Drive just 30 minutes north of Melbourne and you’ll discover, framed by a backdrop of blond brick veneer, a zoo of animals made almost entirely from perennial plants.
Hold onto your hats, people. For this week’s episode of Avant Garden, we’re heading to Sunshine North, the heart of inner Melbourne suburbia, where a little thing called topiary gardening has replanted its roots in Australia – quite literally.
![Ick Chu's topiary garden in Sunshine](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 768"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The mystical world of topiary. Picture: Erinna Giblin
Topiary dates back to Roman times and refers to the horticultural practice of clipping perennial plants to train them to grow into clearly defined shapes. You may best recognise the uncomplicated topiary at Versailles, France, with its low hedges that are punctuated by potted trees.
Interpretations in Renaissance culture involved clipping hedges into geometric shapes, balls or tapering spirals. Eastern topiary, most recognisable in the art of Japanese bonsai, often included pruning the leaves of smaller trees to mimic larger ones.
Here in Melbourne, in Ick Chu’s locally famous garden, it’s Jumanji all over again. Except this time the animals are plants.
Ick’s topiarian wonderland. Picture: Erinna Giblin
Ick adores all kinds of animals, from the monkeys he grew up with in Thailand to the emus of his new homeland. While you’ll find a full zoo in his garden, there’s no chance he’d have any ‘real’ pets.
“If I had a dog – it’d be big trouble for the garden!” Ick laughs.
People come from all over to visit Ick Chu’s incredible topiary garden. Picture: Erinna Giblin
Ick has always had a fondness for a beautiful garden, but it wasn’t until he holidayed in Thailand and visited the Mae Fah Luang Garden in Chang Rai, that he became truly inspired to start creating the garden we see in Sunshine North today.
“[There are] a lot of topiary gardens in Thailand. When I got home, I did it all by myself.”
Topiary gardens are by no means a set and leave and forget type of project. Ick, a senior pensioner, contributes about 20 hours of his week towards his garden. He also volunteers his time, at no fee, to help others in the area start their own topiary gardens.
A zoo of topiarian animals awaits weekenders in Sunshine and surrounds. Picture: Erinna Giblin
Ick says there are now a few copycat Ick Chu-style gardens popping up around the area, which he helped to get off the ground.
“One in Keilor; two in Footscray; one [other] in Sunshine North: I showed them what to do, and not for money. I don’t need to draw, I just look at the land – it’s all in my brain,” he says.
“I have to help them a lot. If they can look after it, great. If not, bad luck!”
There was no luck involved in maintaining his own garden though. It takes hard work and dedication – not to mention 18 years – to get it looking this good.
The best topiary, he says, comes from meticulous pruning.
“The more you trim, the thicker it becomes,” Ick explains.
It’s also best to use evergreen plants with small leaves, such as the Japanese box or port wine magnolia. Ick also prefers to work with a mix of green and gold foliage.
People come from all over Melbourne to get a glimpse of Ick’s garden. Picture: Erinna Giblin
In its established state, the garden attracts visitors to the otherwise standard suburban street almost every day, which delights Ick more than words.
“When they come, it makes me VERY happy.”
The smile says it all.
Ick Chu: The man responsible for turning Sunshine North into a destination for in-the-know tourists. Picture: Erinna Giblin