Leave It Alone!

Situated a stone’s throw away from my front doorstep in the town of Mt. Martha is Fairbairn Reserve, a humble semi bush area home to a shamble of native flora and flora that together possess their own unique beauty. With an array of eucalypts, Blackwood’s and wattles (black wattle), combined with a generous ground covering of sword grasses and subshrubs such as smaller species of tee tree, are able to provide suitable habitat for many native fauna such as the sugar glider possum and more commonly the national icon of koala’s. This reserve needs not the help of radical maintenance and constant watering programs (Watering  programs can be individualised to unique area’s using the simple and easy website http://www2.smartgardenwatering.org.au/ [It’s swell.])

With unrelenting competition from common environmental weeds such as Blackberry  and Agapanthus’s, the local flora in theory should be able to remain untouched and a vital landscape in our local community. Unfortunately this is not the case and the reserve has succumbed to the demand for housing and further development. The opportunities for majestic views of Port Phillip Bay and the bright lights of the city of Melbourne has meant Fairbairn reserve has become a mere shadow of the landscape that once dominated the gentle slopes of Mount Martha.
Obviously the local government has successfully gone to great lengths to hide the actual figures on the level of deforestation; the link below vaguely shows the area of Fairbairn bush reserve and the surounding estates.
http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-38.284682,145.020432&spn=0.011285,0.0421&z=15

With attempts to preserve the remaining bushland in the form of preventing the removal of soil, banning motorbikes, camping and littering, combined with annual back burning; the local authorities attempt to preserve both the health of the environment and its participants. Whilst this type of proactivity is beneficial to the landscape it must be accepted that the destruction caused by concrete roads, two storey mansions and general increased carbon emissions (Simply put due to more people  and fewer trees) is irreversible. My eventual opinion and advise would be Leave It Alone! Leave what environmental beauty remains to evolve naturally and simultaneously co-exist with human settlements.

Origins...

My heritage is to be perfectly honest, is boring, I have no real exotic blood that sounds really cool. No stereotypical love for the Fig tree like the Greek’s and no mythological theory’s on fascinating gods. Despite all this, my back yard growing up was at grandparents’ house; my stomping ground, quite romantically as a Collingwood supporter, was in the once beachside paradise of Frankston. Lol (Laugh Out Loud)
The typical, although now that I reminisce somewhat dull backyard consisted (deliberate use of past hence; the house has now succumbed to the modern phenomenon of sub division) an extremely large area of kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) lawn, the rusted Hill’s Hoist, and abundance of fruit tree’s (Most predominant was the classic lemon tree’s [Citrus limon].) All this complemented by tin shed for amateur tinkling, the backyard was full of Australian backyard trends.
 With frequent barbeques and complete range of people, both good and bad; despite the stereotypical somewhat boring heritage; the classic Australian backyard provided an extremely interesting and unique upbringing.

     

Images: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/
http://www.forums.ski.com.au/

Natives On Sand.

When you envision Gunnamatta beach it is normal to think surfing or lifesaving, rather than a horticulturalist work. Yet Gunnamatta beach and the vegetation that sweeps the shifting sand dunes is in fact an example of delicate horticultural management. Rather than highlight the much emphasised and debated issue of the pumping of the potentially hazardous sewage (Whilst the results seem to have a negligible effect on humans, the result on aquatic life is somewhat unknown); I’d rather emphasise the genius process which ensures the health of the surrounding sand dunes and vegetation.
With limited selection on plants that can survive the savage conditions of gale force winds, a constant invasion of biting midges (sand flies) and not to mention a constant showering of salt water from Bass Straight; it’s not surprising that indigenous species such as Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia,) Acacia longifolia var. sophorae (Coastal Wattle) and Leptospermum laevigatum (Coastal tea Tree) dominate the foreshore. Modern day horticulturalist’s use these native species through the process of brushing (This method involves the spreading of tree clippings around the sand dunes, used to minimize the erosion from direct impact of wind, by promoting new growth and stabilising adventitious roots.)
Combined with legislation and physical barriers in the form of fencing, brushing helps to ensure, in basic terms the beach doesn’t completely wash away (Much like another serious issue on the Mornington Peninsula, the complete erosion of Portsea Beach.)
So again rather be a public nuisance and constantly complaining about issues I know nothing about, I’d rather praise those doing an actual decent job.

Images: bushwalkjournal.blogspot.com
australiaforeveryone.com.au

Dung Prices Stink.

The contemporary amateur gardener whether it be right or wrong, place large amounts of expensive additives onto their home garden.  The classic supplements usually include fertilisers (Organic or chemical), mulch and even introducing legumes from the Fabaceae family, in order to fix nitrogen. My dad is a classic, he has tried everything he can get his clumsy hands on to try and grow his Tomato crop. The piles of dynamic lifter or sea weed liquid fertilisers, companion herbs such as oregano and basil and even quite funnily artificial containers advertised on Mid-day television. Whether his Tomatoes conduct a fungi, bacteria, pests and or diseases; I couldn’t care less, what I am sceptical of is his ignorance to introduce the easiest and least expensive additive.

Home-made compost is such an easy thing to create, scraps of soil, foliage, fruit, vegetables and even animal and perhaps human (If your into it) dung; can all be combined to produce nutrient rich soil-like material that can be used to create and maintain a healthy and sustainable garden.

Have fun composting. Lol

Images: ryanchen-wing.com
            deanschaffer.com

Mr Tomato's Old and New

The typical garden is an extremely subjective concept, yet in my mind it exists in in the modest town of Shoreham. With an array of flowering herbaceous perennials as well as flowering tree’s, effective landscape design and an abundance of edible crops, the residence of Mr Tomato and family contains a piece of everything which combines to make a complete and well as unique garden.

With classic rose cultivars including Rosa.’Korbin’ or Iceberg Rose’s, dominating the front yard, complemented by an adjoining walkway guided by a line of Magnolia Grandiflora ‘Kay Parris’ (A cultivar of the original Magnolia Grandiflora which consists of the classic discolourous leaf, as well as the large saucer like, white flowers; yet the cultivar is known not to grow as tall,) the initial impression of this garden during the blooming summer months screams ornamental gardening.    

Whilst your original thoughts suggest a traditional yet somewhat predictable environment, those thoughts are extinguished when you come to a piece of contemporary and simple yet effective example of design. The implementation of a striking water feature and flawless paving provides a genuine feature; and once the trickling water initiates it provides the much sought after soothing psychological break, which becomes increasingly important in a society full of unnecessary stresses.

 

Finally once the much emphasised and scrutinized backyard is reached, there comes the trend of horticulture that will inevitably continue. With a vegetable garden the centrepiece surrounded by a shed of egg producing chickens, towering eucalypts and a simple couch grass lawn, Mr Tomato’s residence provides a prime example of clever, horticultural thinking for the future. Obviously with the pressures of everyday inflation, a self-producing and sustainable garden becomes a more and more practical idea.

The one criticism of Mr Tomato would be the lack of indigenous plant species. Whilst there is a small population of Eucalypts from the Myrtaceae family, the large majority of plant species are considered to be exotic. This type of constructive criticism continues with the concept of future, horticultural thinking. With the rapid contrast in Melbourne’s weather, the resilience and matchless quality that come with native genera such as Acacia’s and Callistemon’s (Bottlebrush’s) can provide an equally effective spectacle, whilst still remaining ecologically manageable.

Ultimately my idea of a range of classic and moving garden is somewhat debatable, what is reasonably certain is the implementation of indigenous and exotic, traditional as well as contemporary horticulture required to make a complete garden. 

Its heaps good.

Perfection Impossible

Perfection is a common goal that is strived for by the majority of people every day, yet in a physical landscape with so many limitations and variables, perfection is a mere fantasy. For Peninsula Country Club; a prestigious, thirty six hole, exclusive golf course; perfection like the rest of environments simply cannot be achieved. Whilst the rolling fairways of Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon) and flawless Bent Grass (Agrostis palustris) Green’s provide a picturesque landscape, they too face the everyday problems of changing temperatures and weather patterns, the constant trampling and compaction that comes from the herd of golfers, and even unusually the scarring burnout and wheelie marks that come from a small minority of moronic locals with their motorbikes and cars.
Whilst these problems unfortunately are inevitable, one barrier that the management behind this magnificent establishment do not need to concern themselves with as much as everyday companies and people, is the flow of money. With thousands of wealthy members shamelessly pouring in thousands of dollars in membership each year the burden of a restricting budget is not such a tight issue. (Pun Intended)

With the ability to purchase top of line fertiliser’s and poison’s, machinery and irrigation systems (For example a new one million litre water storage tank has been constructed and implemented to complement the normal half a million litre tank) the management behind the maintenance of the golf course have been able to ensure some continuity in the environment to ensure existing plants thrive.  
With all the stereotypical lush turfs and well maintained sand bunkers, Peninsula Country Club is able to set itself apart from other golf clubs by establishing some native vegetation to surround the course, which provides some natural yet secluded and magical landscapes. Dominated mainly by native species for example from the myrtaceae family; (Eucalyptus globulus) and a collage of ferns or Pteridophyte’s, that can often reflect even the most intertwinning forests.
The vegetation surrounding the fairways and green whilst is often an effective backdrop to the actual course itself, it can concluded that with the array of natural flora, the imperfections that come with maintaining a golf course would most certainly be far more emphasized.

Images : http://www.iseekgolf.com/
             http://www.homeopathyandmore.com/