A Visit to Sophie’s Patch – Mt Barker Springs
If you are a keen gardener or you have a small patch of your own, then Sophie’s Patch is a great garden to visit with the kids. It is open for a few days twice a year and it belongs to gardening guru Sophie Thompson and her family who all contribute their time and energy to creating and maintaining this welcoming garden.
This is a rambling, rustic country garden that is filled with creativity everywhere you look. There are paths to meander, small grassy areas, plenty of sunny spaces interspersed with quiet shady spots to sit.
This really is a fun family garden, there are places for kids to explore and sculptures dotted throughout, cleverly made by Sophie’s husband. A mud dragon sculpture sits on a sunny patch of lawn, a feature which Sophie tells me was a huge hit with visiting kids on the open garden weekend, along with activities for kids.
This is a dry garden surrounded by rolling hills of pasture and huge gums. The climate is dry in Mt Barker Springs but Sophie has managed to create a dense garden full of interesting and beautiful plants. She is full of knowledge and ideas which she will happily share with anyone who visits.
It is obvious that this garden caters for the whole family as there are little handmade egg seats to lie in and a fantastic orchard and veggie garden which does a great job of feeding Sophie and her family.
The beauty of this garden is that it is obviously on a journey. It is amazing, beautiful and inspiring but still a work in progress and Sophie does not shy away from pointing out the areas which are destined to become cultivated, those areas which are not going well and those areas which are thriving.
The fact that Sophie has managed to transform a once bare paddock into a thriving, interesting and beautiful garden is amazing and I asked her how on earth she manages it. She replied..
low maintenance… it has to be low maintenance.
Sophie also mentioned that garden bed prep is key to establishing a weed-free garden and highlighted the importance of solarisation of weeds prior to planting out beds. Cover an area for 6 weeks with plastic in the sun and the weeds will be killed. Sounds like good advice.
Honestly if you love gardens, sustainable living, sustainable gardening, then you will really appreciate this garden and the kids will love it too.
I spent the rest of the day with a smile on my face after visiting this garden – I am totally inspired by what Sophie has achieved and how generous she is with her time to share it with gardening novices like me and I am already dreaming up what I am going to do with my next patch of garden.
So whether you have a small or large patch on your block, make sure you go visit Sophie’s Patch so that you can be inspired too.
For more information and all enquiries please visit the Sophie’s Patch website.
What: Sophie’s Patch Open Garden Review
When: Check the website for open days
Where: Hamlyn Cottage | 394 Springs Road, Mt Barker Springs
Who: Everyone
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
Image Source: All photographs by Play & Go 2017
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