Join Login
Building ForumLandscape & Garden Design

A great open garden this Saturday and Sunday in Melville

Page 1 of 1
If you are thinking of starting a new landscape and are stuck for ideas you can visit a new garden that is a part of WA's Open Garden Scheme.

Fu Manchu
Ok folks, Ben Mitchell has his news letter out and is featuring his verge in it. Ben is also having an open garden so for West Aussies in Perth, you can go along and get some ideas. We can absolutely expect the cost of water to go up, so before you opt for plastic grass or a garden full of high maintenance black mulch and grasses have a squiz.
Money raised, as with all open gardens in the open garden scheme, goes to charity.
Click the logo



He will be holding some talks @ 11am and 2pm on Sept 11th and 12th 2010 at the address mentioned in the news letter.


Oh and keep an eye out in the West Australian for a story on his garden
Growing Free
This week I have been flat out getting my garden looking tip top and in Open Garden condition. The truth is, I am happiest when I’m at home in my own garden with my family.
Our Open Garden

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/FuManchu5ltr/growingfreeopengardenshot-1.jpg


As much as gardening is my profession, it is also my passion. I spend hours in the garden looking at what works, what doesn’t, how I can make it better, and what to do next.
My observations are of the surrounding landscape, so that I can become one with it and then create a place that will engage and enchant me. I utilise the best parts of “the borrowed landscape” and set about changing the rest.
At a young age, I decided that I would never work indoors. I want to be outside, and working in the living and natural world. This is reflected in my garden.
The garden is not mine alone, it belongs to me and my family but it is also for you and all the people who pass by regularly.
My verge gives me an extra 4 metres of garden to enjoy and means that passers-by can interact with it as well as giving me more of a parkland feel. It is complimented by a beautiful frog pond and edible front yard garden.
For the last week, I have been working like mad, landscaping the back yard and putting in my veggie patch. It is brand new and is an example of how the fundamentals of food growing work. It includes veggies, herbs, espaliered fruit trees and an open space for a future chook pen.
After much hard work and many hours still to come, I would love you to come and have a look so you can see how it works and get some great ideas for your garden.

Here’s the details;

11-12th September
59 Coleman Crescent Melville
UBD MAP 327:A5
10 am – 4.30pm
Entry $6 per adult - Under 18 free
Free garden talks 11am and 2pm daily
Suitable access for wheelchairs, prams and pushers.

I look forward to seeing you there!
Other gardens open to see are the following
http://www.opengarden.org.au/regions/wa_calendar.html
would love to check out Bens dry verge plantings but this weekend I'm busy here. I might try and see if I can get to Sues Veggie talks. Just checking the calendar to see if it's in school holidays. hmm looks like it is so need to organise some accom now.
might be possible. thanks for the link Fu
http://www.opengarden.org.au/events/wa_events.html
On the Verge
Melville



Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 September 2010
(No bookings required)

Young garden designer Ben Mitchell has created an excellent sustainable dry verge garden at his home in Melville.



Ben's speciality is the installation of sustainable gardens using edible and native plants, and his verge plantings combine these with recycled objects in creative informal spaces.

Join Ben each day at 11am & 2pm as he offers advice and tips on setting up verge gardens, creating frog ponds and attracting local fauna to your garden.

Address: 59 Coleman Cres, Melville
Directions: UBD 327:A5. No parking in Redwood Cres
Open: 10am-4.30pm. $6.00, no charge for children under 18
I'll let you know, this garden has been constructed in 3 stages.

The first was the front verge over 3 years ago.


Ben doing the guided tour of his garden



Then there is the side nature strip done 2 years ago





Nearly everything is made of recycled products salvaged from landscape jobs in the past, bulk rubbish collections and salvage yards. Not many of the top gardens are constructed from brand new expensive pavers and materials. They are constructed over time with what ever is at hand producing the very best in creativity and practical design.


The third stage was the back and that was constructed over the last 7days


Old concrete pavers turned upside down to make the paved area in the entertaining area under the tree.




The turf in this shot was laid last night. It's Sir Walter and makes for a play area for the kids. It is the only area irrigated other than the veggie garden. If we use water, make sure it is for a practical purpose like growing produce. That starts to pay for itself in time from what you save from buying the veggies and associated transport costs or food miles as they call it.


Here's Ben with Mini Ben (who nearly stole the show) talking growing veggies.


This shows the future espalier Ben has planned. This is made up of rescued citrus trees from landscape jobs. Can you believe people didn't want them?! They have been painted with acrylic house paint (don't ask me what shade it is
) to stop the sun burning the bark. These have been clipped hard during the transplant process and this stops any damage.




This is just a little snippet and it is again open for viewing tomorrow
All proceeds go to charity
Ben wishes to thank all those hundreds of people who visited his garden. Hopefully you have gone away with some excellent sustainable ideas for your own garden.

Don't want a lawn on the verge and want an alternative? Don't look to plastic grass!
Get into a wonderful thriving living verge full of life, cooling foliage, wonder, colour and best of all, no water required.

Further inspiration can be viewed here...
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=11343
I missed this thread, but my wife and I headed along anyway. It was great to hear Ben talk about the development of his garden. He was talking about his espalier setup and how the pruning of the upright branches stops the tree from trying to grow taller and instead pumps it's resources into producing flowers. He even reckons he's going to try to espalier a pincushion Hakea! That'd be pretty cool.
Related
22/08/2023
1
public open space contribution

General Discussion

Cupcake.girl This really depends on your local council. Each one has different definitions and ways to calculate contributions. This is called a contribution…

17/03/2024
0
Large open plan living room layout options

Interior Decorating Lounge

Hello! We have a very large open plan living room and wanted to get layout options, and furnishing ideas for this space. Currently there is only a…

5/05/2024
0
open shelf pantry

Building A New House

My open shelf pantry will be similar to below image with window. all appliances like rise cooker, dish washer will be in the…

You are here
Building ForumLandscape & Garden Design
Home
Pros
Forum