What is your gardening style ? (forum)

Glennis starts with ...
My edible garden .
I live in brisbane and have a block under 1000 sqm.
I am about 5 klms from the bay and have red loam soil , it was an old strawberry farm . Frost is not a problem
and the yard is on a hill with a gentle slope so perfect drainage .
I grow subtropical fruit and a few tropical mixed with native rainforest shrubs and weeds.
Why the native rainforest shrubs ? I need them for mulch and attracting native birds .
I also have butterfly host plants as well .
I also use the rainforest shrubs for the mulch i use around the fruit trees . There is a lot of trimming involved
sometimes but its free mulch . Everything gets shredded up and put back in the garden . I havnt taken any green waste
to the tip in over 10 years , except for larger branches that might be white ant attracting . Mind you ,
if you are going to do this style of gardening i suggest you keep up the termite treatments .
Actually i am beginning to think common weeds are very important in my garden so i let them grow now . The number
of ladybugs on the solanum is amazing . I just scatting seeds around the mulched areas and watch fruit plants come up like loquats ,
pawpaw etc . I guess i am slowly turning the yard into a food forest . No chemicals are used at all ever . I have had everything from visiting
herons looking for worms to butterflies of all types . Cicadas , sometimes the yard is thick with insects and birds . The fruit trees are healthy and abundant .
I wouldnt go back to any other style of gardening . cheers .

Time: 28th December 2011 8:25pm

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amanda says...
Sounds great Glennis - good on you! You are in the right place here :)

Must admit that I love to see the flora and fauna returning our 30acres of degraded ex-farm land...I am happy just to grow for the fauna at the end of the day (they can't zip down to the supermarket for food like us ;) and their home in our world is getting ever smaller.

I tend to let nature take it's course too. I plant my broad beans very early to get them toughened up b4 the spring aphid plagues etc...it's a big learning curve tho isn't it?! :)

I actually find, in hindsight, that learning and being uber-aware of my locality and it's weather patterns, soil etc...has been the single most helpful thing I have learned a long the way?

Sounds like u are in tune with yours :)

Time: 28th December 2011 11:41pm

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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BJ says...
I actually think this is a really important topic.
The majority of Aussies live in the city (like me). My block is a normal suburban block (i.e. I would like to understand gardening styles of those who have size restrictions of cities. Productive gardening on apartment balconies or where strata rules require particular aesthetic results adds a challenge never anticipated by nature.
My style involves light pruning 3 times a year, composting in an enclosed bin (as there is insufficient space for the bin to be directly on soil), importing nutrients to add to compost (coffee from work and horse poo from the local track), importing and creating my own mulch (which is added to the garden 1-2 times per year), and recycling shower and washing machine water. Where there are gaps plants (such as rock melon) are included as a

Time: 29th December 2011 1:00pm

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About the Author BJ11
Perth
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amanda says...
Well said BJ-Perth...perhaps therein lies the value of local community gardens also? It would be a great thing to see more of these - not just for the environmental issues and food - but for people and communities also :)

One of the reasons I live where I do is because of the sense of community I get here (I would go to a smaller town if I could!)
The other resaon is my connection with nature - which seems to make most humans happy.

Community gardens can help with both of these - and it's high time land developers were forced to put aside a couple blocks for these - rather than squeezing every last inch of land out to turn a profit and create urban heat sinks....?

You are doing really well considering - that's not a lot of room. I know some friends who are going vertical in their tiny backyard...(up their fences)

Time: 30th December 2011 11:29am

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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MaryT says...
I have 196 square metres on a subdivision (a semi detached house in front cut off its backyard to build my 96 sq.m house. One side is a right of way and two sides are 1.6 m set back from the boundary so my food garden is a container garden on a concrete carspace right outside the front door. I also have a small courtyard of similar size dominated by a giant jacaranda from which I hung a swing that sways sideways as there is not room to swing. :)

Though I don't grow enough to feed myself the garden is a place of solace and peace and the small amount of produce nourishes me in many ways.

I manage to grow a surprising number of plants and trees in containers and there's something to pick from them every day. I make marmalade from the citrus (I have lemons, limes, cumquats, oranges, lemonade, grapefruit) to give to friends and my neighbours know they can help themselves to the herbs. I am Chinese so I always have spring onions and garlic chives and ginger and now have shallots growing as well.

Time: 30th December 2011 12:00pm

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About the Author MaryT
Sydney
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Mark says...
Interesting Question. ... Well, I grow 'weeds', but I do it deliberately! I grow what I call an Addams Family style garden.(but without that african strangler!,a pity really.) ... We have just an average sized house block, & I have about 1/3rd of the backyard to do as I like with. .. Most of that is given to growing vegetables & herbs & fruits,but I do it in very unconventional ways. My patch of garden is largely overgrown or wild in appearance, & "weeds" are everywhere, but I grow them deliberately!

Time: 30th December 2011 3:43pm

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au0rey says...
I have a small garden. I love the lawn space we have. I love growing good looking plants that are at the same time edible and useful, esp perennial plants such as choko, grape, passionfruit, rhubarb, artichokes, and fruit trees that can last for years. I also focus on growing leafy veges for a good supply in the kitchen as they are more perishable even when kept in fridge. And dont forget about the herbs and spices, they are my favourites - oregano, thyme, rosemary, thai basil, chillies, lemongrass, saffron, ginger, galangal.

My style would be beautiful yet useful/edible. :)

Time: 30th December 2011 10:53pm

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About the Author au0rey
melbourne
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roborthudson says...
Gardening style differs from person to person but there are some common like watering regularly, control weeds, use of fertilizers, soil test, water regulation system etc.

I always make use of coco peat for my garden, it's an organic soil derived from coconut husks.

Coco peat provides required ingredients to the plants and keep them green and healthy. Also it has the great water retention capacity which saves your extra unwanted water and electricity bill.

To know more uses of coco peat, you may visit here: http://goo.gl/ZGi1lS



Time: 3rd October 2013 5:45pm

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starling says...
An old strawberry farm with red loam in brisbane...sounds like where I used to live--mitchelton.

Time: 3rd October 2013 5:51pm

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