Caroline Grant
Chair:
Caroline Grant
Minute Secretary:
Theresa Putland
Treasurer:
Ruth Morgan
NMC Rep:
Caroline Grant
Membership Secretary:
Joy Hill
Newsletter Editors:
Caroline Grant and Carmel O'Halloran
Web Updates:
Ruth Morgan
Committee:
Joy Hill
Carmel O'Halloran
Theresa Putland
John Viska
Andrea Whitley
6.30 pm Monday 20th February 2012
Cost: $5 members, $10 non-members
RSVP to Caroline Grant (contact details above) or Carmel O’Halloran carmeloh1@bigpond.com or 9453 3304
Grove Community Centre 1 Leake St (cnr Leake St and Stirling Highway), Peppermint Grove
Presentation by AGHS member Patrick Beale, on restoring a ruin in South West France, and coming to understand an historic landscape. This has included improving his French, restoring an old chestnut grove and revitalising an ailing walnut orchard: trimming dead wood, planting new walnuts and other fruit trees. Please arrive by 6.30 pm to welcome non-members and Patrick. Afterwards we will share a delicious supper prepared by the committee, and expect the meeting to close by 9 pm.
Discussion:
Of all the issues to arise from the landscape forum in March 2011, and more recently the Historic Gardens of Perth exhibition which raises questions about the treatment of the Moreton Bay fig trees on The Esplanade, the common theme is trees and their treatment. There is a view that we should raise awareness about the importance of trees in Perth, both exotic and native, and that there is too much bifurcation in our discussion about plants, so that supporters of remnant bushland are vying for attention with people who support a garden aesthetic which includes exotic trees and shrubs. The motives to create a garden are many and varied, but the instinct to create public gardens to provide amenity, and as the green lungs of cities, has prevailed since ancient times, and has been crucial to the development of the city since the industrial era. As the pressure to increase urban density and the proportion per hectare of concrete versus vegetation increases, one wonders who is measuring the Heat Island Effect of removing vegetation, and the much more difficult to quantify element of amenity: cool green space is precious. For this reason the first two presentations of 2012 deal with trees in the broader picture, at the level of working woodlands and the large tree nursery enterprise that was Hamel Nursery. We shall gauge the responses to these events and see whether a tree forum event can be scheduled later in the year.
6.30 pm Monday 12th March 2012
Cost: $5 members, $10 non-members
RSVP to Caroline Grant (contact details above) or Carmel O’Halloran carmeloh1@bigpond.com
Grove Community Centre cnr Leake St and Stirling Highway, Peppermint Grove
Presentation by AGHS committee member John Viska, on Hamel Nursery which has been so important for propagating and distributing trees both native and exotic in Western Australia. Established by Conservator of Forests, John Ednie-Brown in 1897, Hamel Nursery included the first arboreta in the state, the site of one of the first experimental farms and the first out-station established under Fremantle Prison for short term and near-release prisoners. It played an integral role in the development of forest industries in the state, and the establishment of public parks and gardens throughout the state for more than 60 years. Many of the mature trees we enjoy in our parks and gardens were sourced from Hamel Nursery.
Christmas party at Woodloes Homestead, Cannington
Woodloes is the City of Canning’s local museum and was the home of Francis Bird, architect, who in partnership with Benjamin Mason was responsible for the increase in the importance of timber as a major export for Western Australia. The house was one of the first architect designed residences south of the Swan River, built c.1871. The grounds contain mature shade trees including a bunya pine, from which it is said a seed cone was taken and planted at Old Farm Strawberry Hill in Albany, when Francis Bird and family purchased the farm in 1889. If anyone can shed light on where Mrs Bird obtained her Woodloes bunya pine, please let us know. It was a very hot day but the proximity to the Canning River made the event very pleasant and we all enjoyed John Viska’s quiz, and being shown through the little chapel and the house, including the very cool cellar, reminding us of how people coped in the days before electric refrigeration and air conditioning.
Copies of former AGHS WA Treasurer Gillian Lilleyman’s new book A Garden on the Margaret sold well.
John Viska presented a talk on the horticultural uses of glass at Halliday House in Bayswater. John showed us a number of interesting specimens for inside and outside the home.
Annual General Meeting: Gooseberry Hill Hall
Richard Offen gave a talk at the branch AGM on his role in the restoration of the garden at Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire, and on Victorian plant collectors. Gillian Lilleyman retired from the committee as Treasurer, taking a well-earned break after five years’ service.
AGHS WA Landscape Forum
Information about the AGHS WA Landscape Forum held in March, is contained in the April 2011 newsletter.
Historic Gardens of Perth exhibition: Perth Town Hall
The WA branch of the Australian Garden History Society held a photographic exhibition ‘Historic Gardens of Perth’ in the ground floor exhibition space of the Perth Town Hall. The exhibition covered a selection of Perth gardens ranging from plant nurseries, market gardens, private pleasure gardens and public parks, most of them within the city precinct.
By highlighting many largely unknown gardens, the exhibition provided an overview of horticulture practice and the changing trends that resulted from the growth and development of the city. As well as showcasing private gardens, it looked at the role played by certain public officials and municipal gardeners, who, in guiding plant selection and garden design, laid the foundation of the current city streetscapes.
The exhibition, which was funded by the WA branch and the National Management Committee of the Australian Garden History Society, with generous assistance from the City of Perth, promoted the importance of parks and gardens in the history of Perth. Much of the supporting research and material of this significant part of the city’s cultural heritage had not been viewed by the broader public, and will be brought together for the first time.
Held to commemorate the twenty-first anniversary of the WA branch of the Australian Garden History Society, the exhibition aimed to raise awareness of the role and work of the society in the local community, and drew on the research and curatorial expertise of John Viska, Lisa Williams, Elizabeth Hof, Gillian Lilleyman and Ruth Morgan.
After the exhibition closed, research and graphic display material was donated to the local studies collection at the City of Perth Library, expanding and extending the material’s accessibility to the general public.
It received many positive comments from visitors as well as the Heritage Council of WA.
A warm welcome to new members. Remember to check the website regularly for updates concerning events for 2011.
