Share and Follow
Key Points
- Doris Meilak learned how to garden growing up on her family’s farm in Malta.
- Now 73, she has won multiple awards for her gardens in western Sydney.
- She is also in demand as a guest speaker where she shares her knowledge.
They had two children and Meilak, aged 73, now has two grandchildren.
Gardening awards
The Sydney Spring Garden Competition run by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW honours the bequest of Lt. Col. Charles Ronald Christian, a British army surgeon who visited Australia in 1933.
Doris Meilak (right) receives the Ann Williams Clark Award from one of the judges, Cecily Rogers. Credit: Doris Meilak
Dr Christian left shares of his estate to the cities of Sydney and Perth to award annual prizes for beautiful gardens. Such gardens must be viewable to the general public from the road or footpath.
“So, the colours in the leaves of plants, shrubs and small trees are always vibrant.”
Even on the miserable days of winter, when there are no flowers, there will still be an exhibition of green, yellow and red leaves to admire.
Doris Meilak
“As I like to say, the garden is a never-ending story. One swaps and buys new plants all the time. And the fact that the garden changes from one season to another, makes it also of interest to everyone,” she said.
A garden in a side street in Malta.
“Rather than a task, one should look at the garden (as a) time to relax and have a rest from the stress of life. Once you open your eyes and your heart to the garden, you start breathing a new life.”
“Gardening gives you a chance to focus on something and put your mind to work with a goal and a task in mind which is helpful especially now with so much illness and talk of death, just to see things growing and thriving.”
