by Carla Caruso

There’s something about the idea of a secret garden that entices.

British-American novelist Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote about one in a children’s novel back in 1911, named exactly that: The Secret Garden.

Cities like Rome are also famed for having open-roofed oases hidden at the centre of some of its residences.

But did you know that a secret garden, for local residents and business owners, is tucked away in our own CBD?

While some of the Adelaide Park Lands has been lost to development in recent times, a few city-dwellers have reclaimed a bit of bitumen elsewhere as a green space – and they’re looking for more members to help champion it.

*Green Gate Garden is a haven for local residents and business owners. Photo: West End Village Association (WEVA).*

Green Gate Garden is known as “the secret garden of North Street”. It was instigated by local couple Wendy Alstergen and John Kirkwood, with the help of neighbours Bruno and Monique Crosato, 15 years ago. It’s run by not-for-profit community organisation West End Village Association (WEVA) — John is the president, and Monique, the secretary.

*Couple Bruno and Monique Crosato, with John Kirkwood (centre), at a WEVA working bee in the garden. Photo: WEVA.*

*WEVA member Ingrid Cother. Photo: WEVA.*

WEVA member Ingrid Cother, who’s also a local resident and mental health nurse, said there’s “a lovely story” behind how the garden came to be.

“It was one of those true guerilla gardens, where it was actually a vacant lot that was owned by a gentleman interstate, and it had ended up being the local spot for drug deals and people dumping cars.

“Wendy and John, along with Bruno and Monique, decided that it was such an eyesore they were going to turn the spot into a garden.

“They tried to get in contact with the owner to ask if they could put up a fence but didn’t get a reply.”

After months of silence, they chose to push ahead with their plans anyway, putting up cyclone fencing, digging through the bitumen, and adding soil and plantings.

*“[Garden co-founder] Wendy Alstergen is an artist and has some lovely ceramics that she's put in there — these little pieces of whimsy, which are really lovely,” Ingrid says. Photo: WEVA.*

“At some point, the land was acquired by UniSA, when they acquired that whole block that sits behind North Street to Currie Street,” Ingrid said. “The block’s [largely] been turned into a carpark.”

Except for where the secret garden lies. “WEVA got in contact with UniSA, and they loved the garden concept so much that they leased it back to WEVA for a peppercorn rent and actually support and sponsor it by paying for the water,” said Ingrid, a mother-of-four.

“The uni also paid for the current fence that is there, which is much nicer than the previous cyclone fence.”

The garden is located halfway along the side-street and is surrounded by apartments, old row cottages, converted warehouses, and commercial properties.

*Produce at the garden includes figs, lemons, limes, celery, silverbeet, spinach, sage, and more. Photo: WEVA.*

There’s also a heritage-listed hotel on the street, the White Conduit House Hotel, which has since been turned into a home. (The Crotti family, who founded and owned the San Remo pasta brand, once lived there. Previously, it was a boarding house for Italian migrants too.)

The garden, 340 square metres in size, is dotted with a variety of flowers, herbs, fruit trees, and vegetables. A sign invites visitors to help themselves to any produce, so long as they only take enough for a meal.

There’s also a table tennis table, arty ceramics, and seating. Local residents and business owners regularly head there for social gatherings, working bees or just some time out.

*A meeting of WEVA members in the garden. Photo: WEVA.*

The garden’s a stone’s throw from Light Square / Wauwi on one side and Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga (Park 25) on the other — both of which Ingrid also enjoys visiting.

In particular, she said: “I like to run around Karen Rolton Oval [in Park 25], when I find time, and Gladys Elphick Park is really lovely too, with what they’ve done there.”

Having a secret garden is a bonus.

“More green spaces in the city is not only good in terms of the environment – because we’ve got issues with it becoming a heat island over time – but also for mental wellbeing for residents, so they have somewhere to go to for a bit of peace and quiet,” Ingrid said.

*Garden founders Wendy Alstergen and John Kirkwood at a WEVA social gathering at Green Gate. Photo: WEVA.*

“Obviously the council has an aim of increasing residents in the city, and people are attracted to that for low-maintenance living. At the same time, people do still want to know that they’ve got some lovely green spaces that they can go to.

“We’re really lucky to be completely surrounded by the Park Lands [and] having more gardens within the city itself is also really important. We feel really privileged that we’ve got this garden on our street.”

Green Gate Garden is open from 11am until 4pm daily; visitors are welcome. WEVA membership allows after-hours access and other benefits.

Residents and business owners in the city’s west end are eligible to apply — email admin@weva.net.au. You can also check out the garden’s Instagram page here.

Community gardens within the Adelaide Park Lands

The Adelaide Park Lands is home to a few of its own community gardens, including:

· Park Terrace Community Garden within Mary Lee Park (Park 27B); members are welcome,

· Walyu Yarta Community Garden in Veale Park / Walyu Yarta (Park 21), which has been going strong for 14 years old, and

· Dame Roma Mitchell Garden in Bonython Park / Tulya Wardli (Park 27), which is tended to by volunteers and clients of the Adelaide Day Centre for Homeless Persons. The garden has been producing fresh food for charities for decades. It’s not accessible to the public, however, participants on an APA guided walk in August were given a tour behind its walls.