The NGVWA Garden Day stall will be located in this garden, offering artisanal baked goods, potted plants from Brooks Nursery, seasonal blooms from Flowers Vasette and a limited-edition range of floral linen designed by Camilla d’Antoine. Stock up for the festive season at the book stand with garden, nature and design titles generously donated by Thames & Hudson and others. Visiting authors will be signing copies of their books: Adelaide Bragg from 10am to 12pm, Robyn Lea from 10am to 4pm, Naomi Singer, founder of Raw Plant Life, from 12pm to 2pm and Charlotte Coote from 1pm to 3pm. A limited number of signed copies of two of Paul Bangay’s books, including his latest release, will also be available. Garden guides, including experts from Botanica World Discoveries, will be on hand throughout the day to speak with visitors. The raffle table will also be stationed here – buy your tickets for a chance to win a range of covetable prizes. Celebrated florist Cherrie Miriklis from Flowers Vasette will also be doing a floral demonstration between 11.30am and 2pm.

Behind high walls and decorative iron gates lies a spacious formal garden designed by Paul Bangay. Immaculately clipped rectangular hedges of Ficus hillii, edged with English box Buxus sempervirens, define a series of garden rooms. Generous paving, hedging, lawns and beds lend the garden a sense of grandeur, balance and scale, in keeping with the large house. The north-facing grounds form a private sanctuary with plenty of room for outdoor living, including a games court, swimming pool and spa.

On entering the property, you walk down an avenue of Ficus and box hedges with box domes at each corner, where John Kelly’s sculpture Menangle Tangle stands on a Corten steel plinth. Elegant Magnolia grandiflora stand on either side of the front door, and Ficus pumila softens the walls of the house. To the right is a garden room facing the front of the house, with a bed of silver birch Betula pendula above box domes of various sizes. Note the clever articulation of the lawn by the box hedging, slightly raised to form a semicircular arc in this room. Three sculptures by David Bromley, a friend of the owners, stand in this western bed: a Corten steel train and a single-engine aircraft on either side of a bronze trumpet player.

Do not miss the impressive, perfectly espaliered crabapple Malus spectabilis lining the entire far wall of the river-stone driveway. Moving north past the front door and tubs of vertically trained star jasmine Trachelospermum jasminoides, you step down to the games area, home to this year’s NGVWA Garden Day stall. Against a backdrop of white silver birch trunks Betula pendula is Bruce Armstrong’s sculpture Bunjil, depicting the ancestral being and creator spirit of the Kulin Nation in the form of a wedge-tailed eagle, Australia’s largest bird of prey.

The lawn is articulated at two heights, adding contrast. A row of Manchurian pears Pyrus ussuriensis runs along the northern boundary above a fragrant Murraya paniculata hedge and Gardenia edging. A pond with an elephant sculpture by Bromley breaks up the lawn, accompanied by a friendly squirrel rocker and Bromley’s bronze sculpture of a sleeping boy. Take a few minutes to admire the magnificent London plane Platanus × acerifolia at the house end of the garden. It has kept a very natural form and appears to have hardly ever been pruned – rare for plane trees in Melbourne. Its position anchors the house and studio.

An expert guide from Botanica World Discoveries will be on hand in this garden to answer questions on the day. A raffle table will also be stationed at this property, so buy your tickets for a chance to win a range of covetable prizes.

Several substantial houses inspired by the English Domestic Revival of the late 19th century were built in Toorak between the wars, including 4 Struan Street. Designed by Robert Bell Hamilton, it combines English characteristics with elements of the American Shingle Style. The current owners rebuilt much of the house just over a decade ago, retaining the façade and creating a garden full of character in collaboration with Paul Bangay. The garden also contains some exceptional sculptures.

Beyond the kerbside lawn and an old Melaleuca, a fragrant bay hedge Laurus nobilis leads into the generous circular entry garden. Massed shade-loving plants – mother shield fern Polystichum proliferum, pink Helleborus orientalis, floriferous Arthropodium cirratum and native violets Viola hederacea edged with white Primula – give plenty of foliage contrast beneath a majestic English elm Ulmus procera. Do not miss the Willie Wildlife birdbath fountain, complete with wrens.

Inside the gate is a large lawn that doubles as a golf putting green. Deborah Halpern’s exuberant, colourful sculpture Puff catches the eye near the scarlet oak Quercus coccinea. Closer to the house is Horse, the first of several bronze sculptures by Carlos Mata, and an iron table, Planting Waterlilies, by Keeyla Meadows (California).

In the nearby bed and throughout the garden, groups of three neatly clipped Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’ spheres mark each corner. A large Magnolia denudata is underplanted with bulbs, Cyclamen and Primula, and large pots of bright yellow Meyer lemons stand near the doors. Roses in these beds include ‘Heritage’, ‘Bianca’ and ‘Dame Elisabeth’.

On the left is a raised brick entertaining area framed by Wisteria, with an open fireplace and seating. Its mixed shade planting includes Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Alba’, Kurume azaleas, lemon Citrus × limon, Viburnum plicatum, Camellia japonica, maples, spring daffodils and several dogwoods Cornus ‘Constellation’. Do not miss Palumbo’s sculpture All Together Now (Ba, Daddy and Uncle Clark), beneath young elm trees.

Back down at ground level, past Carlos Mata’s bronze cows emerging from beneath the Wisteria, is a long, two-tiered bed backed by Ficus pumila. It contains blue-flowering Salvia nemorosa, Begonia, catmint Nepeta mussinii ‘Dropmore’, Geranium ‘Rozanne’, rosemary, French lavender Lavandula dentata and Pieris japonica, with a lilly pilly Acmena smithii hedge setting the scene for the roses along the eastern boundary. Towards the pool, near the archery target, is a more naturalised area of Spiraea cantoniensis, Cyclamen, roses, violets, spring jonquils and Begonia. Do not miss the series of toads accompanying you throughout the garden.

Of particular interest is the pool garden, with its iron diver poised for action. The Edge of the World (Standing) (2016) by the Spanish-born, Belgium-based Isabel Miramontes, reduces the figure to elongated planes, capturing a single instant of motion.

The garden outside the kitchen and living area has a purple and white theme set by perfectly proportioned Magnolia × soulangeana. Primula, Cyclamen, violets, roses and bluebells add further colour. The paved seating area features the sculpture pictured on this year’s Garden Day flyer, Reverso (2021) by French sculptor Jacques Le Bescond, who trained at the École Boulle and works in marble and bronze. It is set near a plane tree underplanted with Japanese anemones.

Downstairs on the lower terrace, Anna Eggert’s steel-mesh sculpture Dress rises from the neatly clipped grass. Here, a semicircle of Rosa rugosa ‘Alba’ is interspersed with a row of Manchurian pears Pyrus ussuriensis and a large Chinese elm Ulmus parvifolia at the end. The edging is a carpet of blue-flowering Burmese plumbago Ceratostigma griffithii. Continuing the blue and white theme on this level is a ceramic tiled table with an imposing ceramic sculpture by Bjørn Wiinblad.

Steps lead down to the bed of the ‘Toorak Creek’, lined with lilly pilly, huge palms and bamboo Bambusa oldhamii – a quiet refuge from the busy streets. The understorey has small palms, orange-flowering Clivia and ginger Hedychium gardnerianum. In this serene space, with its huge remnant River Red Gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis, there are glimpses of a neighbouring home designed by the late mid-century architect Robin Boyd. Swaying ferns and a vast canopy give this part of the garden its own microclimate, like a private tropical paradise in the heart of Toorak!

Gardener Donna Somerville will be in this garden to speak with visitors on the day, together with a garden guide from Botanica World Discoveries.

Originally laid out by Edna Walling in the 1940s, this stylish, much-loved garden – enjoyed by three generations of the family and a menagerie of four-legged friends – is set out as a series of garden rooms. Trees and shrubs behind low stone walls give each room structure and foliage contrast, linked by gravel paths, stone paving and a handsome pergola, while a succession of fragrant flowers provides colour through the seasons. Cared for and added to by the current owners over the past 30 years, in collaboration with Donna Somerville of Garden Inspirations, the garden complements the elegant house.

The entry is paved with washed river stones, interspersed with irregular pieces of slate. The driveway is framed by Buxus ‘clouds’, mondo grass and Ficus pumila covering the low stone wall on the left. To the right is a round, keyhole-shaped garden by Paul Bangay, centred on a pond with curved, rustic faux-bois seating and a basking cherub peeping out from white-flowering water iris Iris pseudacorus. Along the western boundary, naturalised planting – Camellia, arum lilies, ginger, Clivia, Dracaena, Hydrangea, violets and Salvia – sits beneath established trees, including a large Norfolk Island hibiscus Lagunaria patersonii.

Bluestone steps flanked by urns of soft yellow Clivia lead past an antique white iron bench to the pergola designed by architect David Wilkinson. The climber with veined leaves on the verandah posts is Parthenocissus henryana, beneath a towering old lilly pilly Acmena smithii. The pergola’s stone columns carry Wisteria and pink, perfumed Clematis montana ‘Elizabeth’. The path – lined with New Zealand rock lily Arthropodium cirratum ‘Matapouri Bay’, Begonia, oakleaf hydrangea ‘Alice’ and Nephrolepis ferns – leads to a classical stone urn beneath a magnificent old Chinese elm Ulmus parvifolia. On the left is a variegated shell ginger Alpinia zerumbet with pink-and-white flowers. Looking back towards the driveway is a Viburnum macrocephalum, whose lime-green flower heads grow larger as they open.

Two cast-stone cherubs mark the step up to the tennis court (acquired in 1998) and the south-western garden. A row of Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Pearl’ runs along the boundary, edged with Begonia, Euphorbia and Salvia, and a well-established Jacaranda mimosifolia fills the corner. The southern bed holds the silver leaves of Plectranthus argentatus, lilacs, Spiraea and deep purple Salvia ‘Anthony Parker’, backed by a Portuguese laurel hedge. The court is lined by 18 Manchurian pears Pyrus ussuriensis underplanted with Euphorbia. Heading back towards the house, you pass a ‘Pierre de Ronsard’ rose on the wrought-iron fence, topiarised English box, silver birches with arum lilies, stone ‘fruit bowl’ statues and the double-flowered oakleaf hydrangea ‘Snowflake’. Clivia line the footings of the house, Boston ivy softens the walls and before the steps stands a tall Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Alice’, with huge white summer panicles and burgundy autumn foliage.

Towards the driveway grow more oakleaf hydrangeas and the ‘naughty little’ Salvia ambigens, a self-sowing filler with deep ‘biro blue’ flowers. A large Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’ has replaced a fallen crabapple on the corner of the bed on the right and opposite is a swathe of red-flowering japonica Chaenomeles. Further up the driveway, an old ‘Wedding Day’ rose by the verandah has been pruned after recent possum damage. Box shapes are joined by long-flowering dog’s bane Coleus caninus, two Pyrus calleryana ‘Capital’, Salvia ‘Greek Skies’, vanilla-scented heliotrope and established ‘Iceberg’ roses beneath the windows. Star jasmine Trachelospermum jasminoides lines the walls around the deck, a favourite midnight-snack stop for possums from the Kooyong Gardens next door!

The highlight of the northern garden, on the left of the driveway, is the magnificent and regionally-significant River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis, over 350 years old – be sure to look up. Its cousins stand over the fence in the Glenferrie Road park, but this is an outstanding, healthy remnant red gum in urban Melbourne. Around it, conical English box mingles with Geranium, white Nicotiana, lavender and Artemisia arborescens, backed by Viburnum odoratissimum, Daphne, hellebores, self-seeding Geranium maderense and forget-me-nots. After a massive branch fell from the red gum, the bed beyond was replanted with silver birches around a central Ginkgo biloba, with pale pink Crinum, white Plectranthus ecklonii, Clivia and Acanthus mollis. Look for the pair of bronze cranes among the evergreen hydrangea Dichroa versicolor, near the lime-green Nicotiana langsdorffii.

Near the pool, a large old crabapple Malus ioensis is underplanted with scented-leaf pelargoniums, hellebores, Viburnum opulus and Daphne. Inside the pool gate, two mirrored beds of star jasmine hold white- flowering crepe myrtles Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’ within clipped box hedges, and Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Blush’ lines the north side. The stone wall with built-in seating around the pool is a testament to Edna Walling’s legacy.

Heading west towards the street, a stately old Chinese elm Ulmus parvifolia (with a companion across the driveway) and red japonica remain from Walling’s original planting, above drifts of Arthropodium, hellebores, viburnums, Euphorbia and spring bulbs. Three newly- planted cut-leaf birches Betula pendula ‘Dalecarlica’ stand near a Malus transitoria, with Forsythia, Philadelphus, Stachys, lavender, Iris and grey-leaved Teucrium fruticans beneath. Boston ivy Parthenocissus tricuspidata now covers the new boundary fence and a Norfolk Island hibiscus Lagunaria patersonii stands near a tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera in the northern bed.

This property is owned by the founders of Smith & Singer, whose fine art gallery and auction house is nearby at ‘Darnlee’, a historic property at 33 Lansell Road, Toorak, with a new garden also designed by Paul Bangay. Along with the six gardens open on Garden Day, ticket holders can visit the gallery between 10am and 4pm.

One of the highlights of Garden Day this year is the hidden Paul Bangay garden surrounding ‘Trawalla’, the grand Italianate mansion built in 1867– 68 for merchant George Stevenson. Dame Nellie Melba’s father, David Mitchell, is thought to have been the builder. The estate once covered more than a dozen acres bounded by Toorak, Grange, Orrong and Robertson roads. Beyond the stately wrought-iron gates, the driveway is paved with rustic stone pavers and lined by an immaculately clipped 20-year-old Ficus hillii hedge.

In his classic style, Paul has laid out the garden as a series of rooms. To the left of the entrance, on the generous lawn, a garden room of English box hedging punctuated by clipped box domes echoes the semicircular bow windows and verandah of the house. The hedges and trees are scaled to the house’s tall ceilings, columns and decorative wrought-iron upstairs verandah.

The front beds feature two huge, sculptural Liquidambar styraciflua, carefully pruned and partly coppiced over the years. The understorey is mass-planted with oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia, Arthropodium cirratum and Mexican orange blossom Choisya ternata.

A washed river-stone path on the left of the house leads to the rear garden, created with Paul after the owners purchased the adjoining land around 12 months ago. Three tiers of lawn are retained by steel edging, with a broad central step up to each level, adding a wonderful sense of depth. Each level has a stand of silver birch Betula pendula, in a rhythm of four, two and four; their white trunks echo the large white door and window frames of the house.

The tall Ficus hillii hedge continues around the rear, providing a green screen and privacy. Note the ingenious living pergola over the outdoor dining area on the lower level, made from espaliered plane trees Platanus orientalis trained on a bamboo frame that will be removed in time. Large plane trees in Orrong Road form a borrowed backdrop. The centrepiece is on the top level; five George Baldessin pears, each 1.7 metres high, placed among the birches. Their sensuous, curvaceous shapes, tactile finish and patina draw visitors up to inspect them.

Heading back to the house, you come to the indoor pool. Against the wall facing the garden is a classic John Kelly sculpture of two black-and-white bronze cows, Menangle Tangle. Opposite is a bronze heron by Brett Whiteley, part of his important bird series; Whiteley often said he saw the world from a bird’s point of view.

Nearby is another Whiteley sculpture, Bather, modelled on his wife, Wendy. Originally carved from mangrove wood, the bronze retains the superb textures and flowing lines of the timber.

Garden designer Myles Baldwin will be in this garden to answer questions on the day.

Designed by Myles Baldwin, this stylish garden complements ‘Long Croft’, a substantial Queen Anne Victorian residence built around 1888, at the height of the ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ boom. Behind high walls, dense plantings offer wonderful foliage contrast and seasonal flowers – a restful escape from the bustle of High Street.

On entry, the planting on the left is echoed behind John Kelly’s striking black-and-white cow sculpture. A large Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ offers the first welcome, backed by glossy clipped Viburnum suspensum beneath a Japanese maple Acer palmatum. Opposite is a Magnolia × soulangeana. Shaped Buxus microphylla balls, mixed spring bulbs, Hydrangea and the soft purple, long-flowering Plectranthus ecklonii – with its square stems and leaves green above and purple beneath – form the middle layer, edged with massed violets Viola odorata.

A standout is the tall herbaceous perennial Eupatorium maculatum, with its large soft leaves and purple flowers, contrasting with the leafy – and surprisingly tall – dwarf ginger Alpinia nutans. A pair of dogwoods, Cornus florida, stand either side of the front door, while Wisteria floribunda climbs the elegant fluted verandah columns.

Note the unique driveway down to the garage. Rough-cut stone pavers form the wheel tracks, while the median strip and verges are massed with Dichondra repens and violets, lined with fragrant Choisya ternata, Hydrangea, ginger and clipped Teucrium balls. Boston ivy Parthenocissus tricuspidata clothes the walls of the house here, with star jasmine Trachelospermum jasminoides on the boundary wall opposite.

Please mind the step up on the left to the rear-garden walkway, where box domes lead to larger balls of Rhaphiolepis indica ‘Oriental Pearl’ on the right. Climbers soften the walls, including chocolate vine Akebia quinata, with its distinctive five-leaflet leaves and purple, chocolate- scented flowers.

In the rear garden, a substantial old peppercorn tree Schinus molle on the right probably dates from the late 1800s, like the attractive original stables at the back of the property. The planting on the right repeats the signature combinations of the front garden, edged with the large ‘tractor seat’ leaves of Ligularia tussilaginea seen out front. A glossy lilly pilly hedge screens the neighbours.

The bed along the pool fence features tall clumps of honey bush Melianthus major, with its architectural, softly serrated glaucous leaves and spikes of deep crimson flowers rich in nectar for wattlebirds and honeyeaters. It is underplanted with fragrant Gardenia augusta, balls of blue-grey Teucrium fruticans and rosemary. The dark, reflective pool is screened to the east by tall weeping lilly pilly Waterhousia floribunda. Near the house are Hydrangea paniculata, Viburnum suspensum and Eupatorium. Do not miss looking up at the stunning balcony garden, where pink Bergenia and Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ spill over the planter box, with Rhaphiolepis indica ‘Oriental Pearl’ and succulents behind.

Justin Harrison of Harrison Horticulture and a garden guide from Botanica World Discoveries will be in this garden to speak with visitors on the day.

This much-loved, family-friendly English-style garden, which thrives in spring, is tended by Justin Harrison of Harrison Horticulture. Set out in several garden rooms, mostly behind neat English box hedges, it has a delightful mix of old and new plantings.

Along the picket fence is a well-established hedge of Manchurian pear Pyrus ussuriensis, underplanted with Azaleas, Arthropodium, hellebores, Daphne and purple-flowered Stachys. In the left corner, beneath the maples, is a bright border of dwarf yellow broom Cytisus racemosus ‘Nana’ with coast bulbine lily Bulbine crassa ‘Bright Star’ and its yellow, star-shaped flowers. A neatly espaliered crabapple Malus ioensis frames this area.

The front verandah border has old standard roses with peach flowers and a fragrant climbing jasmine, underplanted with a purple Salvia that leads the eye back to the central bed. This is dominated by the glossy foliage and vigorous purple flowers of a New Zealand Hebe, with standard roses above and two large Michelia yunnanensis. A swathe of groundcover fringe flower Loropetalum, with its striking red leaves and pink flowers, highlights the corner of the bed near the main path.

The Loropetalum is mirrored in the bed opposite, where tall yellow Paris daisy Euryops chrysanthemoides stands at the back. Interestingly, the tall plant between the garage and the roadside fence is also a Loropetalum. Four aged, standardised snow pears Pyrus nivalis define the four entrance beds, which contain a swathe of Daphne, Pittosporum ‘Miss Muffet’, Salvia, tall strap-leaved Dianella, Azaleas, Viburnum japonicum and vigorous white-flowering Rhaphiolepis.

A magnificent old Acer negundo towers above a charming antique iron ‘tree seat’, surrounded by ginger, Viburnum, violets and English box, with a Waterhousia floribunda hedge behind. A large stone fountain adds structure and the soothing sound of running water. As you walk towards the front door, note the two standardised holly trees Ilex aquifolium on either side of the archway.

Beside the front door are the striking, lush ‘tractor seat’ leaves of Ligularia reniformis, which bears yellow daisy-like flowers later in summer, with more strap-leaved Arthropodium.

Through the arch, adorned with star jasmine, on the brick-paved area to the right is a standard weeping Mt Fuji cherry Prunus serrulata ‘Shirotae’. Do not miss, nestled into this bed, Lisa Roet’s sculpture Chimp Index Finger (2018) in Carrara marble.

On the left is a row of Camellia sasanqua with Japanese anemones and violets. An enormous Magnolia grandiflora in the next bed anchors the house to the garden, underplanted with massed violets, hellebores, Azaleas and Hydrangea.

Opposite is a generous lawn and games area, bounded on one side by a tall lilly pilly hedge Acmena smithii and on the other by a tall screening hedge of Manchurian pear Pyrus ussuriensis along the boundary.

Beyond is the kitchen garden and a deck off the house, with a herb basket and a row of three Meyer lemons underplanted with rosemary, dark purple hyacinths, sage, other herbs and mondo grass. A lemon verbena Aloysia citrodora offers its fragrant bright green leaves for refreshing tea. A standard weeping Prunus subhirtella ‘Falling Snow’ near the wall of the house bears a mass of small, single, snowy-white blossoms in spring. A pair of standardised cumquats stands in pots on the deck.

At the rear of the property is the pool, complete with a mini ha-ha (a deep trough, so please keep clear). A new border along the pool includes mondo grass and foxtail fern Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyersii’. The birches in the neighbouring property provide a lovely borrowed landscape. The barbecue area is framed by a Wisteria arbour and walls covered in Ficus pumila. Through the shuttered windows at the back of the pool house is a colourful mural, underplanted with Camellia ‘Brushfield’s Yellow’.

In the south-eastern corner is a delightful original stable building, reached by a stepping-stone path lined with fragrant groundcovers of mint, Ajuga and violets. Apples grow against the stable walls, and a row of hydrangeas stands with citrus in the opposite bed. At the end of the path is Lisa Roet’s bronze sculpture Communitas 1 (2017, cast 2025).

• The gardens are open from 10am–4pm.
• Ensure you have your ticket/s to scan at each garden, as they are a condition of entry.
• You can start your tour at any of the gardens. Carpooling and/or public transport are highly recommended to help avoid parking problems and traffic congestion. We encourage patrons to walk between gardens, where possible.
• Refer to the map to plan your route and for other helpful informa- tion about public transport, local cafés, parking and amenities.
• No public lavatories are available in the private gardens. Please use public facilities as detailed on the map.
• The stalls and raffle tables at this event are cashless. EFTPOS facilities are available.
• Surveillance systems are operational in the gardens.
• Dogs and picnics are not permitted.
• Photography and videos of the houses are not permitted except by assigned professionals commissioned by the NGVWA. Official photographers and videographers will capture footage and images on the day for use in NGVWA social media and subsequent Garden Day promotions. Please advise the photographers/videographers or the volunteer garden attendants if you do not wish to be photographed.
• It is recommended that visitors wear sensible shoes. There may be hazards in gardens that affect access, including steps, steep inclines, gravel paths, narrow paths, rocks obscuring clear access, water features, split levels and swimming pools. Please use handrails for stairs where available.
• Volunteer garden attendants and NGV security personnel with first aid training will be present in each garden.
• Some gardens have areas that are not accessible to ticket holders. Please follow the instructions of the volunteer garden attendants and security personnel at all times.
• Please come prepared with your own water bottle, sun hat, sun-screen, umbrella, and raincoat, if necessary.