In a nostalgic twist, this Show Garden at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (MIFGS) is inspired by Joel Barnett’s childhood spent around the Geelong Cement Cricket Club.
Garden name: ‘Je ne sais quoi’
Garden designer: Joel Barnett
Garden construction: The Landscaping School
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The Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show runs from 25-29 March 2026 at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.
In his eleventh garden for MIFGS, Joel Barnett shares how his childhood informed the design of his 2026 garden, ‘Je ne sais quoi’, and the process behind its creation.
What began as a backdrop to weekend cricket has become the conceptual framework for a garden that explores memory, industry and belonging…
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Tell us about the childhood inspiration behind your garden
This garden is a throwback to my teenage years when I played cricket at the Geelong Cement Cricket Club – it was next door to the Geelong Cement Works, in the shadows of the concrete silos. The works were built in 1890 and operated for more than 100 years before closing in 2001. The silos were finally demolished in 2020.
The cricket club was founded in 1983, the same year I was born – it was my life in those years. This was my happy place and when I wasn’t training or playing cricket, I was exploring every square metre of the site – running through gardens, jumping fences, setting off alarms in the cement works.
The oval was, without question, the best surface to play cricket in all of Geelong. And even though the groundsman, Reg Carter, looked after other ovals, ours was the best because it wasn’t a public oval – it only hosted cricket. Though immaculate, the oval was also the smallest in Geelong, and the surrounding seating areas were also ‘cosy’, but it added to the vibe of the ground.
How did you tie in those happy memories?
The silos in this MIFGS garden, while representing those from the cement works, have had life put back into them with planting spilling over the top. The multi-mirror reflections also provide a sense of wonder about what’s behind them. It encourages exploration – like I explored all those years ago.
I’ve deliberately not used any showy flowers and instead focused on foliage variations, with the different colours representing the variety of people that make a place – or in this case, a cricket club.
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Show Gardens can involve a lot of work in advance – how do you manage this and can you share details?
This is the eleventh garden I’ve been involved in at MIFGS so I’m well aware of the tips and tricks to not only finish a garden on time, but to make it to the standard you want. In the months leading up to the show, I’m building as much of the hardscaping elements as possible. All of the crazy paving, front steps, brick paving and concrete silos will be prebuilt on pallets. I’ll then build a floor for the pallets, which can be maneuvered into place.
Most gardens at MIFGS don’t put a lot of thought into the external walls of the garden, and that’s definitely the case for three of my four walls, but the front wall is made from recycled concrete posts, so it will not only look pretty cool, but it ties in perfectly with the Cement Works theme/history.
What will happen with the garden after the MIFGS?
A lot of the plants will go back to Chartwell Nursery and Warners Nursery, where I’ve borrowed them from, but I also purchased a lot too and have been growing them at my place. My parents have been renting for the past 30 years and bought their first place last year, so I’m lucky enough to be able to design their backyard and a lot of the plants will be getting used there.
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Design by Joel Barnett of InStyle Gardens
Construction by The Landscaping School
Plants from Chartwell Nursery and Warners Nursery
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