Paul Sorensen (landscape gardener)

Paul Sorensen was born on 16 December 1891 at Frederiksberg, Sorensen was later to state that it was the outbreak of the First World War (although his homeland Denmark was neutral) that motivated him to migrate to Australia, when he saw his French, German, Austrian, and Italian friends in Switzerland being recalled to their homelands for military service. ==Career in Australia==

Sorensen arrived in Australia in 1915. He initially found employment as a farmhand in Victoria, prior to getting work at Ormond Plant Farm propagating ferns. He moved to the Blue Mountains and obtained work as a gardener at the Carrington Hotel at Katoomba. He opened a plant nursery, called Sorensen's Nursery, at Katoomba, before moving the business in 1920 to Leura, He also improved an existing garden in Leura, "Leuralla". Sorensen's garden designs influenced other gardens in the Blue Mountains, such as "Benison", at Leura. Sorensen redesigned and expanded an existing garden at "Mahratta" at Wahroonga, in 1925 for its then owner, Gerald Allen of the mercantile firm Samuel Allen & Sons. After 1930, Sorensen also worked for the next owner of "Mahratta", James Joynton Smith who, as owner of the Carrington Hotel, had given Sorensen his first work in Australia as a gardener. this was the first garden that he created in an area of relatively low rainfall. In 1933, Sorensen met Henri van der Velde, a Belgian-born manufacturer and the owner of Feltex Carpets, who had a vision for a garden at "Everglades", Leura; Industrialist Cecil Hoskins, who also had a passion for gardens, became a client and lifelong friend. Sorensen designed and planted the garden of Hoskins' newly-built home, "Invergowrie", at Exeter (1936). "Invergowrie" was built on land Hoskins had bought from the estate of Arthur Yates in 1929. In making the new garden, Sorensen was able to make use of some mature trees, hedgerows, beds of daffodils, and orchards planted during Yates' ownership, but photographs taken at the time show the area in front of the house was newly-planted and almost all of the large garden was his work. The association with Cecil Hoskins led to other garden projects, mainly in the Illawarra and Southern Highlands; "Gleniffer Brae", in Wollongong, for Cecil's brother Sidney Hoskins; "Green Hills" and "Hillside" executive housing for Australian Iron & Steel; and the Hoskins Memorial Church at Lithgow. He also created the gardens for "Redlands" at Mittagong. Most of the gardens that Sorensen designed and built were for residences. Noteworthy exceptions were the rooftop garden that he created at Feltex House (an office building) or Henri van der Velde, in 1939, and three garden projects associated with the Hoskins family; the Mount Keira Scout Camp; Sorensen became friendly with Lady Gowrie, wife of the Earl of Gowrie, Governor-General of Australia, and he assisted in the creation of a small garden at "Yarralumla" (Government House, Canberra), in memory of the Gowries' son, Patrick, who died on active service during the Second World War. Two of Sorensen's own sons died in the war and Cecil Hoskins invited Sorensen to erect a memorial to them in the grounds of the Hoskins Memorial Church at Lithgow; he created a simple memorial, using natural rock. , with park-like gardens designed and planted by Paul Sorensen (July 2010). He returned to "Everglades"—from 1962 a National Trust of Australia (NSW) property—and expanded the garden. He did work at the country estate of the Field family, Lanyon Homestead, in the A.C.T. Also in the A.C.T. he carried out tree surgery that saved some very old cedar trees at "Yarralumla". In the late 1960s, he also returned to "Invergowrie" and restored and extended the garden for its new owners. and "Fernhill" at Mulgoa in 1969. Such large commissions became rarer; the era of grand residences with extensive parkland gardens was largely over by the 1960s. Sorensen kept working until his death in 1983, with his younger son and grandson doing the heavier work. ==Personal life and death==

On 27 November 1919, Sorensen married Anna Ernestena Hillenberg. They had three sons, two of whom—Derrick and Neville—died during their service in the Second World War. Sorensen died on 12 September 1983, at his home at Leura. == Legacy ==

Sorensen's main legacies are those of his gardens that survive to this day. He is best known for "Everglades" at Leura but he built over 100 gardens during his career. Sorensen's rooftop garden at Feltex House, Sydney, was lost when it was converted to office space in 1954; the original three-storey art deco style building was extended to nine storeys in 1961. A part of his garden "Gleniffer Brae" is now the Wollongong Botanic Garden, although changes made as a public park have masked much of the original garden's design. At "The Braes", the removal of large trees and other changes have altered the microclimate and compromised the aesthetics of the garden. Sorensen's other legacies are his techniques for creating gardens and his approach to garden design, both of which were influential. He developed techniques for enhancing the sandy soils of the Blue Mountains, so that these soils could support luxuriant gardens. Sorensen understood the difficulties of creating and maintaining large landscaped gardens in Australia, an extremely dry continent, saying that in Australia the approach should be "don't buy land, buy water". He made use of the surrounding outlooks and natural vegetation and he did use large native trees—such as the Illawarra flame trees and coastal cypress pine at "Gleniffer Brae"—when and where it suited his design. In the garden of "Mahratta", he mixed native trees with exotics. At "Everglades", he created a small waterfall and "grotto pool" of natural appearance—clearly influenced by the natural watercourses of the Blue Mountains—and the garden has a lookout overlooking Gordon Falls and the Jamison Valley However, Sorensen planned his gardens so that plantings screened views and other features, which were gradually revealed only by moving through the garden space. Although he planned a garden with its final landscape form in mind, Sorensen anticipated the development of the garden over a long period of time, during which its nature would vary as it matured; the aim was to allow the garden to achieve its own ecological equilibrium, after which only relatively little maintenance would be needed. This notion of planning for continuing change and development, over many years, was a novel and unusual approach, when Sorensen began his work. == Heritage listings ==

Gardens by Sorensen are significant in the listing of these places in the New South Wales State Heritage Inventory: • "Everglades", 37-49 Everglades Avenue, Leura • "Gleniffer Brae", Murphys Avenue, Keiraville • "La Vista", 65 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls • Sorensen's Nursery Site, 8-10 Herbert Street, Leura • "Sunray", 2 Churchill Street, Leura • "The Braes", 62-68 Grose Street, Leura == Biographies and literature ==

Sorensen is the subject of Australia’s Master Gardener: Paul Sorensen and his gardens, by Richard Ratcliffe (1990).—and books. == See also ==