Wallabies and kangaroos were feeding on the grass in the middle of the night, out of sight of predators. Feather-covered echidnas and rodent-like bandicoots have dug tunnels under the backyard fence. Parrots and blue-tongued lizards also made visits. The animals made her garden, which she never watered or mowed, her “Disneyland.”
The result was a far cry from the lush, green aesthetic that most people aspire to — and last week, it earned it the title of “the ugliest garden in the world.”
The competition, which aims to draw attention to water scarcity, invited homeowners around the world to compete for the unusual title. From more than 30 “ugly, but heroic” entries, a panel of six judges chose Murray Park, where “not a single dust-covered decimeter is wasted on irrigation,” competition organizers announced last week. The Swedish region of Gotland ran a local version of the competition in 2022 before opening it to global submissions in 2023.
Murray immediately and proudly displayed her new “Ugliest Garden in the World” certificate on her fridge after winning the challenge.
“It's a bit like women who first choose to stop dyeing their hair, and their hair starts going grey, and then they panic and start dyeing it again,” Murray, 53, said. ashen.”
She hopes others will follow suit.
Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis, said water scarcity has been a growing problem in recent decades as populations in areas with limited water supplies have boomed. This has prompted officials in dry regions, such as California and Australia, to restrict the amount of water used in landscaping.
“If you want to have a big, beautiful green lawn, it takes a lot of water,” Lund said.
Murray Park looked quite the opposite. But that's what prompted Leslie Pyle, the Dallas-based author and copywriter who sat on the “World's Ugliest Park” jury, to give Murray her vote.
“I mean it's a really horrible looking park,” Pyle said.
Aside from the photos, Pyle said what drew her attention to Murray's barren yard was the written portion of the submission, which detailed how unkempt she had become.
“She captivated us with her story,” Pyle said.
Murray grew up in Victoria, Australia, where her family lived on a farm with cows, horses and chickens. They owned a small white car, which Murray's mother, Patricia Myers, had covered with stickers bearing messages about saving the planet. They barely used it, preferring to walk or bike to most places. Myers, who has been active in environmental protests in Australia, taught Murray about sustainability.
“She always raised me to see the big picture that we are all just custodians of this land,” Murray said.
Murray, who has a doctorate in forensic soil science, has tried to instill those same lessons in her children. She and her family now live in Sandford, Tasmania, a dry area where they collect rainwater in large tanks.
When she stopped mowing in 2016, watching the wildlife she attracted became her daily entertainment.
“They bring happiness to my life that no Netflix subscription ever could,” she said.
Murray entered the “World's Ugliest Garden” competition in December, after hearing about it on the radio. The competition judges sought contributions from people who had dry lawns and were supplying water, and Murray thought to herself: “Well, that's me.”
She said she hopes it will inspire more “ugly” lawns like hers — and that homeowners will consider keeping only native plants in their yards and turning off their sprinklers.
Along with her certificate, Murray wore the brown T-shirt she received when she won the award, which read: “Proud owner of the world's ugliest garden” – an award she will pass on to next year's winner, another nod to the competition. Focus on sustainability.
She has no plans to start watering the land, so she continues to attract the animals she has made her own.
“They don’t think my backyard is ugly,” she said. “They think it's beautiful.”
