Born to be re-wilded

Richard Unsworth’s home, Trincomalee, is nestled on the waterfront of Lovett Bay, overlooking Scotland Island on Pittwater, an hour north of Sydney’s CBD. It’s only accessible via ferry from Church Point, making the trip across the water feel like a real journey.

Richard (pictured below right) became co-owner of this special property about eight years ago, but had been visiting it for a couple of decades before that, as it was owned by the mother of a good friend. By the time he became custodian, the land had become overrun with weeds and was in need of some serious garden love.

Running parallel with this story is the narrative of the adjoining block, which is a nature corridor being managed by local volunteers, the Rocky Point Bushcare group. When this small but dedicated crew first confronted this block, it was totally infested with all the top invasive weeds of the Sydney region: asparagus fern, fishbone fern, blackberry, tradescantia and African olive. Slowly but surely, they began the task of removing the weeds with minimal disturbance and maximum vigilance.

Soon after Richard moved to his new property, he became involved with the bushcarers and witnessed the wonderful camaraderie among the group, seeing the bonds and friendships that went deeper than the soil seed bank. He learnt that the morning tea shared at each get-together was as important as the actual clearing and maintenance work taking place.

This special experience with the group and the work they were doing began to shift Richard’s perspective. While he ran his design and retail business, Garden Life, during the week, his connection to Country through the bush regeneration work on the weekends was changing his outlook. He developed a deeper appreciation of the natural bushland ecosystem and its perfectly imperfect beauty.

“My journey in this garden has been about removing weeds and waiting – waiting to see what would emerge once I’d removed the unhelpful plants.”

Through gardening at Trincomalee and the bush corridor, Richard has developed a new-found love and understanding for regenerative and naturalistic gardening. His more refined and stylistic garden ways have been transformed by nature and her ways. He now appreciates and incorporates local native plant species into his urban garden designs. He has even launched a new design practice focused on naturalistic garden design.