New path for old house

From adversity, sometimes a new opportunity arises.

The historic garden at Buda, the grand old 19th-century home in Castlemaine, took its share of battering from the drought followed by last year’s flooding rains.

The huge hedge that runs in a semi-circle outside the front of the house, for example, was damaged beyond repair.

While that means it must be replaced, the good news is that this is an opportunity to restore the hedge to what it would have been like when the family of silversmith Ernest Leviny lived there from the 1860s.

Buda’s garden curator Dianne Thomson has identified many such opportunities and is working steadily towards having this important heritage plant collection in good order – and looking good – in time for the second biennial Buda-fest at the end of this month.

Mrs Thomson can often be found among the plots and paths of Buda, usually with her favourite gardening tool, a long-handled secateur.

This garden is considered important among horticulturalists not just because of its formal planning principles but also because it has sought-after plants.

Mrs Thomson’s knowledge is, however, as practical as it is detailed: her session at Budafest is on "the essentials of fruit tree pruning".

Budafest is going for a community garden theme this year, as well as heritage gardening, and the sculpture show, the role of public gardens and gardening for fun and food.

One of the organisers Steve Doxey explains that it was the demise of the Spring Fair one particularly wet September which led to the festival rising again in this form, with a strong focus on providing inspiration for all kinds of gardening, from the vegetable patch to the planning of public spaces.

Budafest this year also coincides with the completion of most of the redevelopments at the Castlemaine Botanic Gardens, which were doubly damaged last year, not only by the flood inundations but also by vandalism which shocked the local community.

Kevin Walsh, who until recently worked with the Friends of the Bendigo Botanic Gardens in their efforts to have a curator appointed to the site, will don historic costume and head to the Castlemaine Gardens in the guise of Ferdinand von Mueller, who was government botanist and director of the Botanic Gardens in the 1850s.

Mr Walsh, who is also the author of a book on waterwise gardening, will chair the (free) final panel discussion on Sunday, on "gardeners growing communities", with horticultural manager at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne John Arnott, Sustainable Gardening Australia’s Helen Tuton and Cultivating Community’s Jennifer Alden.

Mr Doxey says the focus for Budafest is now "not just gardening but how gardeners contribute to the growth of their communities".

"There are so many different aspects, as people rethink gardening in response to the change in the climate," Mr Doxey says.

"We’ve really been able to extend the program and we have ecologists, horticulturalists, designers, community gardeners and artists coming.

"The hard bit is convincing gardeners to get involved… many gardeners think why would I come to talk and listen when I could be out in the garden?"

The good thing about Budafest is that you can also be out in the garden, and listening at the same time.

The usual $7 admission to the Buda Garden will be waived on the Budafest weekend.

For those who are keen to hear about everything from pickling olives to the value of trees and open space for growing populations, bookings can be made by August 18, to allow for tickets to be sent out by post. You can buy tickets on the day at Castlemaine Town Hall from 8.30am.

Mr Doxey says half the visitors for the inaugural Budafest were Castlemaine locals with the rest evenly divided between Melburnians and people from regional Victoria, including Bendigo.

The sculpture show, which was part of the former Spring Fair, will this year exhibit of the work of five central Victorian sculptors. It will be opened next Saturday, a week before the festival, by director of Bendigo Art Gallery Karen Quinlan.

In the Castlemaine Market Building, there will be an exhibition of art works featuring the roses of Buda.

Also on the program is a Garden Ramble, on the Friday before the festival, a self-drive tour with morning tea and boxed lunch provided, which takes in six gardens in the Castlemaine district.

Mr Doxey says his own involvement in this new and almost unique festival came about by chance rather than design, but he is enjoying to help build an event that has so much potential.

"We learnt a lot about what people are attracted to last time," he says.

Meanwhile, Mrs Thomson is down on her hands and knees, getting dirty, trying to make sure the garden is at its spring best for Budafest.

"I just hope all the bulbs do the right thing," she says.