Tenterfield garden Eagles Bluff designed by Carolyn Robinson, from the book Australian Landscape Designers. Pictures: Nicholas Watt
Landscaper Carolyn Robinson’s garden style has come a long way from the early 1990s when she admired the English formality of Vita Sackville West’s garden, Sissinghurst, in Kent.
“I started my gardening career in early 1990 and 1991 and the paradigm was the English garden model,” says Carolyn. “It was all about shutting out the landscape rather than being inclusive of it.”
While her first garden Glenrock – once voted Australia’s best garden – reflected that style, her present garden Eagles Bluff, which she started in 2009, has a very different sensibility. Both are located on acreage outside Tenterfield in the New England area in regional NSW.
Carolyn does her gardening at the most comfortable time of day and is indoors by 11am to avoid working in full sun
Carolyn is one of 26 garden designers and landscapers in a new book, Australian Landscape Designers. She says her garden has been shaped by a desire to connect with the wild beauty of the site while building a garden that would still thrive in the harsh conditions.
The house and the garden were conceived at the same time.