Wet Feet

The ongoing consequences of the floods in late 2010 are still being felt.  We are now seeing that a number of trees are suffering because of "wet feet".

Several Zelkova trees planted along the driveway may die or at the very least suffer severe damage because the water table in this part of the property rises to the surface in a very wet season.

In another  wet season a decade ago we lost the majority of Cypress Pines (Callitris endlicheri ) that we had planted here as an avenue,  so it seems that there will be an ongoing problem in this area. Does this mean that we should rethink the concept of having an avenue of trees along the driveway?  Or is it just a matter of finding a tree that can cope with the range of conditions ?

What's Blooming This Week?

Madame Isaac Pereire,  claimed to be the most powerfully fragrant of all roses,  is in full bloom this week in The Old Cottage Garden.

Heritage roses, antique roses, old garden roses;  whatever you choose to call them,  we have a number of them in the Cottage Garden, including some very early  varieties such as The Red Rose of Lancaster, The White Rose of York, Rosa Mundi and The Grand Duke of Tuscany.

These roses are tough, having passed the test of time and surviving the harshest conditions.  We like that. We don't have time to pander to the needs of prima donnas.

Size Does Matter

The peach trees in The Old Orchard had got too big to be manageable so this gave Clive the perfect excuse to play with his new toy.  The chainsaw got a workout and the trees are now sorted.

With the trees  being so big it was not possible to net them and without nets we lose every peach.  But netting needs to be quick and easy, so small is best.

In future we will keep new fruit trees smaller and  have also begun collecting dwarf fruit trees to be grown in  wine barrels in the revamped Old Cottage Garden.

Green Walls

 

Green walls are used in The House Gardens, dividing the area into rooms, providing structure to the garden and shelter from harsh winds.

All our green walls so far have been made using Star Jasmine, grown over a framework of steel mesh. This twining climber grows quickly enough to provide a good coverage in only 2-3 years but not so quickly that it becomes problematic  to keep trimmed.

One additional beneficial outcome is that these walls are now being used as nesting sites by many small  birds. 

Netting the Fruit

Protecting stuff is one of the main activities in a country garden,; protecting seedlings from extreme heat, protecting  trees from animal attack, or as in this photograph, protecting fruit from birds.

The thing about some birds, especially parrots, is that  they don't necessarily want to eat the fruit.  They just enjoy nipping the fruit off the branch, watching it fall then repeating the process until there is no fruit left.  

So even if the fruit is a long way from ripe nets need to be put in place early.

The Path to the Citrus Grove

The very rapid growth of native grasses in this season is allowing us to define many of the important paths around the property by regular mowing.

The path to The Citrus Grove was mown lost week.  This axial path really requires perfect symmetry. The line of the path could be tweaked so that the curve on the right  is identical to the curve on the left.  By next week the grass will have grown sufficiently to the path again and make that simple tweak.

The next question will be how best to mark the path so that we don't lose that  line. An "eyecatcher" placed at the top of this axial path would help strengthen the overall design.

Notes from The Library #9

The Library contains many reference books that have inspired parts of the garden designs here at The Drip.

This  design is part of a biographical entry for the early Melbourne 'garden architect'  Walter R Butler in The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens.  The highlighted area of Butler's design for an early twentieth century garden in Toorak is pretty much exactly what we had in mind for The Espaliery and The Cut Flower Garden when we drew up the original plans back in 1993.

Many of the ideas in the gardens here at The Drip are deliberate references to historical styles of gardening. An appreciation of this historical context can add a lot to the enjoyment of exploring the property and The Library is a source of continual inspiration.