Meera’s..Winter Landscaping Report
It’s winter at Meera the music studio and wonder building. Time to get stuck into some gardening and landscaping projects. The roots have to get down while it’s moist before summer in our part of the world. Summer is the testing time.
I’ve just reviewed my blog of five months ago. I had done an order then with Grampians Revegetation at Moyston who specialize in indigenous species grown from locally collected seed. The plants have been dropped off in the bike shed up at the corner, (thanks Tracey) and I’m checking my garden plan.
From blog 21st Jan 2020
Some of the thinking for the plant out later (in the year) fire retardant, wildlife friendly, hardy, drought tolerant, flowering in different seasons, different heights and water verging. Not all plants cover all these areas but we are making sure for example it’s fire retardant on the north side, the direction from which our desiccating hot winds bear down.
For part of the plant out. I lasagne layered an area (pure unadulterated sticky clay) in early covid..March/April period permaculture style using cardboard, green material and sheep poo (lots) which is plentiful under the wool shed. I need to go over it this week with a garden fork to help the worms a little.
More plans…
The insect hotel archway which doubles as an apple espaliered parking pull up area will be the next project in August. Galvanized pipe will create the arch. The west side will be bricked in for western embodied heat brick warmth. East side will look like a library of ancient scrolls – there’ll be lengths of bamboo bits, hollow wood scraps and old ceramic pipes for cosy nesting for little critturs. I always like a sitting area for the human critturs too an also the ubiquitous water bowl for summer sipping. (Any critturs). The archway job has to fit between cropping and spring hay baling so I can commandeer the skills of the resident pipe bender.
Future plans also include bat nesting boxes, a veggie area with a Subpod worm and compost system, plants spilling down the steep embankment to the eastern dam to stop erosion, a frog pond in the Secret Garden and safe tortoise friendly verge area to the dams.
I’m not single minded about only growing natives by the way..the bees love Borage and Queen Anne’s Lace right? And so do I. And for me there’s an aesthetic factor with Australian natives. I’m inspired by the way they use them in places like the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens.
The day an echidna waddles quietly across Meera’s surrounds, and the blue wrens come back I’ll know I am some part of the way towards creating a native animal friendly sanctuary.