First Chapters

Extract

A Garden in the Hills charts the arrival of Christine McCabe from the inner west of Sydney and a courtyard garden of mostly dead plants, to The Oaks, a circa 1870 homestead and sprawling garden in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.

Six weeks after Christine and her young, utterly urban family move into their new home, their new six-acre garden is due to open to the public as part of Australia's Open Garden Scheme. What follows is the story of a rank amateur thrown in at the deep end, attempting to master lawns, giant hedges and sprawling flower beds before she's had time to unpack … or buy a garden hose.

Delightful, amusing and meditative, A Garden in the Hills takes you on a journey of discovery of the joys of gardening, and the beauty of the Adelaide Hills.