Tickle your senses at this amazing Open Garden. I love Open Gardens. They offer an opportunity to collect ideas, view colour combinations, meet new plants, see landscaping designs and round-up all these thoughts and take them home to inject fresh inspiration into one's own garden.
Tickle Tank, the home and garden of artist and gardener Irene Pearce, is easily one of my favourite Open Gardens. Divine mosaics adorn her walls and garden. Her home is very innovative, having begun life as a number of concrete water tanks. The story of
Tickle Tank's construction is fascinating.
The small sloping block of only 450 square metres belies its size. Tickle Tank is truly a delightful treasure trove of innovative ideas. The use of recycled objects and functional features as art are inspirational. A dragon lends his body as a retaining wall. Another stone wall is home to a mermaid.
What type of Garden is Tickle Tank?The garden at Tickle Tank is low maintenance, organic, water wise garden. The rendered stone retaining walls maintain moisture and keep plants cool during summer. It features hardy native grasses, herbs, self seeding annuals, hardy cottage perennials and succulents. A riot of colour from early spring through summer is provided by purple native mint bush, hardenbergia, crab apples, acacia scarlet glory, roses and fruit trees.
Irene's Philosophy is for 'the garden to provide open-air rooms for relaxation, meditation, adventure for the children, eating or just being and enjoying life. I believe that in the problem can be found the solution, as there were many challenging problems that offered opportunities for creative problem solving.'
Her philosophy fits perfectly with the Open Garden SA philosophy to 'educate and promote the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening in South Australia'.
What can I Buy?Plants and artworks are for sale.
How to find Tickle TankTake the south eastern freeway to Mt Barker. Hill Street is the first road on the right at the entrance to the township.
All photos of Tickle Tank by JA Rossiter
