Sam Cox: Wattle Glen Garden – Open Gardens Victoria

Over 25 years, landscape designer Sam Cox and partner Lisa Hatfield have transformed a bare paddock in Wattle Glen into a remarkable 1.5-acre Australian bush garden. Sam was the last apprentice of influential landscape designer Gordon Ford, and his legacy is evident in a garden that sits so naturally within its setting, it is hard to imagine it was ever anything else.
Inspired by Australian naturalistic design, Sam has used earth shaping, rockwork and layered native planting to create a landscape that feels effortless, though every element has been carefully considered. Mounds and basalt outcrops give way to winding mulched paths that echo wallaby tracks, while broad plantings reveal changing light, texture and seasonal colour.
Visitors can discover a casuarina forest, olive grove, native grassland, Sam’s design studio, Gordo’s much-loved Land Rover and the ‘patch in the paddock’. Garden talks and Q&A sessions with Sam Cox will be held at 11am and 2pm on both days.
Adults $10 Students $6 (with ID card)
Under 18 and students with OGV Annual Student Pass (with ID) - Free
Sam Cox: Wattle Glen Garden is located on the lands of the Wurundjeri people. Open Gardens Victoria wish to acknowledge the Traditional custodians of this land and we pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.