Mayfield Garden facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mayfield Garden
Sculptured Thuja hedge
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Type	Botanical, forest, nature reserve
Location	Oberon, New South Wales, Australia
Area	15 hectares (37 acres)
Operated by	Hamish Keith (CEO)
Status	Open all year

Mayfield Garden is a beautiful botanical garden located in Oberon, New South Wales, Australia. It's about 200 kilometers west of Sydney. This garden is one of the biggest privately owned "cool climate" gardens in the world. It sits within a huge 5,000-acre farm. Mayfield Garden is a lively spot for art and fun in the Central West part of the state. It's open every day, and you need to buy a ticket to enter.

The garden was created by a botanist named Garrick Hawkins. He was inspired by the grand gardens of Europe. Mayfield Garden features huge green areas, long rows of trees, and amazing colors that change with the seasons. It also has many beautiful flowering plants. The garden has two main parts: the public Mayfield Garden and the private Hawkins’ Family Garden.

History of Mayfield Garden

The land where Mayfield Garden now stands was originally a sheep farm. It was first set up in 1984. Garrick Hawkins started building a small personal garden there in 1984. He worked with a local plant expert named Peter D'Arcy. Over the next thirty years, this small garden grew into one of the largest and most impressive gardens of its kind. Even though the garden is now a major attraction, farming activities still happen on the 2,025 hectares (5,000 acres) of land around it. The garden was officially opened to visitors in 2008.

Exploring the Garden Collections

The Mayfield Garden Experience

The Water Garden is a large area, about 2.5 hectares in size. It has tall red oak and copper beech trees that form a leafy roof. Below them, you'll find many colorful rhododendrons and maples. Closer to the ground, there are hellebore and alchemilla plants. In spring and summer, the garden bursts with bright flowering bulbs.

A stunning stone cascade is a main feature here. It was designed to look like the natural sandstone cliffs of nearby Kanangra Walls. The garden also has a very large collection of maples, possibly the biggest in Australia. You can also see many hydrangeas and beautiful water lilies that bloom in the summer.

Valley of the Five Ponds

The Valley of the Five Ponds is shaped like a valley. It's filled with a woodland collection of trees that lose their leaves in autumn. These include oaks, maples, birch, and beech. Closer to the ground, you'll find shrubs like viburnum, Rhododendron molle, and cornus. In winter, hellebore flowers, and in summer, heuchera blooms.

Other spring flowers in this area include tulips, daffodils, fritillaria, crocus, grape hyacinth, and allium. In summer, the valley also has a meadow full of wildflowers and hostas. A stone water trough winds through the valley, connecting the five ponds.

You can also find an alley of London plane trees and a 12.5-meter Obelisk Pond. There's a Bluestone Bridge and The Copper Tree Fountain. The garden also has several outdoor theaters and fun interactive games like chess, croquet, and ping pong.

The Hawkins’ Family Private Garden

The Hawkins’ Family Garden is the private part of the garden, belonging to the Hawkins family. It covers an extra 49 hectares (120 acres) beyond the main Mayfield Garden. This area has the second largest maze of its kind in Australia. You'll find many different plant species here. These include dahlias, zinnias, poppies, delphiniums, lilies, hollyhocks, and lupins.

The private garden also features a pine forest with rhododendrons and ferns growing underneath. There's a chicken coop and a lovely rose garden with special David C.H. Austin roses and hybrid tea roses. You can also see wisteria, climbing hydrangea, and tall, narrow juniper trees. The heath gardens are home to Erica and Calluna plants. Around the lake and boardwalk, there are many types of Rhododendron and Mollis Azaleas.

Facilities and Fun Activities

Mayfield Garden has a café and a produce store. About 80 percent of the food sold there is grown right on the property! There's also a Sandstone Gallery, which is a place for art shows and exhibitions. You can also find a Retail Nursery Gallery.

The Hawkins’ family's Private Garden opens to the public four times a year. This happens during each seasonal festival. These events have a fun, fair-like atmosphere with entertainment in the Garden Centre. You can also enjoy various activities like rowing on Mayfield Lake and exploring the garden's maze. If you want to take wedding photos or other types of pictures in the garden, there are fees to pay.

Gallery

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  The ornamental landscape

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  A small waterfall within the flowery vista

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  Ornamental trees

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  London plane trees

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  Colourful deciduous plant scenery

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  A dazzling lily pond

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  The Grotto (cascading waterfall)

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  The bluestone bridge waterfall