Birregurra Cottage

Birregurra Cottage is a one-acre garden developed by owners Michael Jan and Peter Lovell. This young, imaginative, and densely planted garden, located on the edge of the charming rural village of Birregurra, demonstrates amazing growth and diversity in less than four years.

Michael, a self-proclaimed gardening newbie, designed the majority of the layout and plantings, which revolve around a renovated Federation-era timber home. His flair for combining colour, texture, and shape is evident, with a number of linked circles serving as the foundation for a succession of garden rooms connected by curving paths and lawn corridors. The use of rocks and soil mounds to add height helps define the garden rooms on an otherwise flat block.

When selecting plants, Michael’s approach is all about juxtaposition.

“I combine planting groups based on colours, textures, and leaf types to form a picture,” says Michael. “After a purchase, I don’t always know where the plants will go until I place them in the garden, then plant them a day or two later when I am sure that they will be right.”

In the last year, the many new flowering plants have attracted a multitude of birds to the garden.

Tickets are available online at https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1220425

Braeburn House is located on the lands of the Eastern Maar people. Open Gardens Victoria wish to acknowledge the Traditional custodians of this land and we pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.