Growing Gardens

with Julia Hancock

Street Cred

What does your place look like from the street? Does a sweep of lawn buffer the house from the road? Are you hedged in for privacy or open for all the world to see? Is your place nestled amid colourful cottage plants? Do you present a formal front or a relaxed reception? Perhaps your front garden is a graveyard for dead cars, or just a dumping ground for garbage.

Our front gardens reveal to the outside world a lot about the people who occupy the house. Casual observers can tell in an instant whether a place is well cared for or not; whether the home has heart and soul or whether it just provides its residents with somewhere to live. There are few sadder sights than a derelict front garden.

Garden makeover programs on television demonstrate clearly that it is possible to make even the most diminutive front garden a space to stop and enjoy. Small gardens often lend themselves to something a bit more original and quirky. Viewers of Burke's Backyard may have seen some of the more bizarre front yards he has featured from around Australia - those filled with statuary, gnomes, artefacts constructed from weird materials, and recycled relics given a new lease on life.

Often improvements to one garden have a ripple effect up and down the street, encouraging other residents to follow suit- not such a bad thing considering a well-maintained garden can add thousands to the value of a property.

The most popular style of front garden is one that matches the style of the house on the block. The most successful arrangement combines aesthetics with practicality, while accommodating the occupants' lifestyle. Front gardens provide wonderful opportunities for us to express ourselves with humour, grace, skill and beauty. A well-tended frontage provides pleasure to passers-by, and a warm welcome to visitors as they approach the house.

Lismore Garden Club News

The Club & Summerland Coaches are doing a Hunter Valley Tour, March 30 - April 2, 2004, featuring the world class Hunter Valley Gardens at Pokolbin, next door to McGuigan Cellars where well go for a wine & cheese tasting. There will be a visit to the historic visit of Morpeth and Newcastle and its redeveloped foreshores. The cost is $370 (pp, twin share), inc. travel and accom, plus 3 breakfasts & dinners & 1 lunch. Contact Mary Betteridge on 66215293 Now.

Summer is here and Agapanthus are one of the most striking plants in early Summer. They come in mauvey blue, white and now dark purple and are on of the toughest garden plants. They are known to thrive, even with minimum care. They do best in full sun, but will grow in filtered sunlight under trees. There are tall and dwarf varieties. Propagate by dividing clumps in winter.

Tip: To give your Agapanthus a boost, sprinkle a handful of superphosphate around each clump in early spring.

Happy Gardening
Ron Burns