IN FULL BLOOM

Excerpt from an address on the history of the College landscape, given by landscape architect Oi Choong at the Wisteria Lunch in September 2022

HE GROUNDS and gardens of the College are a fundamental part, not only of the architectural setting of the University, but of College life itself. How many of us remember sunbathing on a warm spring day in the courtyards, delighting at the colourful haze of azaleas and camellias at the front garden, or the accompanying dread that followed the first flush of jacarandas in spring that signalled exam time! But when the foundations for the Main building were laid, College existed in an open, treeless paddock with no street frontage, on lands that were formerly part of Major Grose’s farm.

The College was built during a financial depression and very little funds were available for landscape development. From the first, however, there were aspirations to give the College a suitable setting, and parts of the garden design began to be laid out. The first trees were planted in the winter of 1893 by prominent citizens connected with the College and the University.

Two powerful and enduring themes have underpinned the design philosophy of the site planning and served as a constant for successive architects for the College. Firstly, the creation of enclosed lush landscaped courtyards in the Oxbridge style, for the safe enjoyment of the residents; and secondly, the retention of the romantic parkland garden setting in the much admired western entry precinct in front of Main.

According to the College’s Conservation Management Plan, the loveliest period of the College grounds was during the 1920s-30s, coinciding with the arrival of College’s long term resident gardener Ms Elise Warren. During Ms Warren’s tenure, a rose garden and wisteria archway were added and a substantial vegetable garden cultivated in the paddock. Azaleas were donated by the principal, Mrs Fitzhardinge, herself a keen gardener. A pet sheep helped to keep the grass mown.

The practice of inviting those connected with the College to plant trees continued. In the spring of 1928, eighteen types of trees presented by the Botanic Gardens on the advice of curator James Grant were added to the paddock, creating a more park-like setting. In December 1934, Lady Game planted