Ellis Andrew Stones (1 October 1895 – 9 April 1975) was an Australian landscape architect of private and public gardens—many displaying naturalistic rockwork—and a conservationist whose work and ideas influenced approaches to public landscaping in Australia. Based in Melbourne, Victoria, he was an early proponent of the use of Australian native plants and one of the founding fathers of the Australian landscaping style.
Early career Ellis Stones was born in Wodonga, Victoria. His father was Thomas James Stones a customs officer, born in Victoria. His mother was Hannah May, née Downs, also born in Victoria. He grew up in Essendon, attended Moonee Ponds West Primary School, and worked with the Victorian Railways as an apprentice carriage builder. He married Olive Doyle in 1922 and they had a son, who died in his first year, and three daughters.
During World War I, he was a rower in the first boat of the second wave of the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and took a bullet in his left knee, an injury which was to cause him lifelong pain. During World War II, Stones worked in the Volunteer Defence Corps and the Civil Constructional Corps.
After World War II, he returned to work as a carpenter and, later, a builder, eventually living and working at Avenel in country Victoria. The Depression brought him and his family back to Melbourne, where he took on whatever work he could find (including repairing broken window glass), and eventually settled in Ivanhoe. Working on a house in Heidelberg in 1934-35, he volunteered to build a stone wall for its landscape designer Edna Walling. Impressed by his natural aptitude she employed him again on many other jobs as he gradually established his own practice as a constructor and designer of gardens.
Landscape architecture career Stones collaborated for many years with Walling, constructing many of the rock outcrops, walls and ponds in the gardens she designed. Among the gardens in which he did rock work for Walling were: Donaldson and Anderson gardens in Heidelberg and the Marshall garden in nearby Beattie, Darling and Anderson gardens in Toorak Lewis garden in Malvern 'Kildrummie', the Carnegie garden in Holbrook, New South Wales 'Hillsborough' or 'Silver Birches' garden in Balwyn gardens in Benalla, Skipton and Olinda
In Australian Home Beautiful of December 1938 Walling wrote:
Stones' inspiration for garden landscaping came from the natural world. He wrote in the introduction to his book Australian Landscape Design:
In her foreword to The Ellis Stones Garden Book published in 1976 shortly after his death, Thistle Harris elaborated:
The second principle which guided Stones' work was the idea that gardens must be designed for the people who use them. This struck a chord with writer Anne Latreille as she researched his life and work for her book ‘The Natural Garden’ (1990). Latreille noted how Stones would start by considering the owners' way of life including likely changing needs over time. He tried to include private, sheltered spaces to sit outdoors and he was cognisant of providing beautiful outlooks from indoors as well as particular spots in the garden.
In addition to creating many hundreds of gardens throughout Melbourne, through his writings (for instance as an occasional then regular contributor to Australian Home Beautiful and later with his books), Stones must have influenced hundreds of thousands of home gardeners. His 1950s plant nursery in Lower Heidelberg Road helped to make native plants more available to the general public, and allowed Stones to provide brief advice to a large number of customers who had admired his work in others' gardens or who read his articles but could not afford to engage him.
Stones' specific advice on the design of home gardens was distilled into the following phrase: "Think of a courtyard as a room without a ceiling; use timber for its beauty as well as its utility; no garden is too small to have water in it; when placing rocks, bury more underground than you will see above ground; and a garden should always have a sitting spot." His employees also recalled him frequently commenting, "when in doubt, plant spiraea!"
Stones inspired a whole generation of younger garden designers. He was a foundation lecturer in the landscape design course at RMIT. Rob Grant and David Leech, employees of Stone, went on to develop successful landscape businesses. Leech practised in Far North Queensland and his work is evident in parks and gardens in the Eltham area. New South Wales landscaper designer Michael Bligh's career in design was prompted by coming across Stones' book while looking for something to read on his way home on the train. While not formally trained himself, Stones supported the establishment of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, and became one of its first affiliate members, and was appointed as a fellow of the Institute in 1975. Among others, he trained landscape designer, Bev Hanson and Gordon Ford, a pioneer of the bush garden concept. Ford's influence can be seen through the work of his former employee, contemporary landscape architect, Sam Cox. Stones was also a major influence on John Fenton, one of Australia's foremost ecological farmers.
Commissions
Over his long and productive working life, Stones was involved in creating several hundred gardens around Melbourne and beyond. Beginning with smaller specific elements such as rock outcrops and pools (especially for Walling) his body of work includes the following:
Year Name of garden Suburb References 1935 Rockwork for Walling-designed Darling garden Toorak 1933 to 1939 Side garden at Ringland Anderson’s Walling-designed ‘Churston’ garden Toorak 1938 & late 1940s/early 1950s Detail work 'Miegunyah' Grimwade garden Toorak 1938 Flack garden South Yarra 1945 Rockwork and timber studio for the Walling-designed Marshall garden 1945 Walters garden Malvern 1946 'Strathfieldsaye' Gippsland 1949 Thornthwaite garden Ocean Grove 1949 to 1954 Bush garden around Downing/LeGallienne mud brick house by Alistair Knox (with Gordon Ford) Eltham 1949 Walters garden Narre Warren 1940s, late 'Culraven' Ringland Anderson country-house Olinda 1940s, late garden Heathmont 1940s, late garden for AVJennings houseBalwyn 1950 'Padthaway' Lawson garden Keith, South Australia 1951 'Mt Pleasant' Eltham 1952 'Stella Park' Pyke sisters' gardensTemplestowe 1953-54 Hawthorne gardenLilydale 1953-54 'Netherplace' Landdale family garden Riverina District 1953-54 'Bridge House' (by Robin Boyd) Toorak, in a creek valley 1954 Rundle garden Eltham 1950s, mid 'Schubert Nursery' Noble Park 1956 to 1958 Stone garden (house by Robin Boyd) Ivanhoe, near Lower Heidelberg Road cutting 1957 'Glenara' Rundle garden near Deep CreekBulla 1957 garden around houses by Alistair Knox on subdivision of Grassick's 'Appledore' Eaglemont 1957 rockwork and paving for Bates Smart McCutcheon headquarters (for John Stephens)Melbourne, St Kilda Road 1958 Zelman Cowen gardenKew 1959 Hawthorne garden South Yarra 1959 Clemson garden (house by Robin Boyd) Kew 1950s, late forecourts ICI House and Hume House (designed by John Stevens)East Melbourne 1959-60 Mason Firth McCutcheon (office building by Bob Eggleston)Moorabbin 1960-61 Garden house designed by Robin BoydBerwick 1960-61 Watsonia Army CampWatsonia 1960-61 Judge Book Memorial Village Eltham 1961 Cox garden (house by Peter Hooks)Fairfield 1961 to 1964 Baitz gardenCanterbury 1960s, early Osborne garden, Jepp gardenWarrandyte 1961 Dickie garden, Fairview St, with Mervyn Davis Hawthorn 1961 Dellas Avenue (Yarragunyah) Templestowe ? forecourt Hume House, designed by John StevensMelbourne, William Street 1962 garden for former employee Louise McDonald, née LandaleMillicent, South Australia 1963 pool at Chris Cross garden supplies outletDeepdene 1963 Hawthorne garden Hawthorn 1965 landscaping above underground laboratory housing CSIRO's division of physical chemistryMonash University 1965 Rockpool garden at historic Como House South Yarra 1965 Garden (house by Peter Hooks)Pascoe Vale South 1965 McIlwraith garden Violet Town 1967 'Mogolimby' (house designed by Graeme Gunn) Euroa 1967 Michael McCoy memorial playgroundFootscray 1968 Lady and Sir Ian McLennan garden Narre Warren 1968 Merchant Builders housing, Yuille Street Brighton 1968 playgrounds for disabled children at Churinga and Yooralla Greensborough and Balwyn 1968 wooden playground, Wilson Park Ivanhoe 1969 BHP research laboratories Clayton 1969-70 Molesworth St townhouses (by Graeme Gunn) Kew 1970 playground, Travancore Children's homeFlemington 1970 Elliston Estate Rosanna 1971 Carnegie courtyard garden Malvern 1971 playground, North Richmond Housing Estate, for (then) Housing Commission of Victoria Richmond 1972 Garden for 'Saintonge' Molesworth Street (by Charles Duncan) Kew 1972 Landscaping, Karwarra native plant nursery Kalorama 1973 Rock gardenUniversity of Melbourne, Parkville 1970s, early Townhouses by architect Graeme Gunn, Kensington Road South Yarra 1970 to 1974 Winter Park development by architect Graeme Gunn Doncaster
Other commissions included a garden in Balwyn for Alan Blazey, chairman of garden products firm Hortico in the mid-1950s, a garden in Strathmore and playgrounds and gardens at Invercargill in New Zealand.
Elliston Estate
Merchant Builders Pty Ltd was an initiative of Melbourne businessman David Yencken. After discussions with prominent Melbourne architect Robin Boyd and his young employee Graeme Gunn, Yencken (with timber merchant John Ridge) established the company with the vision of providing architect-designed houses at project home prices. Gunn was the architect-in-charge, and Ellis Stones – then aged 71 – took on its landscape and garden design. Eventually Merchant Builders assembled a team of architects to design fifty basic house plans. The architects consulted included Gunn, Charles Duncan, Daryl Jackson and Evan Walker, and McGlashan Everist.
Stones was commissioned to undertake landscaping in many of the Merchant home developments. Elliston Estate was one of the best-known Merchant Builders home developments, named after Stones himself. Swamped by protests from local residents when the Rosanna Golf Club was to be subdivided for housing, Heidelberg City Council agreed to buy the golf course, retain half of it for a park and sell the rest to Merchant Builders for on-selling to the public. Stones advised on landscaping the park and developing the streetscapes and gardens so that 'gardens streets and park' would 'flow into and through each other'. Elliston, added to the Victorian Heritage Register, includes Bachli, Cremin, Ferrier, Pickworth, Hartley, Nagle and Devlin Courts; Stanton, Crampton, Phillips and Von Nida Crescents; the west side of Finlayson Street; and Thompson Drive, all in Rosanna.
Environmentalism Stones was deeply concerned about the destruction of the Australian landscape. In the introduction to his book Australian Garden Design, he wrote: