 Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock
Green Furniture
Feeling creative? You don't have to be a builder or a carpenter to knock up a few rustic pieces of furniture, all you need is a bit of imagination and a basic tool kit.
The type of garden furniture that looks good in a garden, depends largely on the type of garden itself. If you have a formal garden, in a classic or minimalist style, then you can skip the rest of this article because rustic furniture would look out of place in your back yard.
If you've got a cottage garden, native garden or 'Nouveau Oz' garden, i.e. one in which many different garden styles are combined into a unique, sometime quirky, design, hand-made pieces will compliment and coordinate with your planting plan.
Rudimentary furniture can be fashioned from tree trunks (with a large enough girth to accommodate the average posterior) sawn up into 45cm lengths with cut side facing up, to become a set of seats. If you're feeling lazy you don't even have to cut the trunk up - just lay it on its side, stake it or chock it to prevent it rolling away, and voilà! Instant seating.
If you're handy with a chainsaw you can simply carve a seat with a back support straight out of a large tree trunk. Fell the tree leaving a 1m stump, which allows for a 50cm high back and a 50cm high seat.
Thinner logs can be joined together, either by binding with rope or nailing into place, to form a raft-type bench (either with or without a back) or table supported by simple legs. Alternatively, construct the chair's carcass like this but weave the seat from strips of hessian or wicker-type cane.
This type of furniture is eco-friendly and cheap, however the downside is that in our climate it will only last a few years.
Lismore Garden Club News
The next meeting of the Lismore Garden Club will be on Thursday, August 1, at 1.30pm. The meeting will be held at the Lismore Workers Club. Senior Constable Mick Hogan will be the guest speaker. Everyone welcome. For further info phone Mary on 6621 5293.
What to plant now:
Flowers: Aster, Amaranthus, Candytuft, Canterbury Bells, Bedding Begonia, Calendula, Californian Poppy, Iceland Poppy, Carnation, Celosia, Chrysanthemum, (Daisy) Cockscomb, Coleus, Cosmos, Everlasting Daisy, Gazania, Gerbera, Gloxinia, Impatiens, Lupin, Nasturtium, Petunia, Phlox, Portaluca, Salvia, Snapdragon, Zinnia.
Vegies: Asparagus (crowns), Beans (dwarf and climbing), Broad Beans, Broccoli, Capsicum, Carrot, Asian Greens, Cabbage, Herbs, Lettuce, Spring Onion, Peas, Radish, Sweet Potato (shoots), Tomato (frost free areas).
Jobs to do: While things are slow in the garden now is the time to install a simple irrigation system. They don't cost much and are simple to install. They definitely save time, water and thereby money.
Gardening tip: When establishing a hedge be sure to install a water dripping system to keep it growing evenly. And begin clipping your hedge just before it reaches the required height.
Happy Gardening,
Ron Burns
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