By Parker McKenzie
Olinda’s ‘Secret Garden’ is hard to find, located deep in Perrin’s Creek Reserve. First established as the Williams Nursery in the 1920s, much of the early history of the site is unknown.
It was thought to have closed in the 1950s and now forms part of the Sassafras Creek Nature Conservation Reserve, retaining trees listed on the state significant tree register and featuring the paths and rock walls that made up parts of the old nursery.
The Nursery passed hands a few times in the 1940s and 1950s, before becoming part of a nature reserve at an unknown time.
Parks Victoria Area Chief Ranger Matthew Hoogland said Parks Victoria works with the Friends of Sassafras Creek to maintain the Sassafras Creek Nature Conservation Reserve, which includes the historic Williams Nursery site.
“This includes removing fallen trees and branches, weed control and revegetation work,” he said.
“Recently, some asbestos was found in a small area of the reserve near the Nursery. Qualified contractors will remove it in the coming weeks and until then we’ve taped off the area to keep people safe.”
Members of the Friends of Sassafras Creek run regular working bees to maintain the site, which was once known as Williams Nursery and has a collection of large mature trees.
Friends of Sassafras Creek President Jane Holland said the site is hard to access without proper parking and it isn’t well known or accessible.
“There are no walks or tracks in there and there be tracks put in there. There are no amenities at all,” she said.
“It’s not the safest place to go, some of them have been there for 70, 80 years and you’ll notice a lot of debris down there and it’s almost impossible to get in to clean anything out.”
She said the Friends of Sassafras Creek have received multiple grants to do weed work and clearing in the ‘Secret Garden.’
“Our goal is to maintain along the creek, it has remnant vegetation which is significant and that’s the goal, not to restore it as a nursery,” Ms Holland said.
“We had a big clean up there in our last working bee where we took out a couple of trailers of rubbish because there is a lot of rubbish on that site.”
Parks Victoria said access to the site is available from Perrins Creek Road and via a small pathway on Warwick Farm Road, and visitors are encouraged to wear sturdy footwear.
