Woodland, Bowral, NSW

A magical Southern Highlands garden sits high on The Gib, surveying the serene valley below. Behind a pretty hedgerow, the stone chimney gently smokes, someone's home! Two sentry trees stand guard - a grand old oak and a lovely Linden. A serpentine pathway takes us through a forest thick with white-trunked Birch.

Light shimmers, leaves rustle, our senses are on alert. A carpet of ephemeral bulbs ebb and flow throughout the seasons. Beyond, from the terrace we look over dreamy spring borders, to a French feather garden that peaks in summer, and watch it age wearily into an autumn sepia.

Architecture, interiors and fittings: Walter Barda Design