Ashcombe Maze

Ashcombe Maze

Australia’s oldest and most famous hedge maze,The traditional hedge Maze is planted with more than 1000 cypress trees and thousands of metres of pathways. Now more than three metres high and two metres thick, the Maze keeper clips the hedges three times a year to keep it sculpted into a curvaceous challenge that will delight and inspire

Design of the maze

Our visually stunning hedge maze – planted over 40 years ago – now stands at over 3 metres high & 2 metres thick. It is made from more than 1000 “Cupresses macrocarpa” plants that give it its lush, evergreen texture. In the beginning, the plants were planted at 1-metre intervals but each year the hedge grows a little bit bigger – making the paths a little bit narrower! Some sections of the maze are so narrow that wheelchairs and prams cannot fit.

One of the most interesting features of the Ashcombe Hedge Maze is how it is maintained – there are no string lines or straight edges used in trim so the overall effect is very organic. The constant trimming ensures that the juvenile lime green soft foliage of the cypress features all year round. The Mazekeeper and his team of gardeners cut the hedge 3 or 4 times a year using electric hedge trimmers, ladders & stilts. You cannot cut a hedge in the rain or in the heat, and each load of hedge trimmings has to be loaded into the wheelbarrow and pushed through the maze to get out! It’s a big job — each time taking about a month to finish the task!

History of Ashcombe Maze

The Ashcombe Maze and Lavender Gardens in Shoreham, Victoria, Australia is the country's oldest and most famous hedge maze. The maze's history dates back to the 1970s when John and Sally Daly began building the maze and gardens on the property. The Bortoli family took over as maze keepers in the late 1990s and opened the gardens to the public.

The foundations for the hedge maze were laid in the late 1970's along with mass plantings of conifers & deciduous trees. But it wasn't until the Bortoli Family took over as Maze Keepers in the late 1990s that the extended gardens became open to the public.

The Challenge of Ashcombe Maze

For visitors, the challenge of the Ashcombe Hedge Maze is to find each of the four mosaic flags in the two halves of the maze. The task takes you through hundreds of metres of winding paths in the South Maze through to the Centre Garden – then you tackle the North Maze. While not overly complicated it does take a little while to make your way through (some people take longer than others!)

Each half of the maze has a totally different layout, so any tricks you worked out while making your way through the first part, mean absolutely nothing in the other!