Ralph Bristow says his garden feels alive in every sense in the summer.
Acclaimed garden designer and artist Ralph Bristow will open the gates to The Barwitian Garden — his extraordinary three-acre creation in Barwite, north-east Victoria — for its first-ever summer open weekend in January.
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Just outside Mansfield, the Barwitian Garden showcases naturalistic Australian planting design.
Having opened twice before in the autumn through Open Gardens Victoria, this third opening invites visitors to experience the garden in its high summer phase — a time of exuberant colour, form and movement when perennial plantings reach their peak.
“In the summer, the garden feels alive in every sense — the energy, the sound, the textures,” Bristow said.
“It’s a wild orchestra of plants, insects and birds all responding to each other. The whole landscape hums.”
A living canvas, The Barwitian Garden unfolds across a former paddock beside the Broken River, where Bristow and his partner, artist Nicky Sanders, live in a straw bale home overlooking a seasonal waterfall.
Just outside Mansfield, the Barwitian Garden showcases naturalistic Australian planting design.
He has transformed the property into a semi-wild landscape of around 20,000 plants, featuring layers of perennials, shrubs, trees, grasses, succulents, and cacti throughout the past seven years.
Planted in sweeping, curved beds that echo the shapes of the surrounding hills and river, the garden blurs the boundaries between the cultivated and the natural.
It’s both habitat and artwork — a place of immersion and discovery that evolves dramatically with each season.
“I paint with paint or plants; the process is the same for me,” Bristow said.
“It’s about feeling, rhythm and response. The garden is constantly changing, like music.”
The garden’s clay loam, mineral-rich soil, seasonal extremes and rural setting have informed Bristow’s plant choices and design approach.
Temperatures at Barwite can swing from -5°C in winter to above 40°C in summer, pushing plants to adapt and thrive.
Recent expansions include an experimental dry garden, where drought-tolerant species are tested in shallow layers of crushed rock — a study in resilience and form.
Among the trees and perennials, species from across the world mingle with natives and local flora, creating a textural, painterly landscape that supports pollinators, birds and wildlife.
The Barwitian Garden unfolds across a former paddock beside the Broken River.
“It’s a garden that feeds my soul,” Bristow said.
“But it’s also a thriving ecosystem, a place where beauty and biodiversity coexist.”
The Barwitian Garden, at 35 Fern St, Barwite, will open from 10am to 4.30pm on January 10 and 11, 2026.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students (with identification).
Under-18s and students with OGV annual student passes are free.
Antique Perennials Nursery will be selling a wide variety of plants during the weekend, many of which feature in the garden.
Tickets: Adults $10, students $6 (with ID card)
Under-18s and students with OGV Annual Student Pass (with ID) are free
Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online at Trybooking.
