“I wanted to prove that having a beautiful abundant garden didn’t require endless hours of maintenance or one drop of weedkiller.”

Problem

• What I lovingly refer to as a green desert

• All previous plantings had been removed

• Garden beds had been covered with weedmat and topped with stone mulch

• The patio was too large and felt uncomfortable to be in as well as providing no shelter from the sun

• It seemed as though the garden had been designed around the liberal application of Roundup

• The soil is a heavy alluvial clay - although rich in nutrients it is heavy to work and has poor drainage

Solution

• Create beds for me to experiment with plant combinations, provide colour and give the garden structure

• Install an arbour with a shade sail - this helped to close in the space so that you didn’t “get lost” in it as well as providing some shelter from the sun

• Replace the supposed low maintenance beds of stonemulch and weedmat with plants - now established these beds only need weeding and/or cutting back twice a year

Result

“This is my garden so I’m perhaps a little biased but I think it’s great. Aside from this garden being a delightfully experimental space for me to indulge myself and my love of plants it was the perfect opportunity to break out from conventional gardening thought and try out lesser known organic and ‘slow gardening’ techniques.

Far too often I see gardens laden with stone mulch and weedmat and whose maintenance regime is limited to a sprayer full of weedkiller. I wanted to prove that having a beautiful abundant garden didn’t require endless hours of maintenance or one drop of weedkiller.

Considering that I garden for my living I often get home and don’t really want to go outside and do more gardening. This is now a space I can simply enjoy being in.”