Gardening with Gael: Embracing your weeds

21 Nov, 2022

‘Gardens which have been mulched’ remarked my friend Marg ‘are far more likely to survive the summer.’ ‘For sure’ I replied, thinking that I would include that remark in my article as a way of once again mentioning mulch in a more indirect way.

We are flinging mulch around everything. My plants are new and their first summer is ahead of them. Mulching is the only way. I am also trying to embrace some weeds. The regular rain has them growing rampantly. I can’t help but see them as food for the other plants. I’m always amazed at how much moisture gets trapped under piles of weeds. I am also amazed at how many of them make an attempt at regrowing. My newly sharpened spade deals to that.

One of the weeds I am trying to embrace includes a lovely little grass we used to call ‘shivery grass’. Little finches flash red and yellow as they dart among the seed heads on the bank behind the house. Lynda Hallinan spoke recently about how during the Covid lockdown she let the garden go wild and enjoyed the benefits of birds and insects.

There is a limit though, and one of my banks got well beyond it. When the tips of my plants started to disappear beneath the weeds it was time to act. I had told myself that the weeds were (1) holding the bank from slipping and (2) providing protection from the wind. They are now lying in decomposing piles between the plants and will soon disappear under a pile of mulch as well. They did their job well. The bank held. Most of the plants are flourishing.

Unfortunately I have lost a couple of mahoes. I have a row of them across the bottom of the bank where I hope they lift the wind up and over the other plants. Melicytus ramiflorus, also known as mahoe or whiteywood, is a very common tree with bright apple green leaves growing in the bush. It is on the margins of the bush here and the colour never fails to brighten what can be dull areas of bush. I am particularly fond of it. One specimen is growing in straight sand on the bank behind the house where I have successfully begun my Japanese-style garden. Everything that was on that bank stays to provide structure for the rest of the garden.

A fast growing tree, it will grow quite quickly to five metres. The one in the Japanese garden I am keeping trimmed. The ramiflorus comes from the characteristic known as ramiflory. The flowers and fruit grow directly from the woody branches. They are hardy in full sun and semi shade. The plant can grow up to ten metres making it a sizeable tree. The flowers are small and pale lemon in colour. These are followed by rows of purple berries which are enjoyed by many native birds.

The fact that one is growing happily on a dry sand hill indicates that this tree is ideal for drought and dry conditions. Mangawhai Natives supplied me with the ones I have growing on my bank and I hope by next year they are providing the screen they were planted for.