Heinous Hedging

I wanted to talk about the art of hedging and what I have learnt about the subject.  Over the last 4 to 5 years I have been shaping and reshaping a hedge that spans the width of my property along the edge of the driveway.  It’s has been an ongoing project that I have constantly needed to rethink and redo. 

In the early stages of the hedge’s growth I let it do it’s own thing and waited till it had grown large enough to start shaping.  This tactic didn’t work well at all in fact it was horrible.  It looked nothing like a hedge, instead, it resembled, more accurately a number of sickly looking shrubs bunched into a line.  The lower parts of the plants had no leafy growth at all.  Most of the growth was localised at the very top of the plant.  I quickly realised that the hedge needed more constant attention. 

My second attempt to form a neat and bushy hedge had improved results.  I now knew that in order to get growth all over the plant, particularly the bottom, I needed to keep the plants short.  So I bit the bullet and pruned the bushes right back down to the base getting rid of all the initial growth.  It felt like a big waste and I know my mum can never bring herself to be that brutal but it had to be done.  I kept them short until they had thickened then slowly let them grow taller.  I made sure that the growth was even with no gaps by giving the plant time to fill into its shape as it got taller.  Eventually the hedge reached the desired height of about a metre. 

After a week of having the hedge at this height I noticed that there were large gaps starting to appear in the sides of the hedge.  I couldn’t understand why this was happening.  I had allowed the hedge to slowly grow and fill out.  I decided to research the plant and see how it had been grown in other gardens.  After looking at similar hedges I realised that I had grown mine too wide.  I had let the hedge grow out about a metre thick and as a result the plants were too small to sustain that amount of localised foliage.  The stress of this caused them to start loosing branches as a way of surviving.

So, again, I had to savagely attack the hedge in order to achieve the fullness I was after.  I took around a quarter off both slides of the hedge.  By now the plants had obviously established a well-formed root system as they bounced back impressively from their prune.  The hedge quickly thickened up at the side and there was no presence of any gaps.

Although I don’t like to do everything via mapped out instructions when it comes to gardening it definitely pays to do some research.  A lot of time and effort could have been put to better use if I had put a little time into researching the plant I was using and its growth habits.  Then again some people, like myself, have a lot of fun using the trial and error method.   

Autumn Mess

There are so many reasons why I love and hate autumn.  I love it for the beautiful display the trees put on.  The vibrant reds, oranges and yellows in contrast with one another really transform the streets.  And the lasting warmth of the sun shining through the colourful leaves creates a very homely and reassuring atmosphere. 

These reassured feelings, however, are short lived.  The warmth that filled me with fondness quickly turns to bitter cold and the trees with their beautiful leaf displays turn to dark and twisted figures, their contrast against the dull sky gives them an almost menacing appearance.  Even with all the joys of early autumn I harbour an unsettled feeling that with it brings the insidious cold of winter. 

Most of the trees in my neighbourhood, especially my street (Plane Trees), are deciduous so the lovely autumn colours turn, yearly, to a big leaf mess.  There are leaves everywhere.  The roof and gutters need constant clearing to prevent drainage issues.  The lawns need to be constantly raked to avoid turf death.  The water tanks need to be cleaned to stop them filling up with leaf litter.

As I have noted in my previous blogs, I love to mulch and this is the perfect solution to the autumn dump.  Every year I get out the Greenfield mulcher and make light work of autumn’s not so welcome offering. For me mulching is becoming the solution to all of life’s problems. 

My Local Parks and Gardens

Having lived in the same house all my life, the parks and gardens around my home have played a significant part in my life.  From when my dad used to take me for walks with our dogs when I was young to kicking the footy with my mates, local parks and gardens have become very important to me. 

Reed Gardens is less than a kilometre from my home; it’s a smaller park with the dimensions of 90m by 170m situated next to the main train line. It’s a great place to come and sit, although there is a small playground, most of the time it is very peaceful and quiet. 

Reed Gardens has tall, beautiful, old oak trees mixed with flowerbeds of colourful annuals and neatly maintained lawns.   This lush canopy coupled with the elegant Victorian and Edwardian houses which surround it, gives a timeless quality to the garden.  I also get warm, reassured feeling when I see the garden’s water tank, knowing that precious tap water isn’t being wasted.

Brinsley Nature Reserve, a 2-minute walk from my house, is another lovely but vastly different space to Read Gardens.  It is a much larger area, almost double the size, with dimensions of 125 metres by 225 metres.  It doesn’t have manicured flowerbeds or finely kept lawns or organised tree lines.  Instead it has randomly space trees among long, unkempt grass and no shrub or flower plantings. 

This area serves more for dog walking than a peaceful place to come and visit.  It perhaps isn’t as popular as Read Gardens and certainly isn’t as child friendly.  Despite the lack of money and effort put into this particular park I still have a great fondness for it.  I used to frequently come to Brinsley to muck around with my mates when I was a kid, kicking the footy and climbing the trees.  It some how gave me a sense of adventure, giving the feeling that we could possibly be in the woods somewhere.        

Although I can see the added advantages of well thought out designs in gardens such as Read Gardens I also find a lot of value in more naturally preserved parks such as Brinsley.  Especially in a highly populated area such as Camberwell I hope that both types of green spaces are maintained and also created as I think they provide a wealth of value to the community.  

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.