Stuart Rattle book details his architectural approach to garden design

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The buzz: The relationship between plants and insects is the topic of a workshop, at Cranbourne's Australian Garden next Sunday.

Book

Like Sandra McMahon (see main story), the late Stuart Rattle was a proponent of the garden-as-series-of-rooms school. And this week Paul Bangay launched a book detailing precisely how the interior designer went about it at his property Musk Farm. He took "lines from the architecture" of the one-time Musk State School and broke the property up into sections (think summer garden, chestnut lawn, woodlands ...), all defined by plantings of English box, viburnum and privet. Stuart Rattle's Musk Farm has a foreword by Bangay, photography by Earl Carter and Simon Griffiths, and text by Annemarie Kiely. It is published by Lantern, $39.99.

Workshop

Plant and insect relationships come under the microscope at an all-day workshop at Cranbourne's Australian Garden next Sunday. A diverse line-up of presenters will discuss issues of mutual need, mimicry and the propagation and cultivation of insect-reliant plants. The event is organised by the Friends of the Royal Botanic Garden Cranbourne. For more information or a booking form, email rgelliot@optusnet.com.au or phone 8774 2483. Bookings close this Monday.

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Open gardens

Though grass-fed, free-range egg production is the central feature of Wild Hen Farm in the Myrrhee Valley in north-east Victoria, the property is also home to a large garden that seamlessly blends into its rural setting. As well as an assortment of trees and shrubs, there are stone wall-surrounded vegetable beds and a Gothic-inspired cage to keep the birds off espaliered fruit trees, berries and tropical species. It is open from 10am to 5.30pm today and tomorrow, at 165 Redcamp Lane, Myrrhee. There will be talks on egg production at 11am and 2.30pm each day. Gardens in Mount Martha, Narbethong, Malmsbury and Camperdown are also open, with Open Gardens Australia this weekend. Go to opengarden.org.au for more information.

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Stuart Rattle book details his architectural approach to garden design