You may have wondered why there is a giant teapot in the front garden on this California Gully house.
We were wondering also, so we plucked up the courage to knock on the door and enquire…
The house is owned by Natalie who is a keen gardener. And this is the story of the giant tea pot.
“I can make something out of that”
A few years ago Natalie was offered a disused pool filter. She thought, “ I can make something out of that”. And so her artistic project began. She collected pvc pipe, wire mesh and other materials to construct the teapot and then used old plates to mosaic it and added a splash of paint to finish it off. It took about two months to complete, and she did come across a few problems during the construction, but worked through them to achieve an absolute eye stopper.
Natalie is a keen gardener and when she bought the Victorian house eight years ago, there was just bare lawn, a few rose bushes and some established trees, so a blank canvas for her to work with. She has put a lot of work into making a beautiful and magical cottage garden that compliments her house.
Natalie showed us through the back yard and we were amazed at how beautifully rambling and cottagey it was. A goldfish pond, bird baths, greenhouse and vegie and herb patches. She said that she grows all of her own vegetables in the summer – tomatoes, eggplants and snow peas to name a few.
“Drinking tea brings people together”
The garden also has a pecan nut tree and an almond tree which is visited regularly by the
cockatoos who eat all the almonds. She also has a mulberry tree and raspberries growing. Natalie said that her garden is entirely organic – she doesn’t use weed killers, and all waste is composted and used as mulch. Sometimes when she is digging she finds little native frogs!!