Welcome to Kiloren

Kiloren is one of Edna Walling's few extant gardens.

Designed by Walling in 1951, the 4 acre garden tucks into a hillside near the small township of Crookwell on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. The garden is private and sheltered, and surrounds a country home designed by John Mansfield. A further 9 acres of rich basalt country wrap around the house and garden.

When Edna Walling first visited, the garden site was a bare and windy hillside – the large pine to the east of the house the only existing tree. At 950 metres above sea level, Kiloren experiences cold, sometimes snowy winters and the magic of four distinct seasons. Its rich basalt soils support many cold climate shrubs and perennials.

In 1982 Jennie and Rob Churchill took over the garden. Kiloren became the impetus for Jennie’s gardening career – co-author and co-photographer of two books on Walling and her gardens (Gardens in Time and The Vision of Edna Walling), garden journalist, planting designer for landscape architect Michael Bligh, and presenter on ABC TV’s Gardening Australia. Kiloren has featured on television and in many magazines and journals, and the garden has been part of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme for more than 20 years.

In the 62 years since the garden’s inception, it has been cared for by only two owners. Both have respected Walling’s landscape philosophies, and maintained her classic trademarks – a backbone of stone walls and pathways softened by relaxed planting, the need to explore to discover the garden's hidden corners, and plants Walling loved and wrote about in her books. 

Following its sale, Kiloren now has its third owners in 65 years. Andrew Tongue and Vicki Middleton purchased the garden in mid 2016 and are now embarking, with a lot of excitement and some trepidation, on adding their chapter to this very special cool climate garden. Kiloren is a true four season garden and Andrew, Vicki and their extended family are learning the joys and challenges of managing and expanding this enchanting environment.