The Overflow is the home and garden of Dr David Ives PhD at Mount Tamborine, Queensland. The property was originally part of a dairy and beef farming enterprise, and was acquired by David in 2009 as a wilderness of old cow pasture, covered in rocks, piles of soil, rotting vegetation and trees, old irrigation pipe and weeds. The land had been settled since 1875 and various owners have worked the land but never lived specifically on the current property, as it was always part of a wider enterprise.
David chose the property for a number of natural advantages: permanent water and a weir with billabong surrounded by tree ferns; a gentle north-western slope; 4 huge and ancient Eucalyptus grandis trees; and a long narrow entrance to the property which would lend itself to a bower-like entry experience. As time has progressed, these features have become even more important, anchoring the development of the garden.
The property has a permanent waterway, Plunkett Creek named after the original selector of the land between Long Road and Main Western Road in 1875 (William Plunkett). In 1958, the then owners, Drs Vincent and Vonda Youngman applied to the Queensland Irrigation and Water Supply Commission to build a weir, completed that same year, in order to irrigate pastures for their cattle herds. The property still has an irrigation licence. In 2017, David was successful in having the weir listed with Queensland Heritage as a heritage structure.
David has set out to prove a unique principle: That a property can be both garden and national park – planting to restore the natural environment in order to bring back the birds and other wildlife of the rainforest in a sustainable and beautiful way. If gardening is defined as the endeavour where art meets nature then The Overflow sets out to be an excellent example.
Our home and garden website seeks to tell visitors about the garden compartments (or “rooms”), our experiences, successes and failures and what we have learnt over the years, our future plans, and just what makes gardening such a big challenge in an elevated environment on old rainforest soils subject to Spring and Summer subtropical heat and rain, yet frosty in Winter.
Readers may be interested in the origin of the word “Tamborine.” The local Bundjalung language spoken by the Wangerriburra Clan as the Yugambir dialect refers to the area as ‘Tchambreen.’ The ‘tam’ means’ Yam’ and ‘ bireen’ means ‘Cliff.’ Thus, ‘yams found on a cliff.’
The garden’s symbol is ‘Aunt Bumps.’ The facetious name given to the great garden designer and plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll by her colleague, architect Edwin Lutyens. It depicts a bespectacled elderly lady in tramping boots with wings, carrying her magic wand in order to spread beauty amongst the plants. She was known to be a formidable lady in her opinions on garden design.