Sun sets on Block project

 

Every morning I peer through the crack in the curtain at the sunlight colouring the leaves of the plants outside bright green, and I shudder to think of another day with a cloudless blue sky. I know it is brilliant and perfect weather for every holiday-maker and surfer but I feel the moisture being sucked out of the plants and the ground and I know I will need to do some watering to keep the plants alive.

The Block is not set up well for watering. Box has a ‘if they don’t survive a drought then they shouldn’t be here’ attitude but I know some help in the first year is essential and yes after that with masses of mulch and a bit of cover they will all survive.

Today I stood at the top of the steep hill that falls to the east of the house armed with buckets and bags of leaves. Most of the new trees have their share of mulching leaves but there are a few still waiting. Theo (11) and Lizzie (9) are staying and today proved very helpful at carting water and mulch.

Box is at the bottom of the hill, using an elaborate system of hoses was watering this year’s grapes from some of the dams that have managed to hold some water. We were all hot and uncomfortable.

In the front of the house on the edge of the bank the flower border is doing amazingly well. Metre high dahlias, roses, snapdragons and asters are all covered in bloom. The asters are annuals but there are a number of perennials as well. They provide a mass of colour all summer and well into the autumn. Uunlike the dahlias they don’t require the same amount of dead heading. When I planted them I gave them lots of peat, some organic rock phosphate and heavily mulched them. There has been enough rain for them to grow and develop masses of bloom. They are drought resistant and so far have required no watering.

As I stood at the top of the valley I thought about this week’s article. Seven years ago when I began writing the premise was to document the development of the garden at the Block from a bare paddock collared by mature native bush. Sheltered from the cold southerlies and west winds the hillside has been an idyllic place to develop a new garden and I have been fortunate to have the space to indulge the creative aspect of gardening.

The trees I was watering today are the last part of the garden. In contrast to the darkness of the bush they are all deciduous and chosen because of their autumn colour. Some, the magnolias and liriodendron, are chosen for their flowers. It is, I realise, the last part of the garden and it is planted. The development of the Block will never be completely finished but the main part is and, sadly, I recognise that the basis of these articles is complete.

I appreciate the opportunity Rob has given me and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the articles. I also value all the wonderful feedback I have had over the years. I do hope there is someone eager to continue a gardening column for the Focus and would like to thank Rob and his staff and all the readers.