Monday 3 April 2017

Holding the space

A couple of posts ago I mentioned planting geraniums in my new garden for something other than being pretty, so I figured it was time to talk more about that!



These are the slightly sad looking geraniums I planted a few weeks ago. I have just regular plain pink (?) ones from my mum's garden, and some lemon-rose scented ones from our old house. I love geraniums because they are tough, and easy to propagate (good for kids!) and the scented ones can be just so lovely.


Now I have a deep love of gardening. And one of my children in particular and Charlidog (above)  both have a deep love of tapdancing all over my freshly planted gardens. It frustrates me no end, so rather than get cranky, I thought I would get smart. These geraniums are acting as pioneer plants in my garden! A visual and physical reminder that there is something happening in that spot, and that children and dogs are expected to keep off them as much as they can. Now that they have been in for a couple of weeks, I am slowly adding a few other tough plants that can tolerate the odd foot/paw with minimal distress. Tarragon and gerberas so far, since gerberas are a favourite of the previously mentioned tapdancing child and Tarragon is delicious and cheerful!

It seems to be working quite well, and it means that I've also been able to plant my first fruit tree guild, right next to the patio and right where the original round garden was.


In the centre I have a lemon tree, and surrounding that is a mix of herbs and flowers, with some vege sprinkled in there too. So far I have rosemary, comfrey, society garlic, dianthus, pineapple sage, licorice basil, sweet basil, sorrel, silverbeet, and no doubt a couple of other things I've forgotten. All planted because they will add more than just their beauty or tastiness. Comfrey will be a valuable addition to our medicinal herbs, as well as a deep rooted mineral accumulator, compost activator, mulch provider, and pretty flowers. Both basils will bring in pollinators and predators, as well as delicious leaves, flowers and seeds. Society garlic will bring in predators and pollinators too, add to pest control as the clumps develop, and be delicious in salads and cooking. Each plant needs to do at least a couple of things for it to have a place in my garden. Even the dianthus, which is edible, scented, pretty and attracts beneficial insects!

Now that the weather is drying out after Cyclone Debbie, I'm hoping there will be a flush of autumn growth before things cool down a little for winter. We're full steam ahead with putting in new garden infrastructure, so in the next couple of days I should have another post talking about what we've been doing this last week. I'm extremely excited!

Take care!

1 comment:

  1. My one geranium loved TC Debbie, it looks marvellous now and has many flower buds.

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