I want to put my grand gardening plans into perspective. In my experience when people talk seriously about their Gardens they are usually talking about at least an acre. Even when you look at a "Small Garden" book they seem to be talking about something much bigger than the typical suburban block. But all we have is a typical suburban block. So my goal is to have the best garden possible with the limited space available.
A central theme of this garden will be drought. We are currently living through one of the biggests droughts in Australia's history. In December last year our region moved to Stage 4 water restrictions. What that means for us is no watering. This morning there has been some spots of rain. This is the only rain we've seen in the last month. Therefore the only water going onto the garden is greywater captured from showers and laundry. A lot of people are installing greywater tanks to capture this run off. But that's not currently an option on our budget. Which means that washing time is bucket time. But there is only so much that can be done with greywater. Currently this water is going to plants with a serious droop or with leaves that are shrivelled from the heat. But there's still not enough greywater to cover all of those plants. Consequently I'm starting to consider what plants I'm willing to lose.
Drought is one of the ground rules for our new garden. This is a dry region in a dry country. Plants need to be chosen because they are drought hardy (as opposed to drought tolerant). I want the garden to look green and propsperous without needing to water. Consequently we took stock of what was working and there were two plants we'd planted when we first moved here that provided our guide; an acacia and a correa. Both looked great and both were rarely watered. In fact the Correa (Baeuerlenii) seems to have doubled in size since we stopped watering it (we were drowning the poor thing). Planting Australian natives is hardly a revelation and we've always had them as part of the mix. But before it was a choice where now it seems an imperative. Don't get me wrong we won't be restricting ourselves to natives. But whatever we choose must be drought hardy. Next time there is a drought I won't be making life and death decisions from the pointy end of a greywater bucket.
4 comments:
I found your blog on Stuart's world-map directory. Your garden with a little "g" looks lovely. I look forward to reading more about what you've already done and your garden plans.
I'm particularly interested in seeing how you keep your garden going through the big drought Australia is suffering from. Here in Austin, Texas, we often have prolonged droughts too. Although we've enjoyed a bit of rain lately (winter is generally our wettest season), our rainfall totals are way behind average levels. But your situation is much more severe than ours. Good luck!
Thanks Pam for the kind comments. There is some talk that our drought may ease this year. But I think in general that we should all work with the environment we have. For us that means mostly dry.
Enjoyed your post on Big Red Sun. We have a great nursery over our way. Has many great Australian natives. But also an extraordinary variety of succulents. I must try and take some pics and do a post for now see the link.
A few links:
Pam/digging
Stuart's world-map
Roraima Nursery
Hi, just found your blog on Stuart's world-map directory.
Wish I could sent some rain over your way because here (the Netherlands) we have more than enough. It's not fair, is it? We're drowning over here and you have prolonged droughts.
I agree with your thoughts about garden sizes. It always annoys me when people talk about their small garden and it's at least an acre or more. My garden is about 807 square meters and that's enough for me. My previous garden was only 65 square meters, so I'm not complaining!
Hopefully most of your plants will survive the drought. I'm giving mine swimming lessons. ;-)
Thanks Yolanda. With regards the water; we're happy to accept all donations regardless of the size. Like yourselves Northern Queensland has too much water. It's the same continent but still too far away to share. The other day in Melbourne there was a burst water main. Everyone was out in the street collecting the water in whatever they had. Once they'd put enough on their own garden they started putting it onto the garden of absent neighbors. Some even took wheelie bins full of water to adjacent streets. I think this illustrates how water conscious we have become. But also how hard times bring communities closer together.
I laughed when I read you were a Horti-barbarica. It took me a minute to work out BtVS. But it's always great to discover another Buffy fan. Wondering if you've seen Firefly (also by Josh Whedon)?
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