Landscape

Open to the public year round, the six hectares of gardens and parklands at Heide have been developed over the past sixty-five years in tandem with its art and architecture. When John and Sunday Reed acquired the Heide property in 1934 it was a run down dairy farm and virtually treeless. They immediately set about establishing a Provencal-inspired kitchen garden adjacent to the original farmhouse and initiated a major planting program of exotic trees such as the Canary Island Oaks and the Osage Orange, and fragrant ornamental flowers including roses and the lavender hedge planted along the circular driveway.

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  Photograph: Fred Kroh
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  Photographs: John Gollings
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Their aim was two-fold: to lay the groundwork for a self-sufficient lifestyle complete with home-grown vegetables and fruit, dairy cows and chickens, and to fulfil an aesthetic vision for the property. As John Reed later reflected, they sought 'to achieve an overall sense of informality - a park forest rather than strictly a park - trees are allowed to grow naturally, often with the branches sweeping the ground, shrubs become unruly and violets and forget-me-nots are encouraged to grow wild in the grass.'

Despite setbacks due to flooding of the Yarra River, the Reeds gradually established a thriving collection of diverse plant species across their acreage, often enlisting artist friends and visitors to assist with the workload. John and Sunday indulged their taste for rare and romantic varieties in plantings such as the Osage orange grove, with its curiously formed fruit, the violet tunnel, and unusual roses, herbs, and vegetables. Sunday's Heart Garden, an enclosed heart-shaped bed made in memory of her long love affair with artist Sidney Nolan, is one of several symbolic plantings that characterises the original gardens.

Encourage and guided by gardener and conservationist Neil Douglas, whom they employed from 1936 on, the Reeds shifted their focus from exotic to native plants. By the early 1960s they were actively researching and acquiring species local to the area and more resilient in flood conditions. Neil Douglas also designed the wild garden on the south side of Heide I and helped with the cultivation of the orchard in front of the house.

During the construction of Heide II, the Reeds' modernist residence on the property, they established a second kitchen garden close to the new house. Like the first kitchen garden it produced a blend of vegetables, herbs and ornamental plants, and remained essentially Sunday's domain. In the spirit of the Reeds' lifestyle, both Heide kitchen gardens are still in use, supplying the café with fresh produce on a daily basis.

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  Photographs: Fred Kroh
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Today the cultivated landscape offers a space for family enjoyment, respite and individual reflection and incorporates a sculpture park and several of the original gardens, which are now heritage listed.  Two recent gardens added to the Heide landscape are Karakarook's Garden (2005-06) by Melbourne artist Lauren Berkowitz, located near the oak tree at the rear of Heide I, and a native rockery garden commissioned from Fiona Hall in 2009 at the entrance to Heide III. Another form of artist's garden is the Mari Funaki Memorial Grove at the lower western edge of the park, established in December 2010 by fellow artists and family to honour the late artist's fondness for the beauty of Heide's natural environment.