Water restrictions and gardens

 There is one thing I have noticed about water restrictions in
Melbourne. When people's lawns die out they are replaced by weeds and
large bare patches. The overall effect is to make the garden look
exceedingly bad. People just give up tending it altogether since no
matter what you do it will look bad.

Many gardens in my suburb were showpieces - now they look like the kind
of gardens that yobbo's have. When I drive across Melbourne at the end
of summer I see  a parched strangled looking city that is a shadow of
its former self. Clearly it is a city that has lost its pride. State
Governments used to call Victoria the garden state. You'll note that
this description has dissapeared from the lexicon. It would be a joke
to continue using it.

There appears to be a change afoot regarding gardens, especially lawns.
Peter Cundall recently said something to the effect that lawns are a
thing of the past and appearred to be endorsing the new parched look of
Australian cities. I suspect he hasnt had sex in a long time.

New drought hardy gardens are being pushed. These generally consist of
large areas of gravel and half strangled looking flax type plants that
you see in deserts. I am reminded of a scene in the movie "Sparticus"
where Kirk Douglas is working in some sort of open cut mine. All you
see is gravel gravel gravel. These type of gardens are appalling - when
you compare them to a traditional garden like Melbourne's botanical
gardens the effect is stark.

What worries me is what fate lies in store for my garden. I have
invested a lot of time in it and take pride in it. In addition, it is
the only way I have of expressing my creativity. It's my own little
patch of the world that I regard as a tranquil refuge from  a world
that's spinning off its hinges.Now it would seem that I am destined to
have a yobbo style garden or else one of those appalling gravel themed
gardens.

 

Do you have the money and a spot to put in a tank? If so do it and prepare
for next  year's summer. It will rain again, and as BP said be prepared.

Jim
Waiting for rain in southern inland Qld.

 

That is an extremely silly thing to say.  You just spent ages telling
us that your suburb looks ghastly, gardens now look they are owned by
yobbos, the State is no longer called the garden State, but then say
that a garden expert who SHOULD notice how hard it is to maintain
lawns in our new drier climate hasn't had sex in a long
time!!!!!!!!!!!  If you think that Cundall hasn't had sex lately then
by your own post about dying lawns and yobbos, you indicate that you
must be a virgin.

You may not like not having a lawn but its the new reality unless you
are prepared to do some serious work.


And sensibly so.

These generally consist of

You haven't looked close enough or hard enough.  Look up Michael McCoy
for a start. His gardens do feature gravel but then so do most of the
best gardens in Britain.  It's a great medium for keeping the place
looking neat and simply wonderful as a growing medium on the edges of
paths for self seeders.

And if you know anything about gardening then you will recognise the
name of Beth Chatto who is one of Britian's greatest gardeners and
gardens in a very dry location.  Get her book on gravel gardening out
of the library and then come back and tell us how ugly gravel is, if
you dare. Her dry gravel garden is qunitessentially lush English
gardening at its best.

It's al labout plant choice and design for beauty not about ow much
water you can waste.


Then get off your butt and do some research.  You can still have a
very beautiful and traditional garden but you need to make wise plant
choices and have a very small patch of lawn which may not be a grass
lawn.

 snipped good reply>

Absolutely. I've managed to have great gardens in SE qld, which hasn't had
decent rain for, oh, about 10 years. Still, we are all used to it, and have
tanks and recycle all water instead of having automated sprinkler systems
galore as all your apparently garden guru neighbours most likely had. I had
roses, herbs, vegies, the works, all on water bucketed out from washing
machine and bath; as we were buying water at $80 every two weeks, every drop
was precious. I wasn't the only one, everyone else in the community does
too. Now I live in the tropics, I still use my watering can; a hose just
doesn't feel right. Time you people who've had water while the rest of
australia hasn't adjust your gardening methods, buy some tanks, and get on
with life. Moaning about how sad your dead lawn is and expecting the
government to build bigger dams won't cause rain, and it will evaporate from
the dams when it does. If you have a tank, you'll be laughing over your
green lush garden while those around you complain. Oh, and learn to mulch.

 

and if you don't already do it cut your lawn high and mulch the grass back
in to it.

rob