1st-31st May 2007

Oriental Garden
The Oriental Garden was created and named in honour of the travels of Marco Polo who’s explorations took him throughout the Orient for many years. The Oriental Garden draws its influence from primarily Japanese and Korean gardens. The Oriental Garden has been designed to be in perfect balance. There are very few Oriental Gardens that have been created here in Australia, and in comparison, Japanese Gardens are much smaller in size than Australian gardens.

The main features of the Oriental Garden are:

• The use of multiple viewpoints and perspectives
• The miniaturisation of signature trees, such as Japanese Maple and Pine
• The clever use of contrasting colours, textures, and shapes, such as rocks and marble
• The placement of lantern towers, a curved bridge and Japanese style Pagoda
• A focus on simplicity
• The use of water, both still (to reflect on reality) and flowing (where reality becomes distorted and the complexity of life is revealed) with Oriental Water Lilies, which are said to inspire meditation
• The Oriental Garden has the largest planting of the Korean “Zoysia Grass” in the Southern Hemisphere. This rather unique grass envelopes anything in its path. It is spiky to the touch although it looks like a soft moss. Discover Zoysia Grass at Hunter Valley Gardens.

Chinese Moongate Garden

This garden celebrates the rich and diverse Chinese cultures which has helped shape the Australian nation – with the focus in  the Chinese culture and garden and the principles of Ying and Yang.

Ancient Chinese philosophy states that mans body is linked to nature:

• The paths representing veins
• The water represents blood/breath
• The mountains representing the skeleton
• The plants representing the muscles/skin

There are many human symbols represented through plants in the Chinese garden.

Such as:

• The Flowering Plum, which represents friends and Spring time
• Bamboo represents resilience and integrity
• The Maple tree represents Autumn and the changing seasons 
• Camelia’s cheer on the Spring
• Pine needles represent the preservation of life as they remain green throughout the snow in Winter.

The Chinese Moongate Garden was created with the hope of renewing the human spirit.

Our other 10 feature Gardens include:

Italian Garden

As in the Oriental Garden, The Italian Garden was created and named in honour of the travels and famous storytelling of Marco Polo.

·         Throughout Marco’s life, he had learned much of the classical authors, understood the texts of the Bible, and knew the basic theology of the Latin Church.

·         He had a sound knowledge of French as well as Italian. From his later history we can be sure of his interest in natural resources, in the ways of people, as well as strange and interesting plants and animals.

·         The Italian Garden pays homage to another great admirer of plants and animals with a Grotto and Statue of St Francis of Assisi.

·         The Italian Garden comprises of a grove of Olive and Citrus trees, a hedge of Bay trees and abundant Italian Lavender and Rosemary, bordered by bright colourful annuals.

The Storybook Garden

This is a very universal, colourful and exciting garden, which is perfect to tell the stories of all of our favourite children’s nursery rhymes and fairytales. It is a place for visitors of all ages to celebrate the spirit of childhood.

·         The Storybook Garden contains both statues of well-known storybook characters such as Jack and Jill and the Mad Hatters Tea Party, as well as large painted story walls and novelty items such as the 'Old Maid' playing cards.

·         The plants that surround the characters showcase witty topiary and whimsical flowers such as Delphiniums and Foxgloves.

·         Visitors love to stop to have their photograph taken with Humpty Dumpty or sitting down to have a cup of tea with the Mad Hatter.

The Lakes Walk

This special area of the Gardens is a place for reflection, promising peace and tranquillity. This Garden allows visitors to experience the serenity of the majestic Weeping Willow trees with their graceful branches spilling into the water of the lakes as they are blown gently by the breeze.

This garden is a favourite place for fauna to gather which be seen at various times of the year.

·         Over 30,000 Daffodil bulbs are planted each year throughout The Lakes Walk which blaze into a carpet of gold, with other brightly coloured annuals that complement and contrast them nearby.

·         From the 28^th July to the 3^rd September visitors will be immersed in a visual and sensory experience they will never forget. The event is called the Festival of Flowers at Hunter Valley Gardens. There will be over 250,000 annuals and 30,000 bulbs planted throughout the many themed spaces of Hunter Valley Gardens, including the magical Children's Storybook Garden, the Rose Garden, Oriental Garden and the European Formal Garden. Six years after its creation, the beautifully established Hunter Valley Gardens will provide a dramatic landscape for the avid gardener, promising a festival sure to impress and engage the whole family.

Indian Mosaic Garden

The entrance to the Indian Mosaic Garden is made up of two enormous 160-year-old Elephant Barn doors. They create an intriguing entry to the garden, along with a giant “flower tower” full of colourful annuals which is in the centre of the garden. The path   weaves visitors through a small hedge before they are greeted with the delicious and spicy aroma of ornamental Curry.

Other features of this garden include:

·         The Mosaic pattern, planted with coloured succulents and ground covers including Dwarf Mondo Grass

·         On the edge of the garden, there are two large topiary elephants

·         A 180 year old Indian Tea House, where visitors can take a seat and relax in the shade overlooking the waters of the Hunter Valley Gardens.

The Rose Garden

Featuring over 8000 spectacular roses full of fragrance and beauty, the Rose Garden is half a hectare in size and shaped as a corkscrew - highlighting an association with our vineyards as well as offering maximum views of the stunning flora with walking paths throughout the rose beds.

·         Also named “A Grandmothers Garden”, due to the beautiful bronze cast statues of Mrs Imelda Roche, owner, and her three eldest grandchildren this garden also pays homage to the precious bond of the family.

·         Enclosing the Rose Garden are four pergola’s, ideal for relaxing in full view of the roses, and a variety of climbers which, in time, will create the feeling of total immersion within flowers and fragrance.

·         In full flower from October until June each year, the predominant varieties within the Rose Garden include: Double Delight, Charles De-Gaule, Freesia, Fragrance, Marlena, Bonica and Blue Moon roses.

·         There are over 125 different varieties of roses with a total of 35,000 throughout the property.

The Avenue

Linking the Border garden to the Storybook garden, this European-style walk lined with evergreen trees ‘Fraxinus Griffithi’ (Evergreen Ash) and lush lawns. The Avenue features a range of bronzed statuary.

The Orchard

Bordering the western perimeter of the Gardens is a stroll-through Orchard with more than ninety different varieties of fruit trees, including citrus, stone and pip fruit trees.

A wonderful site - the ‘Olive Grove’ consists of 1200 olive trees backed by the stunning Brokenback Ranges.

Sunken Garden

The inspiration for the Sunken Garden came from Mr Roche’s visit to the Butchardt Gardens in Canada. The Hunter Valley Gardens “Sunken Garden” features a majestic 10-metre waterfall and garden beds ablaze with the colour of brilliant annual displays.

·         Enjoy the spectacular views of the entire property from the pergola at the top of the waterfall and the blaze of colour from the surrounding gardens.

·        Designed for year round colour, the Sunken garden features an array of seasonal annuals and spring flowering trees including Magnolias, Camellias, Crabapples and Flowering Peaches.

·         Framing the walkways are hundreds of roses, including Rosa Simply Magic, Rosa Iceberg, Rosa Chameleon and Rosa Carefree Wonder.

·         Vast borders of Rosemary herbs can also be found in the Sunken Garden along with Acer Palmatum and Magnolia Soulangiana trees.

European Formal Garden

The largest of its type in Australia, the Formal garden is one and a half hectares in size and was influenced by many European formal gardens.

·         Bordered by by Pyrus ussarnissus, a pear tree with beautiful white flowers and dramatic bronze foliage in autumn, the Formal garden features a variety of topiary and finely manicured lawns of Fescue mustang II.

·         Specimen trees of evergreen Magnolia grandiflora (Little Gem) are also featured in the gardens along with 300 bushes of Rosa chameleon roses.

·         Make a wish at the “Wishing Fountain” within the Formal Garden, from which all proceeds are dedicated to Ronald Mc Donald House.

The Brokenback Brumbies

Each of these prominent topiaries signify one year that construction of the Gardens took. See the Brokenback Brumbies galloping from the Brokenback Ranges to the watering holes of Hunter Valley Gardens.

·         Grown from Luma apiculata (Myrtle), a small tree originating from Chile, each Brumby consists of 4 trees trained over an eight-year period on a metal frame.