Cypress house garden was an overgrown wilderness and had suffered years of neglect when David and Coleta bought it.  It was a large task designing and creating the present garden, in fact it was a large task even imagining it back then.  Through years of hard work, effort and planning the garden has been transformed into the tranquil, beautiful garden that this couple dreamed about. All the design, construction of the hard landscaping, the planting and garden maintenance has been carried out by the two resident gardeners – David and Coleta! Even the pond was dug out by hand single-handedly by David over a period of time.

The house was built in the early 30’s on a half-acre plot recovered from marshland. The property was then operated as a typical commercial smallholding, producing fruits, cut flowers, and greenhouse crops including grapes and oranges. The original vines still remain and have been located to a vine house new for 2007.
The efforts of the original owners to recover and drain the land were considerable and the land drainage still function well today.

The present garden design was prepared on paper and the development commenced in 1987, but by this time the land and property had fallen into disrepair and it was a case of reclaiming the land from brambles, the “dreaded” Japanese Knott Weed, and possibly every other pernicious weed and other types of vegetation you can imagine. One aim of the design has been to blend the garden around the contours of the existing land, particularly making use of the steeply sloping site for the rockery and water feature. In 2004 the plot was extended to three quarters of and acre, the additional land being used to accommodate a small arboretum.

The pictures below show some of the stages of development and as with all gardens Cypress House Garden will go on developing and changing each year, as the list of garden projects continues to expand.