Hedgehogs Open Garden

Located just north of Castlemaine, the 3-acre garden at Hedgehogs surrounds a 1923 farmhouse tended by owners Margot and Morry Rotten for 32 years.

This is a tranquil, eclectic garden designed as a safe haven for birds and the mob of kangaroos that live here. It sits well in the dry central Victorian landscape, yet there is water and green and a feeling of peace, due in no small part to the gentle colour palette of blues, mauves, purple, cream, soft apricot, and white. Designed by pioneering Australian landscape designer Gordon Ford, the frog pond includes a small waterfall surrounded by granite boulders.

Gravel paths wander past walled gardens, secret gardens, sculpture gardens, native areas, and the wonderful food production space where avocados and citrus thrive in microclimates created by north-facing curved walls and coverings against frosts. A large wire-covered orchard overflows with mulberry, fig, olive, plum, nashi, cherry, peach, plumcot, and apples, and another for berries and grapes.