To restart the blog I am presenting an edited version of my weekly column in the city newspaper entitled "the Garden of Life" and have set up a URL with that name. Hope you like what will come in the next weeks and years.
Western Australian summers in the South west of the state are generally hot and dry. At the time of writing cyclcone Diane came close and deposited a heap of rain here this morning after two weeks of blistering heat. There is a another one forming in the North West and that will affect our weather again till March I guess!
Recently I interviewed people from the "School of the Air". In West Aussie we have a lot of children who live in isolated outback areas and in the old days of pedal radio, the only education they got was from the infancy of the "School of the Air" Well, times have changed and with computers and satelites, although children still live in isolated areas, with this new facility and technology they have better access to education than in the old days.
So we proceed! Our interest here is mainly in gardening and in this case landscaping.
The original School of the Air that was based in Meekatharra, burnt down in 2007 It was re-located to Beachlands in demountables and now we have a purpose built facility for distance education at this site in Kempton street Bluff point. Geraldton, Western Australia.
Bruce Perry of Garden Design gave me a tour of the site. He planted the landscaped design using fine leaved kurrajongs, Lomandras and Little John Callistemon. Out the front were Aussie bred new wild wisteria (Harenbergia violacea Meema), peppermint trees (Agonis Flexuosa), Tuckeroos (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) were also planted. A row of new Queen Mum Agapanthus featuring extra large dual coloured white and violet blue flower heads and clumping strap-like foliage were growing in the long bed near the entrance. Hakea Laurina (emu bush), Little Smokie (olearia axillaris), dwarf Oleander (Nerium) and Lavender also featured in the overall design alongside other species. I am sure Bruce would tell you about them if you could find him!
Melaleucas, gums, acacias and casuarinas made up the first storey trees that were planted here. Bruce said the soil along the edge of the coast near the beach is horrible for growing anything so they took out the sand and added 300/400 ml of good soil. Included with this soil were terracotta soil improver and water conserving polymers, plus root stimulators to get plants going. Sub surface watering was installed and then covered with inorganic pine bark mulch which doesn’t break down and helps to prevent weed germination amongst what is planted. If good mulch is put in these types of situations it only produces soil on breaking down.
Bruce said it is pretty hard to plant in the three months of summer when Geraldton gets absolutely drilled with heat and the wind so we are restricted with our plants and it is hard to find new species that are going to handle it. Especially down on the foreshore.
The lawn is a new variety of Kikuyu that has been recommended for all schools. It is leafy and soft. Kids need this type of lawn to run around on. Bruce left a piece of garden on the south west corner for the children to use as a vegetable patch. The soil was treated and the area covered with good composting mulch.
During our heat wave the design of this building with its wide verandas, landscaped gardens and pleasing aspect is a welcome sight amongst today’s modern developments. My old friend Bob reckoned it reminded him of the spacious farm and town houses of the fifties and sixties.
That is the end of the article and next week we interview Phil who an American tree person who shifted here a while ago and will share about trees in general.
Look forward to sharing with you next week.
Stan Maley 61428230029
At this time of writing T C (Tropical Cyclone) Carlos
was sneaking down the North West coast, threatening
townships and bringing heavy tropical rain to the
Pilbara coast of Western Australia. By this coming
weekend he could be anywhere.
Meanwhile muddy floodwaters surged through the
Greenough River and flowed out into the ocean, staining
the sea for miles. Floods early in the week threaten to
come again to the flats where the trees are bent and the
men are straight.
I interviewed the Arborist, Philip J. Frazee early in
the week and due to the heat wave, old age and something
else I can’t think of, accidently deleted the interview
off the tape!
Philip has strong credentials in all areas of trees and
will provide us with a great story and advice on urban
and home tree planting, management and care. One thing
he shared with me is that trees can be managed for
maximum value and minimum risk by implementing
internationally recognized best practice. These standards
can be obtained by contacting the Australia Chapter of
the International Society of Arboriculture, “Arboriculture
Australia” P.O. Box 76 Edwardstown, South Australia, 5039.
Or on line by e-mail enquiries@aboriculture.org.au
In the stinking heat of the last few weeks people have
looked for shade trees in parks, car parks, street verges
along the beaches and anywhere they can find shade. The
new housing developments that cram large brick block
houses together leave little room to grow shade trees like
the huge canopy of the Poinciana photographed growing in
one older suburb. The little coral gums on streetscapes
around Geraldton give colour and shade in the summer.
While down on the Greenough checking out the floods, we
photographed the 680 year old Red River Gum “Kurlayhi”
giving shade to a young pony at the Greenough Pioneer
Museum and spotted an old sheep keeping his cool. And
also snapped the tourist’s best picture of the bent flooded
gum down on the front flats. Before the white man came to
this land, the aborigines sort the shade of the river gums
up and down the watercourses all over Gondwanaland in the
piercing heat.
Back in the forties on the farm in Three Springs, in summer
we kids would wander around under the shade of the gimlets
and York gums, shooting twenty eight parrots with shanghais.
They never flew away much, could have been because it was
so hot or they just knew we could never hit them! You
probably remember one time when there were plenty of trees
around in the bush and in town. Phillip is keen on getting
citizens on board into working our way back to that era by
research and planting of thousands of trees.
