THE SIMPLE LIFE
SUSAN SEES HER GARDEN AS “A PRODUCTIVE MESS. MOST GARDENS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU GET A DESIGNER OR LANDSCAPER IN, TEND TO BE QUITE FORMAL AND NEAT. OURS ISN’T.”
Nearly a century ago, the hilly suburb of Newtown, one of the highest points in the Victorian city of Geelong, was semi-rural. According to resident Susan Bird, there was an orchard on the slopes of nearby Queens Park as well as market gardens and nurseries.
“The Chinese gardeners were up early seven days a week, digging, planting and seeding,” she says. “Vegetables were washed, bunched and put on backs of trucks and they were delivered to customers all over Geelong on Tuesdays, Thursdays and
