Frog Hollow

Catherine Hill Bay, NSW

Linda’s coastal showpiece is a breathtaking example of a garden in symbiosis with its local natural environment. A botanic wildlife sanctuary set within a 1800’s heritage mining village on the edge of a melaleuca forest bordering 350 hectares of national park.

Linda says,

“Twelve years ago, we found a derelict, century-old miners’ cottage perched crookedly on a bare patch of grass in a village on the edge of a windswept beach known by surfers for its waves and by heritage buffs for its historic coal-loading jetty. The cottage sat between sand dunes, a national park and Lake Macquarie, and smack-bang in a Melaleuca forest. Serendipity - that was the name of our three-month daughter!

The garden borrows from the New Perennial movement and twists it to include Australian perennials. So, drifts of burgundy kangaroo paw, puffs of agastache, a patchwork of flannel flowers, musk pink dahlias, swaying grasses, swathes of white everlasting paper daisies, whilst brilliant bee-attracting salvias crash into everything. The primarily blue-grey foliage’s gives a pleasing underwater effect, especially as you can hear the waves breaking - when the kids are quiet!”