It has been a big gardening planning weekend. We are in peak autumnal gardening season after bunkering down during the hot, dry summer. My mother and I made a list of tasks to do. We are organising a working bee. Hopefully some interested neighbours and family will join us in a week or two.
This afternoon I surveyed our street garden. Lots of nasturtium seedlings have popped up after the big rain. I moved them to fill empty spaces. The earth that has been dry as dust over summer has now been replenished after the rain. The trowel sinks in easily.
I had a chat with a hospitality business owner who runs his business next to our house about our progress and planting strategy. He has put an application into the local council to get funds for planting on the street corners to deter rubbish dumpers. #GardeningAU#Melbourne#StreetGarden
I have not been sharing many garden updates because a more typical #Melbourne summer has arrived and we are battling weeks of no rain and some days over 35 degrees (nowhere near as bad as #Perth though).
I have been very busy with family and community projects but fortunately my husband has stepped in to water plants. Even so, as you can see in this photo of our #StreetGarden, the plants have shrunk and are really holding on quite grimly.
This is a photo of the other half of our #StreetGarden - again with shrunken plants battling to stay alive through the dry weather #Melbourne has been having and a number of 35+ degree days.
During our mild and wet December and January I was starting to think I had been ridiculous with my rule of no planting during summer until the equinox arrives 20th March. But now we have had weeks with barely any rain and so my rule still holds. I am thinking that it is easier to garden through winter than summer here.
Plant-choice is crucial for street gardens where you cannot guarantee ongoing care. The council's choice of the drought-tolerant gray-leaf gazania is wise. Our group chose succulents and the hardy 'Big red' (sorry I don't know the proper name) geranium plus some salvias. The nasturtiums we planted have died down but there are lots of seeds in the garden ready to germinate when the time is right.
But the garden is still working beautifully to deter people dumping big pieces of rubbish there like before. I can cope with dealing with the little bit of rubbish that has floated on the wind (pictured).
This is a photo of the same #StreetGarden last Spring. Compare that to the previous photo and you can see how even the drought-tolerant gazanias have shrunk.
We have another week coming with no rain and a variety of temperatures from quite cool today (expecting 21 degrees) to 37 degrees predicted next Saturday.
We are planning our next #melbourne#StreetGarden challenge. We have some plots that are currently covered in rubbish and trolleys and are waiting for the council to clean them up. While waiting I am collecting cuttings of plants that are difficult to kill and require little maintenance.
This morning I spied this pelargonium and knocked on the door of the owner to ask if it was OK to take cuttings. I didn't really need to because it was on the street and growing outside his property, but as a society we need to combat #SocialIsolation by talking to our neighbours.
So I have a couple more cuttings in my collection for our next garden project
The #streetgarden we planted on 10th April is going really well. People have taken some of the pot plants we left for people to take home. The nasturtium seeds I planted last spring had not sprouted by April so I gave up on them. To my surprise they have since sprouted.
Today I did some weeding, rubbish removal and moved some of the nasturtium plants to better places. #gardeningAU