Small Spaces was recently part an EWHA tour that visited the urban farm that is Mason Brothers.
I’m always fascinated when I turn off the freeway, make a few turns and enter a different world. One that feels far removed from our sprawling suburbs. Farms pop-up everywhere. A paddock of broccoli or cabbage appears between houses. Before this visit I would have thought I was driving through a labyrinth of market gardens but there is some serious farm production going on in this pocket of our city.
Werribee is part of Melbourne’s urban sprawl, housing so many. It is also an integral part of Melbourne’s food bowl.
At Mason Brothers, they have been growing fresh produce for several generations, producing top grade Broccoli, Lettuce and Fennel.
The Encouraging Women in Horticulture group were fortunate to have a tour through the farm. From the seed shed to the shadehouse, then out into the paddocks where they were harvesting lettuce, and back into the coolroom.
One of our favourite early spring flowers here at Small Spaces HQ is our beautiful Wisteria. With its cascading clusters of delicate blooms and delightful fragrance, it’s a welcome sight as the garden begins to wake up after winter.The flowers put on a wonderful display for a few weeks, filling the space with colour and scent before the fresh green leaves burst into life. It’s a fleeting but spectacular moment in the garden, and one we look forward to every year.
Of course, keeping Wisteria looking its best does require a little effort. Once the flowers have faded, it’s time for a firm prune to keep this vigorous climber in check and encourage a manageable shape. It might seem like a big job, but the reward of those beautiful spring blooms makes it well worth the effort!
Find Your Own Spring Garden
If you’re looking for a little garden inspiration this spring, why not take a wander through your local public garden or nursery? There’s nothing quite like seeing plants growing in a beautiful setting to spark ideas for your own outdoor space.One of our favourite places to visit is Burnley Gardenhttps://science.unimelb.edu.au/about/our-locations/burnley/burnley-#about, part of the University of Melbourne’s Burnley campus. This historic garden is a wonderful place to explore, discover interesting plants and enjoy the changing seasons.If you’re nearby, make a point of visiting while the Wisteria is still in flower. Take your time, enjoy the fragrance and admire the beautiful blooms before the season moves on. Spring never lasts quite long enough, so get out into the garden, soak up the inspiration and enjoy these special moments while they’re here. Happy gardening from Small Spaces HQ!
There are more outdoor paving options than you may think, and environmental and financial costs can be high. Careful consideration should be taken for hard- wearing surfaces with timeless appeal.
Planning the hard landscaping or built components of your garden may present many of the same dilemmas faced when building or renovating. Just as you might scrutinise the source, embodied energy and durability of your building materials, you should apply the same eagle eye to your paving choices. The purpose of the paving will obviously also influence your choice of product, and of course aesthetic is essential. If it doesn’t look good, its likely to be removed and replaced down the track with additional financial and environmental costs.
Your materials choice should be influenced by both the style of the building and what’s already in your garden. The garden should be an extension of the building it surrounds, and for the two to complement each other there needs to be continuity, both in the materials used and the and the landscape design. For example, a brick house or a house with brick detail in the finish, could see this detail replicated through the paving. This could be in the form of a border for a gravel driveway or concrete paved space, or could be woven throughout the other elements as a pattern. You should be able to match your brickwork through a recycling yard or manufacturer with relative ease.
Aside from design issues, there is also the practicality of the material to be used the permeability of the base. A permeable base, which which allows rainfall to soak into the ground, is preferable. The increasing amount of impermeable hard surfacing in our cities and suburbs has an impact on surface water flooding and river pollution, and can also reduce ground water levels with wider ecological impacts.
The source of the materials used is also important. Most landscaping materials have come out of the ground at some stage, so we need to consider the where, what and how versus the longevity of the finished product. As with all building products, opting for recycled materials can help reduce demand for the virgin product. Transport miles from quarries to distribution centres and to the site should also be considered. For more sustainable tips, see www.aila.org.au/materials
Extract of article that first appeared in Sanctuary Magazine issue 28 words by Kate Smalley – Small Spaces Garden Design, Managing director.
which helps you to achieve your garden on a budget. A visit to this Melbourne garden was enough for Stuart & Jen to create their own garden. Our client needed advice on layout and plantings, and wanted to do the work themselves. We were able to provide a sketch to scale and draw up a basic layout with plant suggestions. This was a good compromise where a sketch gave enough detail for this project to take shape.
