MAIDA Vale green thumb Tom Hogg is opening his award-winning garden Romancing the Stone to the public again this month to raise funds for the Amanda Young Foundation.
Mr Hogg has been using his garden to raise money for a host of charities over the past 13 years and said the tragedy of Ms Young’s death to meningococcal spurred him to help fundraise for the cause.
“Amanda was in Year 10 at Penrhos College when she died suddenly of meningococcal,” he said.
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READ NOW“She was in the prime of her life and a state champion rower, an accomplished horse rider and an outstanding leader.”
Over the years Mr Hogg has raised $320,000 for charities and said he was driven to help make the world a better place.
“It’s a very troubled world with so much doom and gloom in the media,” he said.
“We need to help each other in our community and over the years I am grateful to have helped many causes, including the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Little Children’s Cancer Fund.”
Mr Hogg’s garden has continued to expand since he turned the first sod 17 years ago.
“When I first started the garden was a jungle and I carted away two tonne of rock,” he said.
“But I saw the potential that this place could be one of the best gardens in WA.
“There’s a lot of romance and rock in the garden, so Romancing the Stone seemed like a good name.”
And there certainly is romance in the air as it was in his garden that Mr Hogg met his partner Jan Bruechle.
“Jan came to visit my garden two years ago and fell in love with me and the garden,” he said.
The garden and art show is on October 6, 7 and 8 at 3 Lilian Road.
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