Perhaps
because of the garden being our private
laboratory for
experimentation and perhaps to celebrate lost
garden features a few structural changes were
made in 2009, 2010 and
2011. We
constructed a gatehouse with a tall pitched roof
to match our house and to act as a welcome point
for garden
visitors.
Also we constructed a "rustic fountain" of
coral, rock, shell and giant clam shells in
honour of a long lost
fashion to
adorn the garden in such a way. Trees have been
removed and many new species added continually
to
the garden
taking advantage of the wet summers in 2010 and
2011.
We hope our visitors
can enjoy "The Shambles" and appreciate that our
garden, our books and our plans for the future
which all contribute to
Queensland’s rich gardening and cultural
Heritage. Preserving landscapes, plant
collections and
documenting the garden
inventory is not some sort of rarified
intellectual exercise. These increasingly rare
old gardens
may be powerful
examples to guide a much healthier and happier
society in the future.
Kyleigh
and Michael Simpson 2012
