Vicki Keane and her husband have a small property at Athlone, about ten minutes from Drouin in Gippsland. They lived in Glen Waverley until acquiring the property about 15 years ago. The name Ungulla means "mother earth" and they have found it to be exactly what they were looking for.
Their house is set in one and a half acres of garden, including 26 trees along the frontage. The garden is in a very windy area, so sturdy plants thrive well - a mixture of natives and exotics. The area was in the middle of a 10 year drought, which made their work very difficult in the early years. The first project was to build the driveway, then a shed and two water tanks. They planted one hundred plants and trees along the driveway and a pipeline laid to bring water from the dam. Not all those trees survived the drought but today, judging from a photo shown by Vicki, they all look very beautiful.
Another project was to revive the dried-up creek including a waterfall. This brought back lots of birdlife including herons. Within 12 months ducks had moved in, and 400 trout have established themselves in the waterways. Native animals have returned including kookaburras, cockatoos, corella, magpies, lots of blue wrens and even an echidna. They also raise Murray Grey cattle, and show the heifers. Among all these activities at Ungulla Vicki also sells plants to visitors.
The Keanes join in the annual Gardivalia Garden Festival, which is held across West Gippsland each October. It has run for the past nine years and visitors can gather lots of ideas for their own gardens. Special bus tours criss-cross the area. For more details, see
http://www.gardivalia.com.au/
