I was having a bit of a wander through some old articles and realised how things have changed here in the last 4 years, so here is a more up-to-date tour, commencing with the front yard.
The Hedgerow
The hedgerow is still in place and still being developed. The main structure is still there with the Tea Trees, bay tree, feijoa and lilypilly growing well. The rose is still in place and the coffee bush is very happy, producing fruit last season which is still on the bush waiting to ripen. Sadly the tea bush (camellia Sinensis) did not make it, nor did the hop vine or the blueberry, so far I have had no luck at all with blueberries. The blackberry has come on well though and there are now sweet potatoes working well as a ground cover in several areas of the hedgerow. I have also just planted a midyin berry bush. A couple of comfrey plants have also been added and are also doing OK.
The Banana Circle
Due to a number of factors, mainly soil fertility (or lack of it), water availability (or lack of it) and shade (too much of it!) the banana circle was never a success and the bananas have now been transferred to the back yard. However the mound where the banana circle was located has proved to be a great place to grow the sweet potato which was put in as a companion plant for the bananas. The area is now our designated sweet potato growing area.
The Herb Spiral
The herb spiral or more correctly the herb wedding cake is still in around and was redone a couple of years ago. It now has a third (top) tier in place and has come on really well. It is very productive and (we think) looks good too. It has become a real feature of the front yard.
The Mulberry Tree
The mulberry tree is also still in place. Although, while it had basically scrappy grass and bare earth underneath it before, we have now revamped the area into a more pleasant parklike environment. There are wood chips covering the area underneath with curved brick edging which not only tidies the area up considerably but reduces the area which I have to mow. There is a table and bench set up where we can eat, read or just sit and enjoy the garden. There are also plans in the wind to install a swing on one of the larger horizontal branches for our grandson.
There is also an open area under the northern side of the tree which gets sun in early spring, but will get much less sun when it is fully leafed up in summer. This area has been topped up with growing medium, mulched and will be used for growing edible greens. The greens will do well with the lower light level and be less strongly flavoured as a result. There is currently, rocket, sorrel and perennial spinach planted out there.
While I would love miniature goats for milk, they require a daily commitment to milking and feeding that we can’t always accommodate, so that idea is scratched!
The Tank
There has been no change to the front yard 5500 litre tank.
The Wicking Beds
There were originally two wicking beds, a 60cm high one designed for asparagus and a 30cm high one which grows rhubarb and cotton. The 60cm one was a great success and I have recently installed a second one on the other side of the herb spiral which also has asparagus in it (5 crowns, same as the other one). The asparagus in the new bed is still too young to get a crop off but in a couple of years we will be able to have asparagus feasts every spring.
The 30cm wicking bed has not been a success. The plants do OK but the reservoir is too small to allow for more than two or three days of hot weather before watering is required. We are still using it to grow rhubarb and cotton but I would not bother to put in another one this size.
The Fruit Tree Circle
The fruit tree circle is still in place and doing very well, but the red current bushes in the inner circle did not survive, I suspect the western Sydney summer was just too much for them. A new feature of this circle is the worm tower installed in the centre of the circle to provide nutrition for the trees which they can harvest themselves by stretching out their roots.
We are also developing up the circle into a guild (sort of) and have planted comfrey for mulch and white clover as a nitrogen fixer to provide nitrogen for the trees and to act as a ground cover. The inner circle now has a couple of useful/edible ground covers including pennyroyal herb and violets to act as an insect attracting plant. Last autumn the trees had their first major pruning and it has opened the area up considerably to increase light and breeze penetration. Other species will be put in to increase biodiversity and help the guild to work better as time goes on.
The Olive Tree
The olive tree is still there but waiting some research as it has not been very productive of late. The edible flowers (mostly freesias) planted below it come up every year and look stunning. There has also been an addition of comfrey and white clover to assist with providing nutrition for the olive tree and a couple of strawberries for more fruit.
New Stuff
Since the original article was written we have added a number of new features to the front yard which not only increase its biodiversity and productivity but give it a welcoming and attractive look which makes you want to spend time there.
The Lavender Hedge
The northern boundary of the yard has been a bit problematic and after using harvested mulberry canes to make a wattle construction fence (which fell apart in not quite a year) we decided to put in a lavender hedge. I built it up and put in a sort of irrigation system from recycled materials and we planted a stack of lavender bushes. They have come up well and look really attractive, blooming for most of the year and they are very effective at attracting bees to assist with pollination of other fruiting plants.
The Strawberry Tower
Another recent addition. I got hold of a blue plastic drum and cut a series of holes in the side, filled the drum with growing medium (and a central pipe for an internal worm tower) and then planted it out to strawberry plants. It is situation in the area near the mulberry tree but is far enough out that it gets full sun most of the day. As with most things the results have been variable. Some plants have passed on to the great veggie patch in the sky while others are doing very well and starting to produce. If you want more construction details they are available here.
The Bath Wicking Bed
A friend of mine put one of these together and found it worked very well and I had a bit of spare space north of the (then) banana circle so I put one together late last year. It gave me a reasonable crop of tomatoes, capsicums and butternut pumpkins, even though it got planted out a bit late in the summer to grow really well. It has been left fallow over winter and I just recently topped it up with growing medium. So I am reprising its use this year and it currently has a few butternut pumpkin seedlings and some insectary plants. I will put a few more bits and pieces in before too much longer. If you want more construction details they are available here.
The Insectary Bed
I have picked up and interest in insectary plants and designed an area for the backyard near the veggies beds, including a bug hotel to attract and retain beneficial insects. For the front yard I wanted something insectary but easier so I put in a raised bed, filled it with straw, hay and compost then spread over some Good Bug seed mix from Green harvest. This is growing pretty well and will turn into an area full of insect attracting flowers.
The Small Fruit Bed
On the southern side of our driveway there is an area which is not hugely productive, only having some lawn and the next door neighbour’s grass tree. To improve matters I put in a small footprint shaped raised bed with a blood orange tree and a dwarf fig tree. I put in an unglazed terra cotta pot to act as a water source and also put in 3 blueberries around it. The blueberries also expired I suspect due to the western Sydney summer and now there are a couple of comfrey plants doing well there. There is more plantable area there and I am currently working out what I will be putting in. For construction details click here.
The Wheelie Bin Water Tank
A while back we put in a carport to protect our little beast from the weather, there being too much crap in the garage for it to be parked inside. In usual fashion, the guys who built it put in a gutter and downpipe, but the downpipe just emptied onto the lawn. To make use of this water I converted a wheelie bin purchased for another project (but unused) into a small water reservoir. The water stored in it is usually used on the fruit tree circle or small fruit bed. For construction details click here.
