Charlotte Harrison: Gardening for Small Spaces
Charlotte is a horticulturist and manager of the Community Workshop Program at Sustainable Gardening Australia.
Her very informative and practical presentation highlighted key aspects to consider when caring for a small garden. Charlotte recommended softening hard spaces, using bold colour and large pots, providing a place to sit andincluding vertical space in a planting scheme. She stressed the importance of soil improvement with organic matter and mulch, as soil near the house can often be dry, compacted or alkaline, along with regular watering and feeding.
Understanding the microclimate in a small space is essential so that plant choices for sunny or shady aspects are optimised. Vegetable, herbs and even small fruit trees are all possible with raised beds or use of pots on wheels to chase the sun.
Liz Caspar: Senior Sustainability Officer for the City of Boroondara
Liz gave us a brief overview of the range of programs and resources available to encourage residents to be as environmentally sustainable as possible. These included the Biodiversity Project, the Weed Swap program, Solar Savers and free workshop programs.
Resources:
www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/environmental-sustainability
Workshop programs and events: https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/waste-environment/climate-and-sustaina...
Booklet: Recognising and managing environmental weeds (available next meeting)
We acknowledge the City of Boroondara’s funding of this presentation from Sustainable Gardening Australia
