In a street of front yard deserts, Mark has created his own front yard vegetable oasis in just 18 months.
However, the lead-up to this has taken 20 years of failed attempts.
The Peninsula’s sandplain soil is naturally dry and hydrophobic. When water does get into the soil, it drains away quickly.
In a garden with substantial shade trees, the tree roots soon seek out the water and the nourishment and take over the garden beds.
With the shade, a backyard vegie garden simply did not work.
Even in the sunlight, what is not taken away by the trees attracts the weeds: pennywort, commelina and grasses, which soon out-compete any vegetables.
The solution has been raised garden beds in the full sun of the front yard, built using a combination of wicking bed and Hügel Kultur principles.
The beds are lined with plastic, excluding roots while retaining water. Small barbecue sized branches form a layer at the base of the bed, which is then filled with sand to which is added chook manure and blood and bone. Vegies are planted and mulched with sugar-cane mulch. Worms are added.
The result is a great front yard outlook, which helps reduce heat reflection into the house. It is an on-going project, which Mark says keeps him fit.
It’s a natural attraction to neighbours and a great conversation-starter.
The rest of the garden, which is mainly native, supplies leaf mulch and compost material, and useful fallen limbs, as well as shade. It also has a good supply of worms, which relocated seem to thrive in the vegetable garden beds.
As well as vegetables, Mark has an interest in the local bushland, including the endangered Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland and the wildflowers at Warrah Trig. He has produced an online pictorial guide to the flowers of Warrah Trig, which can be found and read on your phone at http://warrahtrig.info.
