Back Garden December 2014

 

We have a small strip of lawn out the back which we will keep whilst we still have a dog but we now hand mow it and it has never looked better. As far as possible we use recycled or re-purposed materials so the edges are made from pavers or wooden posts that have been re-purposed as we have dismantled pergolas and dug up paved areas to create gardens.

  

This gardens is along the southern boundary fence and includes two espaliered apple trees and a variety of edible plants. These include yarrow, evening primrose, feverfew, basil, chives, tomatoes and fennel.

 

The fennel seeds are delicious eaten off the plant fresh, we tend not to dig the plant up as we use the flowers to attract beneficial insects.

Attracting Beneficial Insects

Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects: A really useful,article here to assist in choosing plants that attract beneficial insects. We currently have the following:-

• Taraxacum officinale — Dandelion - attracts lacewings, ladybugs
• Coriandrum sativum — Coriander - attracts lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies
• Foeniculum vulgare – Fennel - attracts lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, trichogramma wasps, pirate bugs, damsel bugs and big eyed bugs
•  Achillea millefolium — Common yarrow - attracts ladybugs, hoverflies, trichogramma wasps,
•  Chrysanthemum parthenium — Feverfew - attracts hoverflies,
• Lavandula angustifolia — English lavender - attracts hoverflies,
• Lobularia maritima — Sweet alyssum white - attracts hoverflies, trichogramma wasps
• Mentha pulegium — Pennyroyal - attracts -hoverflies, trichogramma wasps, tachnid flies

The importance of having bird baths is also mentioned, we have four in the front garden and none in the back garden so should probably get some for the back too. We do not spray any pesticides and have noticed many of these bugs, increasingly over the years, this is a reminder of where we are at now and what we can do to keep improving.

Today in our Garden

 We have now replanted, manured, weeded and mulched most of the main front garden. Here you can also see one of the three bird baths and the mulberry tree in the background.

 We have trimmed back the basil and thyme and pulled out the spent tomato plants and planted beetroot, capsicum, coriander, lettuce and chillies.

 We have left in some of the spinach and rainbow chard and here you can see cucumbers, one of the compost bins,  and the grape vine growing up the trunk.

 We have two compost bins and three bird baths in the front garden, here you can also see the tomato bush we have not cleared out yet, growing with a volunteer pumpkin vine, in front of the pomegranate tree.

 This is the lamb's ear ground cover plant which is growing below one of our fig trees.

 Here is the food hedge at the front, and the row of trees in the nature strip, an olive, fig and loquat.

 There is also an almond tree amongst the fejoas.

 Hers is the yarrow plant that we have growing under the loquat tree, it is supposed to assist any plant that it grows near to.

 We now have three types of fig tree, two in pots and this one in the ground.

And whilst we have not yet feverfew flowers for their medicinal properties they certainly look lovely in this vase with the lily.

Feverfew, Passionfruit, Italian Parsley and Aloe Vera

Feverfew

 Having been very busy at work since February the garden has been neglected and it shows as we have very little produce available to use at the moment. We are lucky that we do not need to survive from this garden or we would be in trouble. However there are a few plants which are growing well, above is Feverfew which we planted to encourage beneficial insects, it has daisy like flowers in summer and the ladybirds and bees love it.

Italian Parsley

 Another flourishing favourite is Italian Parsley, we grew this from seed and have been thrilled with the results, great to look at and delicious to eat, no garden should be without it.

Passion-fruit Vine

 When you read about passion-fruit vines, it should be time to trim them back, but ours is covered in green fruit. Luckily i listened to Roots and Shoots on ABC radio yesterday and a caller explained that she no longer prunes back her vine as those small green fruits will ripen and grow once the weather is warmer again. Meanwhile it provides a fantastic screen.

Aloe Vera

 This Aloe Vera plant has grown from a very small cutting I bought at he the local environment centre, I have never used it yet, but hope to do so once it gets larger.