Betty Maloney’s garden

Betty's garden in Frenchs Forest (Sydney) was, in her lifetime, the most celebrated and best-known bush garden in Australia. Betty and her husband Reginald purchased the Frenchs Forest land in 1954 to build a home, but instead of clearing the land (as was typical practice at the time), kept much of the native bush which became the basis for the garden.

Maloney illustrated and co-authored 15 books including, with her sister Jean Walker, Designing Australian bush gardens (1966) and More about bush gardens (1967). The former was based largely on the Maloneys own garden.

Following the death of Betty Maloney in July 2001 and of her husband Reginald in December 2001, the Maloney property was eventually put on the market. The garden and Betty’s study were photographed in November 2002 prior to its sale.

Photographer: Ross Heathcote

Date Photographed: November 2002

Original image format: 35mm mounted slides

Copyright: Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Photograph © Ross Heathcote

Further reading: Anne Latreille, Garden voices: Australian designers: their stories, Bloomings Books, Melbourne Vic, 2013

Kate Low, ‘Naturalness with order: the bush gardens of Betty Maloney and Jean Walker’, Australian garden history, vol 2 no 6, May/June 1991, pp.3-9