How it happened
The gardens have been owned by the Cochrane family for over 60 years. From the 1960s – 1990s the property was farmed by the family, where Geoff Cochrane grew many types of vegetables. In the late 1970s Geoff concentrated on growing Asian vegetables and Chinese cabbage to meet the growing demand by Melbourne’s Asian communities.
In mid 1990, Geoff thought he’d diversify and further develop the property into a fly-fishing resort which resulted in the construction of a new dam ‘Lotus Lake’ and a number of other smaller dams and ponds.
A range of waterlilies and lotus flowers were planted to beautify the dams and give shelter for the fish.
Geoff was amazed by how beautiful and how well the lotus and waterlilies grew. This gave him the idea of developing the property into a plant nursery and gardens instead of a fishing resort. In the early 2000’s, Geoff started landscaping the lakes and ponds, planted many garden beds and built the plant nursery. He also added more tracks and bridges so visitors could access the gardens along with a few basic facilities.
In 2005 the plant nursery & gardens officially opened with very few customers to begin with. Over the past 20 years many more garden features, improvements and facilities have been added to improve the attraction for visitors.
The gardens now cover over 14 acres featuring dozens of lakes and ponds, thousands of exotic flowering plants, wonderful walks, superb views and great facilities. It has become a major tourist attraction in Victoria, attracting hundreds of visitors each day.
Below is a few photos of the early days.
