A place for us to learn and grow

What: Home garden, 3 x swimming ponds, and ongoing landscape garden since 2015.
Size: 1 hectare
Soil and Climate: Clay and Limestone
Aspect: Southwest facing sloping, windy.
Pests & weeds: Kikuyu, thistle dock, ex-farm pasture weeds, possums and peacocks, rabbits.

Plantings: Over 100 fruit trees and many different ground covers and herbs and flowers, 3 ponds, and a native nursery on site. 50 + fruit trees of various types with an emphasis on all year-round fruit. Ground covers of all types (a trial place for the other projects).

Design brief and overview:

Since 2015 we have been developing and experimenting with our own block of land which has been both fun and satisfying. It has been invaluable in us continuing to learn, always revisiting our approach, philosophy the best methods for sustainability as well as working out how to grow as much of our food as possible, extending the seasons all while being able to manage this amount of garden ourselves. This is where I can play with all the ideas I have.

The land was originally a farm block with pretty much just fences and a water pipe when we arrived. The first step was to take down the fences and sort out the water management with a digger. The next job was planting a boundary with a native shelter belt around the entire property. We then terraced the gardens and continued with the addition of three ponds for irrigation. Now years down the track, we have a well-established garden, 3 natural ponds with boardwalks, and always new work being added. It is a long and evolving project which has been an amazing and exciting venture. Forever learning.