Rushall Park
Retirement Village - North Fitzroy, Melbourne
Rushall Park is a heritage-listed retirement village in Fitzroy North. Established in 1886, it provides independent housing and assisted living accommodation and support for older Victorians.
Previously the Old Colonists Association, now Abound Communities, the site was established by actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur George Coppin in 1870 to provide accommodation for the aged poor in Victoria, The village was funded by philanthropy and designed by architects. It is made up of 133 heritage-listed homes built in a variety of styles between the 1870s and the present, including 35 apartments completed in 2021. The site covers 4.5 acres, with gardens surrounding the houses, lining the streets and providing both quiet and social spaces for residents.
Heritage-listed, the extensive gardens evolve over time with changing styles, the changing climate, and the personal input of residents and the staff. The site has many significant trees, including a 110 yr old Magnolia Grandiflora, a 120 yr old Schinus molle and over 1200 Roses. In the 1980’s, when cared for by a team of six gardeners, there were large composting areas and many of the garden beds were filled with annual bedding plants, requiring seasonal change over. Now with just two gardeners for the entire site the planting has been simplified to include more herbaceous perennials.
Permaculture Interventions
While Head Gardener, Rachel worked with residents, staff, and volunteers to improve soil by adding mulch, building composts and worm farms, and removing water-robbing and smothering plants like Violets, and Gazania. They removed internal hedging, which required excessive amounts of pruning for more suitable plantings, highlighting older varieties brought from homes and farms over the decades. She layered heights in the gardens, creating repetition with perennials and groundcovers, adding more native and climate resilient plantings. Moving species to more suitable areas where they could thrive, ie in full sun or full shade, they created a shaded avenue of Clivia for winter colour.
Community Garden
The kiosk is a regularly used community hub hosting morning teas, lunches and dinners. The surrounding plantings were overgrown and weedy. Following the principle of ‘oftenest nearest’ these gardens were made into herb and vegetable beds to inspire residents with the ease of growing highly nutritious and local food.
