General News
29 October, 2023
Mosaic of transformation
PATHS once buried under rampant weeds have mapped the creation of Adelaide and Vic Onopko’s garden. Diosmas, rosemary. salvias, roses and natives fill the garden beds while Adelaide’s mosaics dot the paths and Vic’s recycled pipe creations add...
PATHS once buried under rampant weeds have mapped the creation of Adelaide and Vic Onopko’s garden.
Diosmas, rosemary. salvias, roses and natives fill the garden beds while Adelaide’s mosaics dot the paths and Vic’s recycled pipe creations add another dimension to their journey of transformation over more than a decade.
The Wedderburn couple opened their home on Sunday for the town’s annual garden expo, one of five private gardens that were a magnet for locals and visitors.
The retired electrical engineer and nurse were busy explaining plant selection and layout to gardening enthusiasts.
“When we came up here in 2010, there was nothing. The paths were covered by weeds, that was the first thing we did in cleaning up ... obviously at some time a previous owner had a garden,” Adelaide said.
“We would go to the nursery and fill up the ute a few times a year, come back and plant in one area at a time.”
Vic said: “The paths created a map and we filled in the spots. There were already a lot of trees here. Because there were so many trees, we needed plants that would survive in the shade and also frost tolerant.”
Vic and Adelaide are originally from Melbourne where they had a small garden “but nothing like what we have now”.
“We wanted to get out of the city and originally had Maryborough in mind but that was out of our price,” Vic said. “We were camping at Bridgewater and looking around Bridgewater and Inglewood and then saw this property in Wedderburn,” Vic said.
Adelaide said: “It had the space we wanted.”
“We are always putting in new plants. There’s always something that dies and always something new,” Vic said.
And the Wedderburn couple has also put many hours into the vegetable garden where Vic on Sunday was tilling beds ready to plant summer crops including tomatoes, beans, cucumber and zucchini.
Vic and Adelaide’s garden is also home to seats and outdoor entertaining areas.
“As we get older, our legs at times tell us to sit down for a while. The seats come in handy,” Vic said.
Sunday’s garden expo also included a plant sale at the community house and Devonshire teas at the Coach House Gallery.