the verge garden


Sometimes I wonder if I'm a proper gardener. My ideal garden, once planted out and established, basically looks after itself. I might weed a bit, but basically trust it to get on by itself.


The verge garden has really proved itself to be sustainable. The reason it is never finished and needs more planting is because occasionally during the night someone, or ones, dig up plants and take them away. So there are gaps to filled. Which, in a way, is quite nice. I like to share, and I like having gaps to fill. On the other hand, it's a bit creepy, the thought of an anonymous person or people digging up plants in the dark.

Everything in the verge garden is native to Australia, because I weed out the violets, Euphorbia characis seedlings and any other interlopers.

Correa reflexa
A Leptospermum hybrid known as Pink Cascade prostrate and Hakea 'Burrendong Beauty' grow together and intertwine in a friendly cooperative way.



The yellow flowers of newly planted conostylis setigera 'Lemon Lights' echo the yellow buttons of Chrysocephalum apiculatum, whose non botanical name is - no surprise here - Yellow Buttons.


I can't find the label for this cheery red flowered ground cover, and can't work out what it is. I wondered if it was Kennedia prostrate, or Running Postman. The flowers are similar but the leaf shape is wrong.  Any id. help warmly welcomed.*

*Two people have identified the mystery plant. It's Grevillea nudiflora. Thanks so much, Marg and Brennie. Takes a village raise a child, and takes a community to id a plant!
 

I'm calling this the verge garden because this seems to be what it's called now. But all my life, until recently, it was called the nature strip. Mostly this strip of land between the road and the footpath grows grass, but I hate mowing and weeding grass and this is so much more interesting and pleasant. 

Comments

  1. I still think of that area as the nature strip. Ours has 'some' grass on it (which I rarely weed), because visitors to people in the street persist in parking on it.
    Love the colour you display. And you are kinder and more charitable than I am. I get severely irritated when people dig up plants. I am happy to share - but not give the whole lot.

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    1. If people parked on mine I think I wouldn't bother planting either. Most people seem to walk around it and not over it. Lovely to hear from you, EC.

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  2. Whatever you call it, I think it's wonderful. Your outlook on you late night marauder is very generous - in my opinion, he or she needs to return to nursery school to learn the value of asking before taking.

    I've been tempted to try a Hakea species in my own garden but I keep dithering about where to put it and, as I've only seen plants in this genus offered in one location - 3 hours to the north - dithering complicates things.

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    1. Hello. I know that this is not quite the correct place to add my comment but I couldn't, so apologies.
      I know the plant - it is a Grevillea nudiflora which I first saw at the Burrendong Arboretum when I worked there as a volunteer many, many years ago. If you ever get that way, it was a fabulous place to visit. It inspired my love of Hakeas, and its eucalyptus/dry malee area up the hill is striking (especially at this time of year with the E. caesia and other inland Eucs, flowering).
      Hope this helps.
      Brennie

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    2. Hi Kris, 6 hours in the car is a drag - but balanced against that, Hakeas, I think, are beautiful and characterful.

      Hi Brennie, I'm so pleased to hear from you, it doesn't matter where you add your comment. Thank you so much for the id. I'd never heard of Burrendong Arboretum, so I googled it. It looks fabulous. I'll try to get there. I also love Hakeas, have a couple in the garden.

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  3. Unbelievable that people dig up other people's plants. Are you sure it wasn't a kangaroo :-)

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    1. lol! Kangaroos are much better behaved than that.

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  4. I enjoy seeing what grows in your part of the world! Don't all gardeners dream of a garden that can take care of itself? Though I have never encountered one that truly does that, native plant gardens are more likely to come close. Yours is lovely!

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    1. sometimes I think it's pretty good at taking care of itself, then I notice the weeds coming up, then suddenly the paths are overgrown and you need a machete to get around ...

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  5. The more a garden takes care of itself, the better. For me, that is an ideal I'm always trying to get to, but I never do get too close. I like the selection of native plants you have, and admire your equanimity regarding people stealing from your garden. If it were me, I'd be screaming bloody murder.

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    1. I think I was a bit unrealistic calling it sustainable - since I wrote that lots of weeds have appeared!

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  6. What about watering, Catmint? The hot weather here will just drive me like a slave. I have to water them every day! Plants here are thirsty all the time LOL.

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    1. They do OK without water. A long time ago I read that if you don't water plants they'll put their roots down deep to look for water. But if you water them every day their roots will stay at the top where it's hot and if you miss a day they may not survive. But of course they may not survive my regime as well.

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  7. I love this verge garden with native plants. I have also experienced theft of plants from my garden when I lived in Northern NSW along the highway and the Clarence River I had a 5 acre garden and occasionally I noticed that a plant had been removed , generally when I planted something new. I am always willing to share cuttings if someone asks. Here my verge has grass as it is sometimes used to park cars as the road into the valley is narrow. Behind the verge I have a bush garden.

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    1. It sounds lovely, Titania. I know botanic garden have a great problem with theft of plants.

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