how to make a garden (part 3)

in the final part of the garden making trilogy i'm going to talk about planting.

plants are what gardening is all about; that, and how you arrange your collection. some people choose to make each plant into an individual specimen, while others make great sweeping brushstrokes of colour. if you're anything like me you've been collecting plants for years. the back of my head is like a filing cabinet of plants seen growing, flowering, rambling. each drawer is divided into seasons and climates, soil types and positions. unfortunately sometimes it seems like someone has nicked the labels off the drawers, but the collection is still there, all the same.

my plant collection is vast- evergreen and deciduous trees, roses, shrubs both flowering and 'not', herbaceous perennials, alpines.... but being as we don't have 3hectares at our disposal in the republic we've settled for anything edible. if we can't eat it, (or if it doesn't fit into the ecosupportsystem) it's not coming in.

the plants you choose will have an immediate effect on the amount of time you spend in your garden. for example, an experienced gardener will spend probably 10 minutes dead-heading (cutting off spent flowers) each rose bush, every fortnight in summer. they're things of beauty, roses, but have you got that time? because without that maintenance your rose will fail to perform. (not to mention pest control; in this instance roses are probably one of the highest maintenance plants to have in a garden) it'll probably still be lovely, but not magnificent, which it deserves to be. if you've not got the time, maybe you could choose another flowering shrub instead, or a perennial.
weeding is also an issue, unless, like me, you expand on the definition of weed (-a weed is a plant that is not in the correct place). many plants that might traditionally be considered weeds in others' gardens are welcome in mine. they might be considered chook food, nursery plants (plants that provide shelter for smaller plants, seedlings for example) or salad items- dandelion is a classic example! personally, i abhor weeding. i'd rather devote a bit of time in the winter to weed prevention by applying heavy layers of mulch.
mulch serves many purposes by suppressing weeds, minimising evaporation, and acting as a bit of insulation against those bitter frosty mornings. mulch feeds the worms, and therefore nourishes your soil as well.
what can i say, i am a lazy bugger. i'd rather spend my time peacefully watering my plants, harvesting them, or simply looking at them!
the last thing i can advise you on before i set you off to design your own dream garden is compost.
if you imagine life in nature at the bottom of the forest floor you'll see right down close to the soil worms, fungi, and all sorts of insects, doing their job at breaking down the 'litter'. the leaves fall, branches too, the odd bird or other forest creature and the disposal team will be busy breaking it down into small elements, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous; the occassional forest fire will clean up what's left and sweeten the soil, adding also potassium and magnesium. this is the ideal. this is nature providing for itself. habitat.
this could get a wee bit messy in your garden. so we collect our leaves, our grass clippings, our hedge cuttings, the occassional dead bird, some poo (if you've got chickens, otherwise you could add horse or cow poo). add a bit of water, make sure it's well aerated (poke a fork around in it) and then leave it for mother nature to send in her team. provided it reaches the right temperature it should kill all the seeds, germs and nasties and about a year later: voila! the perfect garden tonic. all those lovely nutrients your garden used perviously returned to the soil. things you can add to increase the nutrient levels include comfrey, seaweed, the old ashes from your barbeque. the thing is, you don't want it to be all one thing- grass clippings for example.
our compost system has 3 bins, one that we're adding to, one that's composting, and one that we're using (that's finished composting).

i think that about covers it.

i've enjoyed writing about it as much as i've enjoyed doing it! of course, you're all welcome to come round and have a look and give me your top tips for gardening. (actually, we're hosting the local edible gardens network in a coupla weeks time. bring your sandwiches!)

next time i'll put some piccies, i promise

xx
mama b
ps, progress report on the glasshouse:
p was working hard in the rain today while c and i supervised from the window. we're ready to put the roof on tomorrow, windows in saturday!!! next week i'll be digging and carting soil as fast as i can so then i can sow my seeds! woohoo!