This rambling country garden in Boorowa is a real delight. Created by owner Joseph Corkhill as a venue for large gatherings and also to provide opportunities for a secluded getaway. Here, the family enjoys afternoon tea under the 100-year-old radiata pine.

Photography: Brigid Arnott

Although previously left by the wayside, this rural garden has had a stunning transformation thanks to recently graduated landscape designer Sam Crawford, who lives on the adjoining property, nicknamed Oak House. “I decided to use the Oak House garden as my experimental site, where I could try out plants, my passion, and develop my landscaping ideas and philosophies,” he says.

Photography: Simon Griffiths

In this Georgian sandstone cottage, a lovely country garden filled with mint, English box hedge, ‘Capital’ pear trees and Daphne odora ‘Alba’ blooms in the front yard.

Photography: Natasha Mulhall

Home to a variety of drought-resistant plants selected by owner Nicholas Scott, this garden is the perfect balance between wild and formal. Although contained within their assigned garden beds, the wild and climbing plants play into the home’s country setting.

Photography: Simon Griffiths

At this country house in Wamberal, NSW, Bradford pears line the gravel-laden driveway to the house. In the rest of the garden, texture plays a starring role, with a mature Chinese tallow tree, marsh sage, delicate blue sage, pink Lamarque Tea Noisette, and a sizable bird of paradise.

Photography: Brigid Arnott

Leisa Rossignol’s riotous, colorful cottage-style garden (pictured) positively blooms in every way possible. Driven by her love of all things vintage, the garden has an incredibly picturesque feel, with delicate flowers, vegetables and herbs grown all year round.

Photography: Hannah Puechmarin

This beautiful country garden, belonging to the restored house of colonial painter John Glover, is pure sunshine. Along with the redevelopment of the house came a redevelopment of the surrounding landscape, including a planting plan designed by Hobart landscape designer Catherine Shields.

Photography: Marnie Hawson

Two or three days of pruning are needed each month to keep this topiary garden in central Victoria looking perfect. Cypress trees have been trained into everything from corkscrew shapes to domes and pyramids. Photo: Simon Griffiths

Sable the dog disappears into rose bushes and other tall perennials. This sprawling garden is the brainchild of Tom Lyons and Fraser Young, who were inspired to create a garden in northern Tasmania after attending a seminar by gardening author Susan Irvine. Photo: Mark Roper

Unsurprisingly, the endless blooms of ‘something blue’ have made this garden, filled with blooming hydrangeas and violets, a popular setting for weddings. Here, the central courtyard is framed by Wisteria sinensis. Pat Poynter started the garden from scratch in 1997 and is passing on his passion for gardening to his grandchildren. Photo: Claire Takacs

In 2011, Tony and Karen Heggarty purchased a 5000 hectare station, the site of the abandoned Goonoo Goonoo village. Garden designer Adam Eurell, who was called in to work on the property, admits: “It was overwhelming when I arrived. “There were weeds and trees sprouting on some of the buildings.” Today, however, the impressive results speak for themselves. Photo: Brigid Arnott

When much of Brackenhurst was destroyed by a bushfire in 2011, owners Anthony and Ruth Edgerton-Warburton didn’t think much about their loss. Instead, the couple — and their friendly neighbors — set about planting fire-resistant trees, restoring the perimeter of the garden, and bringing the property back to life. Photo: Claire Takacs

Located in leafy Arcadia, NSW, this idyllic sanctuary is a piece of paradise, in more ways than one. This English cottage-style garden called Chanticleer, after the rows of Chanticleer pear trees, Pyrus calleryana ‘Glen’s Form’, planted in the formal courtyard, also serves as a wedding venue.

Photo: Brígida Arnott

Garden designer Kathleen Murphy has created a water-saving oasis at her home in Gisborne, Central Victoria, where clients can see her work first-hand. Kathleen’s plant choices range from the towering upright Beschorneria yuccoides with spikes of bright red flowers sprouting from a nest of gray leaves and the yellow spiers of verbascum flowers on silver leaves.

Photo: Marnie Hawson

Brenton Roberts, Sales Manager, moved into Ray Brodie Cottage in 2012 and has been growing his dream garden ever since. Trial and error, along with a little ingenuity, have made this country garden what it is today: a marvel of drought-tolerant plants grown almost entirely from cuttings. Photo: Claire Takacs

Every inch of this front garden with an assortment of succulents has been designed to make a statement. Statuesque agave and aloe leaves are shaded by date palms, while the trunks of the towering eucalyptus trees have been pruned to appear even taller than they really are. Add in blooming cacti and the yellow flowers of Verbascum and the end result is a very captivating tropical garden. Photo: Claire Takacs

“Loose and rambling” is how artist and florist Morgan Allender describes her inspiring Adelaide garden. “The theme I work on is landscape and botanical themes, and where you live affects your life,” she explains. Photo: Mark Roper

The grand façade of this Queen-Anne style house in North Bundaleer, South Australia, is once again bursting with life. When a Sydney couple looking for a tree makeover bought the property more than two decades ago, restoring the derelict front garden was at the top of their priority list. Photo: Michael Wee

A ‘fruhlingsgold’ rose sprawls over an antique statue in a manicured country garden in Newlyn, Victoria. The stunning garden of ornamental herbs, climbing roses and perennials is bordered by an immaculately trimmed boxwood border. Photo: Claire Takacs

Nooroo Garden at Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains is famous for its many varieties of wisteria, including a floribunda wisteria ‘Macrobotrys’ which is over 90 years old. Here, purple flowers are placed atop a pergola at the rear of the house, bringing color and shade to the outside area. Photo: Michael Wee

Mac Barry had always wanted to be a farmer, but it wasn’t until his grandmother suggested growing peonies (a flower neither of them knew much about) that his dream became a reality. Each year during November, Spring Hill Peony Farm produces 10,000 romantic blooms. Photo: Sharyn Cairns