Open Gardens Victoria will open stunning Lakithi, a large country garden in Terip Terip, Murrindindi Shire. Set on a 130-hectare property, the Lakithi garden sprawls across three hectares of undulating land and is named for the Zulu word meaning ‘our home'. Originally from South Africa, owners Gail and Brian van Rooyen purchased the property in the late 1990s. Nearly 30 years later, passionate gardener Gail has transformed a bare paddock into a stunning country garden. Keen for the house to nestle into the landscape, Gail enlisted the help of a local excavator and stonemason at the outset to create a large dam fed by a natural spring and construct 250 metres of stone walls and steps to link the different zones.  “The garden has continued to evolve,” says Gail. “It is a balanced blend of formal and informal areas with hedges and stone walls creating several ‘garden rooms’ and open parkland spaces. In designing Lakithi, I have always been mindful of our wonderfully expansive vistas, which I have strived to maintain and enhance.” Autumn at Lakithi is one of Gail’s favourite times of year, with beautiful displays of leaf colour, including the fiery reds of Acer ‘October Glory’ and ‘Autumn Blaze’, medlars, and ‘Ukon’ cherries that line the walk down to the dam and summer house.