Creating a Garden Oasis for Wellbeing
I loved my old garden, down a driveway, surrounded by trees. It was a little oasis in the middle of suburbia. So it was a hard decision when we decided to sell up and leave our little home with a big garden. We are now in the opposite of what we had - a bigger house on a smaller section, roadside. The garden is a slither of what I had but I said to my husband when we settled on the new house “I’ll be fine with a low maintenance garden, I’ll just put all my effort into the garden at school and grow veges there.”
A year on, half of this is true.
I volunteer in the garden at my children's school and the garden is thriving. We started the Garden to Table programme there this year where the children have weekly sessions cooking and gardening. I love seeing the garden being utilised and seeing the joy and beauty it brings to the school.
Garden at Glen Taylor School
Vegetables grown at the school garden
Small Wins
Turns out I wasn’t OK with a garden at home consisting of low maintenance shrubs and hedges. I realised quickly that I needed a lush green, colourful garden to fulfill something inside of me. So I started to gather plants - from friends, from the roadside, from cuttings, from TradeMe, from various garden centres and started planting.
One of the downsides of being in a new development is that the topsoil has been stripped, and underneath the manicured landscaping is an inch of commercial soil on top of clay. I have figured out that for my plants to survive in the ground, I have to dig out loads of clay, add gypsum, add food waste from my bokashi compost, add compost and soil, then plant into this.
My small garden has its challenges but I have had some small wins. I have seen bees in my garden, a sign that it is going well and that my impartial inclination towards flowers in hues of blues and orange have paid off. I have become more savvy with space; growing vertically, having climbers on trellis along the fenceline, and planting in nooks and crannies have made me get the most of my garden. I managed to get some beautiful light and airy topsoil from a site up the road that was being cleared for new housing (shout out to the guys at the site on Overlea for delivering the goods). I love that not only some of my plants have history but the soil too has whakapapa.
The first bee I saw in my garden
Growing strawberries and onions (companion plants) in a small space along the fence line. Passionfruit is also planted here to grow along the fence.
Gardening Community
We are lucky in this corner of Tāmaki Makarau to have some amazing greenspace and landscapes. I often walk along the Tāmaki track and take note of the trees and plants, what is thriving and growing, what can take the battering of the wind, what is constantly flowering, what has texture and height.These observations have inspired some of my garden as well as brought to light some mistakes I have made. I am often in awe of a beautiful tree or interesting plant that it will stop me in my tracks, for this reason my kids call me a ‘plant lover’ as I am always taking photos of plants or pottering around in gardens.
Through my gardening community, I am learning about soil health and biodiversity. This is giving me direction and a deeper understanding of soil and its importance to, well - life. In the middle of suburbia, in urban dense housing, in a region depleted topsoil, I guess I am starting to create another garden oasis. This time it is not just for my wellbeing, I want my environment to be well also, this includes the soil, the birdlife, and insects.
Although this is the end goal (which seems to always be in motion as I learn more about gardening) the anticipation of a courtyard surrounded by plants and insects buzzing where I can sit and drink my morning coffee gives me joy.
I also said I wouldn’t grow vegetables in my new garden. Vegetable garden here I come...
View of home garden
Trees along the Tāmaki track
Lockdown made me do it
My Tips:
Don’t leave soil bare. Grow a green crop if you can’t decide or are between planting your dream garden - plants grow soil!
Chop and drop - leave the roots in if you can, chop up the leaves and stalks, and drop onto the soil.
Know your site - where is the sun? Wind? Clay soil? This will determine what you can grow.
Think big, start small. You can grow lots of vegetables in containers and pots! Silverbeet, spinach, and salad greens are great to grow in containers. Also herbs.
Compost your food waste! Your garden will love the compost you make. (I do bokashi compost and take it to a friend's compost or bury it in the school garden.)
Join a community garden - you will learn lots there and meet like-minded people as well as get to have fresh local veggies!