Famous Australian Landscape Designer, Edna Walling (1895–1973)
Introduction "Edna Margaret Walling (1895-1973), garden designer, was
born on 4 December 1895 at York, England, second daughter of William
Walling, furniture dealer's clerk, and his wife Harriet Margaret, née Goff.
The gardens she created typically exhibited a strong
architectural character. For clients in the wealthy suburbs of Melbourne and
on country estates, her designs included grand architectural features—walls,
pergolas, stairs, parterres, pools and colonnades—woven into a formal
geometry; but she always found a space for a 'wild' (unstructured) section.
As her standing increased, she took up commissions in South Australia and
New South Wales. Education & Training: Encouraged by her mother, Edna studied at the School of Horticulture, Burnley, gaining her government certificate in December 1917. Asked by an architect to plan a garden, she jumped at the opportunity. More commissions followed and by the early 1920s she had built a flourishing practice in garden design.(Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)
Experiences: Edna Walling is synonymous with Australian garden design.
Although she died in 1973, her love of blending native plants and exotics,
thyme lawns, informal garden pools, handbuilt paths, and integrating the
house with a serene yet untamed garden, is still influential in garden
design today.
By the 1940s Walling's was a household name and she capitalized on her popularity by publishing four successful books:
A further monograph, On the Trail of Australian Wildflowers, appeared posthumously in 1984. (Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)
Her regular gardening columns (1926-46) in Australian Home Beautiful enhanced her reputation and extended her influence.(Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)
Edna Walling designed Bickleigh Vale. In the early 1920s Walling had acquired land at Mooroolbark [east of Melbourne] where she built a house for herself, known as Sonning. Here she lived and worked, establishing her nursery and gathering around her a group of like-minded people for whom she designed picturesque 'English' cottages and gardens. She named the area Bickleigh Vale village. (Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)
Edna Walling designed the garden at Markdale for Mr. and
Mrs. G. Ashton in 1947. Markdale is in Binda, N.S.W:
Edna designed gardens for some famous Australians - Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Elizabeth Murdoch Buderim: By 1967,
tiring of the characterless suburbs advancing towards Bickleigh Vale, she
moved to Buderim, Queensland, to be in a warmer climate and near to her
niece Barbara Barnes.(Source:
Australian Dictionary of Biography) Links:
Create Your Own Garden Design Primary Middle Secondary Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical & Creative Thinking
1. Design your garden on paper incorporating: a. grass b. flower beds c. trees d. water features e. outdoor furniture/seating f. paths 2. Use the Yates online tool to visualise your garden design.
3. Share with a group of 4 - 5 students.
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