Why The Braes Garden is a Must-Visit in Sydney
Sydney's Best Beautiful Garden tour, The Braes: A Must-see! #bluemountains #nswtourism #leuravillage #thebraes #leuragardens #gardeningaustralia #leura #katoomba
Sydney's Beautiful Garden, #leuragardensfestival The Braes. Between 1907 and 1914, the area served mainly as a dairy and poultry farm along with a market garden linked to the former Chateau Napier Guest House in Leura, which unfortunately was destroyed in the December 1957 bushfire. The property was initially owned by the McSweeney family until 1943 when it was sold to Dr. Geoffrey Hagarty. He enlisted the services of landscape architect Paul Sorensen to design the landscaping, with some workers from Everglades, a property owned by Henri Van de Velde, contributing to the construction of drystone walls. #bluemountains #australiatravel #naturelovers #sydney
From the mid-1956 until April 1996, The Braes had several owners until it was purchased by John and Margot Egan. In the 1990s, restoration efforts faced challenges due to local heritage regulations, but with collaboration between state and local authorities, approval was obtained for significant restoration work, aligning with the original designs of Sorensen.
The restoration involved various tasks such as building bridges, retaining creek banks, and implementing a conservation management plan to preserve the garden's heritage. Over the past 25 years, significant efforts have been made to restore the site, including removing invasive plant species like radiata pine, managing flooding, and terracing the landscape to match the 1940s design.
Today, The Braes boasts a diverse collection of over 200 tree, shrub, and perennial varieties, as well as sculptures, dams, fountains, and flowing creeks. The garden features an extensive array of trees and shrubs, some nearly a century old, alongside a wide variety of perennials and annuals. Additionally, an orchard with over 20 fruit and nut tree varieties, a rose garden, and a propagation facility producing thousands of plants annually contribute to the garden's richness.
Throughout the years, the dedicated efforts of head gardeners, laborers, stonemasons, horticulturalists, landscape architects, and plant specialists have been instrumental in maintaining and enhancing the garden. However, challenges such as creek flooding, phytophthora infestation, and disruptions caused by wildlife like sulphur-crested cockatoos and foxes have been ongoing concerns that require continuous management and mitigation efforts.
Head Gardeners have been supported by many capable garden labourers, stonemasons and horticulturalists, guided by landscape architects and other plant specialists without whose contribution we would not have made the progress we have to date.
Gardens are living assets, require constant attention and are the subject of both interference and support of nature which in the case of The Braes has not been free of challenge - the flooding of creeks during heavy continuous rains, the early identification of phytophthora and its remediation and eradication, and the negative impact of sulphur-crested cockatoos and foxes whose activities have been nothing but destructive, to name a few.
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