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!

Our yard!

This is our yard - I took this picture before we moved in. You can see it is very bare, and the grass is almost non-existent. We also have an excellent view into the neighbour's yard behind us (lucky for us, he is a very nice neighbour!).

 This is post-move, as can be seen by the gigantic trampoline and the kids' clam shell. Also our dog Charlie, who is patiently (for a change) waiting to see if pats will be offered. We put up the chain link fence you can see behind the bins there before we moved in - when you sister-in-law is your landlord, putting up child-containment fencing becomes much easier! The neighbours on that side are also lovely, and are keen gardeners too. I've already been gifted with some cuttings, and I have a few plants here to share in return.

 Here you can see our patio area. If you look closely along the top of the photo you will see the very edge of another garden shed, which is the same size as the one on the slab behind the patio. It used to be on the pavers, taking up valuable patio space, so we moved it. We're not sure what we will do with it yet, but the extra patio space is excellent. We're putting in gardens around the edges of the pavers up that end, initially filled with geraniums (I have a reason for that, which I will detail in my next post) but eventually to be filled with herbs and flowers, a lemon tree and some salad greens. Probably a cherry tomato, and some beans too, to make for a quick salad. Basically whatever will fit in there...

These are some photos of my last garden. I've always loved mixed plantings of vegies, herbs and flowers. And I'm convinced that it makes each of them healthier than they would be on their own. I often let things go to seed, both to collect the seed and to attract pollinators and predators. Looking at these photos makes me miss having a productive garden, but it also makes me excited to know I will have that again, as long as I'm patient!

Take care oxox