Growing Vegies Amongst the Monsters

As you may have read in my profile I am currently studying Horticulture at Melb Uni.  As an assignment for one of my courses the class is required to start up and care for their own vegetable plot, growing lettuces, tomatoes, leeks, beans, celery, carrots and zucchini. 

The plots have their own drip irrigation systems so there isn’t too much work required there.  You may also need to do a little pruning and staking but overall you can stand back, look at your plot and admire the way it takes care of itself. 

My naivety soon becomes clear when I return from a coolish weekend to find almost meter high small nettles closing in and around my plot.  They’re in amongst the carrots and all over the beans.  Looking over at other plots I see the battle is nearing weed victory as the vegetable plants are hidden from sight by the nettles.  Like vicious animals they bite at your bear ankles if you get too close and nearly take your hand off if you try to interfere with their plans. 

Never before have I seen such aggressive and hostile weeds.  The rate at which they grow and their stinging defence make them a very formidable foe.  Turning your back on them for too long could result in an invasion more advanced than you’re prepared for.  There are several other species of weeds growing around the vegies but nothing as savage as these. 

My plan of attack, once I was made witness to the awesome power of these monsters, was to suffocate them.  Any offender larger than a few centimetres was pulled from the site and the rest were smothered with pea straw mulch.  The mass of surrounding nettles growing close by tried to pull a Stalingrad by coming from behind. Once I caught wind of the situation they took poorly to a good hoeing.  The remainder of their corpses were then buried under more mulch. 

The war against this enemy still wages on but my battle is over and won…….for now.             

An Instructional Guide to Starting a Lawn

In order to grow a healthy lawn a number of procedures set out in an algorithmic type fashion must undertake.  It is important to perform each step in sequential order to achieve the desired outcome. 

There are a number of important requirements when deciding to initiate a lawn.  The grower must have a large amount of irrigation resources available. Most new lawns, depending on the variety, need constantly moist soil in order to initiate.  A system for regularly watering the lawn must be designated catering to this constant watering regime.  An informed decision should be made when selecting the variety of grass to be grown, taking in factors such as shade, available water and soil type. Factors such as budget may also be a factor subsequently certain steps specified may not be practical when installing a private lawn.    

Readying Ground for Lawn:

• A drainage system may need to be installed if the current drainage of the soil is particularly poor.  A popular solution is to lay drainage pipes (for more information contact a plumbing contractor). 
• Quality soil may need to be purchased to replace or cover the current topsoil if it is of poor quality. A minimum of 10cm of good quality soil is needed.  
• The soil should then be aerated using a hoe or another digging implement. This should be done to a depth of 10cm.
• A soil wetter can be mixed in with the soil to help lower the watering requirements of the lawn.
• The soil surface should then be levelled off using a rake.

Sowing the Seed:

• Sowing should be done at a time of year that suits the variety of grass being used.  Minimal wind if preferable as the seed is very fine.
• Spreading rate should also be adhered to according to the selected grass.  A spreader is useful for the step.
• Move from one side of the lawn to the other working downward when spreading the seed ensuring that the entire area is covered and no sections are missed.
• Water the seed in well making sure the area receives an even coating.

Caring for the new lawn:

• The lawn should be watered briefly 3 to 4 times a day, depending on the grass, for the first 3 weeks.
• Light and frequently fertilisation of the lawn can be done but never large amounts of fertiliser at one time.
• Any bare patches can be re-sewn.
• From weeks 6 to 9 the watering regime should decrease to once a day for a longer period. 
• Mowing of the lawn should initially be carried out with a push pull mower to avoid damaging the young grass from heavier machinery.     

Smart Garden Watering

I recently investigated the University of Melbourne website http://www2.smartgardenwatering.org.au/ and was very impressed by the quality of the user interface and visually pleasing layout.  All the links were well set out and easy to follow making using the site a real pleasure.

I applied the details of my garden to its water usage calculator and was surprised at how many factors it took into account. It considered such inputs as plant and tree species planted, mulching type, watering method, slope of area, soil type, tank water use as well as many others.  However there were some factors that I think should have been taken into account.

For example an input missing from the calculation was the surrounding trees that are close by but not actually situated on the watering area.   Where I live there are full-grown plane trees (Platanus X acerifolia) that line my side of the street.  Their root systems span a very wide area and often cross over into private gardening spaces.  They have the potential to suck up a lot of moisture and cause the soil to become very sandy and dry.  The effect of the plane trees is made obvious by the stark contrast of the other side of the street.  Opposite my side grow newly planted plane trees on nature strips that are lush and green unlike the patchy and brown nature strips on my side.    

The other data entry the website didn’t consider, which I think could be a possible contributing factor to the overall watering requirement, is the surrounding surfaces with no planting.  For example a paved area that drains rainwater into a gutter takes away a percentage of the yearly rainwater.  This is water that doesn’t get absorbed into the soil and therefore could increase the watering requirement for the garden. 

I also had a look at some of the other gardens on display through the site.  It was interesting to see how some gardens are designed so that they don’t even need irrigation during the cooler months and only require watering for one or two months a year.  I thought it would be interesting to see if some of the smart gardens were using any other techniques in order to save water or if there was any missing information that could be useful for other gardeners.   

Despite these few points this website is one of the best I have ever used.  Anyone looking to establish a garden or make an existing garden more water efficient can benefit hugely from this site.  It shows people factors they otherwise wouldn’t have taken into account in an easily accessible and quick way.  This site has the potential to have a real impact on the way we design gardens and on the environment.