Post Punk Kitchen Forum

We moved to our house in January but we're only starting on the garden now. The people before planted a random assortment of plants, I've identified what I can and I'm trying to decide what to keep/move/get rid of.

Along the back fence is Murraya (maybe Murraya Paniculata) but they were probably only planted when they decided to sell the house late last year and they aren't growing very well, they don't get any direct sun at the moment, we're thinking of replacing them with something that will grow faster so we can have a hedge as tall as the garden next door on the left. There's also what I think is a dracena on the left corner next to the large tree and a very small rose, I think I'll move both or get rid of them.



Along the left side there are 3 more murraya, 3 roses, 2 grape vines (one is dead) plus lots of succulents and what I think is dracena babydoll. There was also a small apple tree but it was dead so we got rid of it.



I'd like to use this side for veggies and fruit trees so I want to move the murraya and either move or get rid of the roses, succulents & the dracena. If I keep them, I thought the succulents could be potted and I could offer the roses to my parents.

Here's what I think is the dracena and the succulents (maybe echeveria cuspidata x)


Along the right side there's lots of jasmine which I love and I think there's also some clivia, I'll know when they flower. I think I'll leave this side as it is (apart from the dracena) or try to move some of the plants from the left over here. For some reason they also stuck the air con unit in the bed instead of on the bricks like the one on the left, it's annoying but we're not going to move it because we don't have the space on the bricks due to the VegTrug we just got (below).



We got a VegTrug, it was really easy to put together and it's right outside the door to the kitchen so it'll be easy to grab herbs when cooking



I went to the nursery for some herbs and greens - front: sweet basil, oregano, thyme. Middle: kale, coriander, French tarragon. Back: golden chard, parsley, rosemary



I'm looking forward to chard as I've never had it and I've planted nasturtium seeds along the left and front and calendula seeds along the back and right sides. I should have done it before getting the herbs but I'm hoping they'll eventually help deter insects. I've got a bale of sugar cane mulch underneath, I just need to lay it around the herbs.

Today I got some pansies to add a bit of colour to the courtyard, I got 3 colours: spreading white, a purple (I lost the tag) and cutie cat merlot which is pink



I've drawn up a plan of our garden so I know how much space we have to play around with. I'm going to get an avocado tree in spring, we had one at my parents, it was fantastic. I got a citrus spitzer tree, I chose lemon and lime, that's going to go in soon and I'd like to get passionfruits and blueberries as well as growing more veg. We're also considering a miniature pear tree if we can find one. Here's my flickr set including some old photos from our apartment garden. I am loving being in the garden now, it's a lot of fun.

Wow, so much going on and I love the raised herb garden. I would be so jealous of anyone with an avocado tree!

Just looking at your pics, I had so many ideas for what you could do and I'm kinda jealous of your avocado tree. That'd be heaven for me!

Very pretty!

Ooh, that herb bed is tops!

Awesome, I love the VegTrug! What a great idea.

<3 All of the options you have!

I miss having an avocado tree! You have a great place, how lovely.

Thanks everyone!

I went back to the nursery today, I can't stay away from that place now. They have a hedge growing along the fence of the property so I asked what it is and if it's fast growing, it was a type of lilypily but when I mentioned ours isn't growing because of the lack of direct sun they suggested Acmena Firescreen and they're already much taller than the Murraya we have and only $17.99 each. I need to go back with a ute. And I got some Eco Oil because I have aphids on my basil.


Please share any ideas you have! I keep thinking of different things and I go to bed thinking about it too.

Our ideas range from leaving the beds as they are and trying to work with them or we could widen the beds and/or turn them into raised beds but we're not sure we have the money for all the timber we'd need and I'm not sure if we'd do a good job because the land is sloping and we thought of pulling all of the non-fruit/veg plants out (apart from the hedge) and turning it into one giant fruit & veg patch. I don't know what to do!


My Mum had the one at their place cut down a few years ago, I'm still sad about that.

That VegTrug thing is cool! I have a macadamia tree but I get slack because they take so much effort to get out of their shells lol but it is a nice thing to have. Hope the avocados come up well, I'd love to do fruits one day.

Wow, Kitteh! An avocado tree - how cool would that be! Which is the sunniest part of your garden? From the photos it looks like at the far end, but maybe it's just the time of day? I wonder if it would be worth deepening the beds a bit so you could have more veggies (and less lawn to keep up)? Also, my kale grows quite big - like up to a metre tall - so it might take up more of your beautiful herb bed than you would like? I love that Veg Trug, by the way, and I'm thinking about how I could maybe make one for salad leaves, as it would be easier to put copper tape around to deter the slugs and snails than the pots I'm using at the moment.

Very inspiring - and please excuse my rambling stream of consciousness!

The sun comes over from the front right hand corner, sits above for a few hours and then sets towards the left bottom corner. I would love to have wider beds because they're quite small and you're right, less lawn & more veg would be a better situation!

I forgot to add, I really want to grow chillis, particularly Scotch Bonnets, I'm going to order some seeds online.

Yay! This looks great! My garden looks all Sanford n' Son.

Haha! My bf and I have joked that we want our garden to look like the one in The Good Life


I got some books from the library, I've started reading The Green Gardener by Josh Byrne.

I really like the VegTrug! We've been wanting to fix up our garden and grow herbs again, but were worried that it would kind of be a waste of money to do it now, while the dog is still young/hungry for everything. The VegTrug might be our solution!

My cousins in New Zealand have a huge avocado tree and I've always wanted one. I need to move somewhere less cold so I can have one.

You should get a VegTrug, Erin! It was really simple to put together and while it says it needed 210L of soil we ended up using 175L. My parents want to get one or two as well.

I guess Canberra would be too cold for an avo tree but I know you can grow them in Melbourne, maybe you'd be ok too.

This arvo I found some seeds I bought a year or two ago, the beetroot and onion need to be sowed by August this year but the green beans and radish have until August next year, so I need to sort out some space to start planting.

What's the climate like down under? Do you have mirlitons in your area? I'm addicted to True Blood, so I've been obsessed with anything relating to food from Louisiana. I would think that it gets hot there, like zone 9. It's also called a "vegetable pear" and is in the cucurbit (cuke, zucchini, watermelon, etc.) family. You can't start it from seed though. You let it sprout like a potato and stick it in the ground. It vines like crazy and you get tons of veggies from one. Kittee has blogged about them:
http://pakupaku.info/stuffedmirlitons.shtml

Love it! Your herb garden is so perky and pretty!

Did you just get it from Bunnings or did you have to order one from somewhere?

I had a look at avocado trees and apparently the ones they have in Melbourne can stand up to -5 degrees. We've already had colder than that and it's not even proper winter yet.

I love TrueBlood too! I've never seen merlitons here but knowing us, they have another name here, I'll have a look!



We got it from Bunnings, we had to go to one of the huge ones as our local didn't have them

You're gonna be so upset when you find out chard is just silverbeet! Or at least I think it is?

I googled it and you're right!

And merlitons = chayote here, I have never tried them

Oh well, at least it will look pretty and it grows really easy!

Thanks Caterpillar :)

Bunnings sells raised bed kits for $59, I want to get two and put them along the left fence, I think it'll be the quickest & easier option for us at the mo.

I took some photos of the courtyard


We've got murrayas along the back


And a jacaranda


It's a bit shady, the courtyard gets about an hour of sun in the morning so I need to look for shade-loving plants to go under the hedge.

Here's Sad Plant, I think he's an agave attenuata. I've had him since 2005 when I moved into a friend's apartment and he left me the plants. He's always been lopsided and I want to re-pot him. The second plant grew a couple of years ago and he's now full of holes, not sure why and there are two more shoots behind him. I'd like to separate them all and get him upright with some support.


Here's another succulent, I think it might be a jade plant


The nasturtium and calendula seeds I planted around the herbs have sprouted!


And there are 13 echeverias now, I'd like to take them all out and pot them in arrangements. I've read that they can be cut under the rosette but that I need to let the wound dry out before planting, has anyone had experience with separating succulents?



We've got a long weekend this week, I can't wait to get some stuff done in the garden!