In the Garden with Adam Hancock
and the Friends of the Garden
BY TAHLIA LAMEY
The first buds of spring invite us to reflect on how UKARIA’s garden has continually evolved throughout our 10 years, in large part thanks to the dedicated work of our garden team.
Adam Hancock has been our Head Gardener since 2019, when his mentor Steve Hailstone was engaged to rejuvenate the garden’s original design. Since then, Adam has worked through ever-changing seasons to cultivate a sensory experience for everyone who visits, which is a unique part of the cultural activities that take place inside the concert hall. Along with fellow gardener Andrew Plummer, Adam is on site one day per week to tend to the garden’s complexities, beauty and needs.
The arid conditions that dehydrated South Australia over the 2024–25 summer was a recent challenge. The elongated dry season and high temperatures drained our rainwater tanks and bore, and water had to be diverted from another bore. Unfortunately, the high salt content of this water took a toll on some areas of the garden. Adam explains how the team have adapted to these challenging conditions, ‘At UKARIA, we try to stay responsive to the climate and think ahead in how we care for the garden. Over summer, we removed a number of plants that just couldn’t cope anymore. That said, many others have thrived in the tough conditions. Moving forward, we plan to build on that by expanding our use of the more resilient species and trialling some new ones with these challenges in mind.
The Friends of the Garden are an invaluable part of the way we maintain the garden, joining Adam and Andrew on the second Tuesday of each month to assist with tasks such as weeding and raking, pruning, fertilising and planting. Beverley Sharrad Jones has been a Friend of the Garden since her retirement in March 2022, and she shares her experience of a typical morning as a volunteer: ‘Walking up the hill to sign in, I cast my eyes over the garden, looking for the seasonal changes and the reappearance of favourite flowers. I check in with Adam to find out the day’s priorities and take my pick. I’m in awe of his organisation; there’s always a plan, and the tools and means to get on with it. When we break for coffee, I enjoy learning something new about gardening or culture, and then we get back to work. When it’s time to go home, I leave satisfied after a perfect day in this beautiful garden, with lovely people and barista coffee and cake!’
Beverley, Leonie Hempton and Robert Menz are three of our volunteers who also attend concerts to experience UKARIA’s holistic cultural offering. Leonie writes, ‘It’s lovely to come to a concert and walk through the garden knowing that I’ve made a tiny impact on the beauty of the place. There’s a sort of “ownership” and a feeling of belonging.’ Robert shares a similar sentiment, saying he takes ‘great pride in showing my partner the specific parts of the garden that I’ve worked on, in addition to what the other volunteers and professional crew have done since the previous visit.’
If you would like to join us in the garden, please get in touch: https://www.ukaria.com/friends-of-the-garden.asp
If you’d simply like to visit the garden, you are free to enter when the front gate is open. Otherwise, you might like to enjoy the full UKARIA experience by joining us for a concert.
Or if you want to learn more about the history of the Garden, visit: https://www.ukaria.com/garden-history