From a bare block in the Yarra Valley, Emily Todd has created a romantic cottage garden alongside a productive kitchen garden, complete with chickens. She reflects on building it from scratch and the connections it has fostered within her community.
— From our community: Story & images by Emily Todd
When my partner Sam and I bought our little weatherboard home in Lilydale three years ago, the 480m² block was completely bare. No garden beds, no flowers, no structure, nothing. Even though people told us there wasn’t much you could do with a block that small, I never believed that.
I’ve loved gardening my whole life thanks to my mum, who is the biggest green thumb I know, so creating a garden here felt like a way of honouring her, our new home and the slower lifestyle we wanted. We dug out every single garden bed ourselves. No landscapers or designers, just the two of us, a vision and a lot of hard work.
In full bloom
The front is now a full cottage garden with David Austin roses, snapdragons, lamb’s ear, violas, salvias, seaside daisies, poppies, petunias, asters, Canterbury bells and so many other cottage favourites. It feels layered, colourful, soft and a little bit wild in the best way.
The foxgloves lining the fence have become the signature – they feel so whimsical and magical, and the bees absolutely adore them. They give the whole space that romantic cottage feeling I always imagined. The most special plant is a rose my mum gave me, the David Austin rose, ‘Emily Bronte’. It came from her own garden, which is filled with beautiful roses, and it has absolutely thrived here. It smells incredible and always reminds me of her and the garden she’s created.
Also in the front area, we’ve added a small water bowl with a gentle fountain and a few plants and goldfish, mainly so birds have somewhere to drink. Since then, even more insects and birds have visited. We now see beautiful birds like king parrots and cockatoos visiting, but they’re a little naughty and eat the sunflower heads!
Sitting there among the flowers, listening to the bees, spotting the odd dragonfly, and listening to the soft trickle of water is incredibly calming. It’s the most peaceful little corner of the garden.
Out the back, we built a vegetable and dahlia garden with raised beds that are always overflowing with herbs, greens and whatever we’re growing each season. Sam also built our chicken coop, which sits right beside the veggie patch, and at the moment we have newly hatched chicks running around with their mum. It makes our small backyard feel like its own little world.
We cook with everything we grow and often host dinners where almost the entire meal comes straight from the garden. It is the nicest feeling feeding people from food you have grown yourself.
From the ground up
The hardest part was definitely the soil. When the house was previously renovated, a lot of the building debris ended up buried with just a layer of soil on top. When we started digging new garden beds, we kept hitting bricks, concrete and rubble. The soil was also very dry and clay heavy, which made planting difficult at first.
We gradually improved the soil by adding lots of compost, organic matter and good quality soil to build up the beds. Most areas have responded really well over time, but we still struggle along the front fence line where there’s a lot of buried concrete. That will probably be our next project.
Community connection
One of my favourite things is how this garden has connected us with people. Neighbours stop almost every day to chat about a flower or share stories about their own gardens. On weekends, I leave buckets of flowers at our front gate for anyone to take and it has become this sweet little tradition in our street. We even have landscapers call Sam’s work number asking what plants we’ve used, which always makes us laugh.
Sharing the garden on social media has been amazing too. So many people say they feel connected to it, which is such a beautiful thing. I never expected to create a space that other people would care about but it has grown into this lovely little community both online and in real life.
Gardening has become my purpose, my creative outlet and the thing that grounds me. I gradually came to realise that whenever I was feeling stressed or anxious, the only thing I wanted to do was go outside and spend time in the garden. Even simple things like weeding or pottering around would instantly make me feel calmer. It really is the best kind of therapy.
Growing together
The garden shifts with the seasons and it has grown alongside me. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you don’t need a big block or perfect conditions to create something beautiful. Gardens don’t need to be grand or overwhelming. You can tuck plants into small pockets, plant closely, grow upwards and mix flowers with vegetables. Even the smallest suburban block can become a place that feels magical and abundant.
We started with absolutely nothing and now this tiny block is overflowing with flowers, vegetables, chickens and colour. It has become my sanctuary and the heart of our home.
