June, another dizzying month of jobs and jaunts elsewhere but I can’t complain, it was an incredible time of progress here in the garden after it began feeling like it might all grind to a halt in this first month of winter. Now it feels like garden areas have begun to take shape and we can start to see how they will look going forward and to be honest, we’re pretty thrilled with what we’re seeing and it just feels so darn good to finally be at this stage. I say finally, it’s only been 18 months since we moved in but we are really missing having an established garden like what we got so very used to at Little Oak, so any step closer to that reality again, is a welcome one.
It was also an amazing time of growth in my own skills, a little time taken to work on me and what I do. And hopefully build on what I can offer to you all in this space. See a bit more about this below under ‘Workshop’.
Ok so, on with the breakdown of what June has looked like here at Moorfield, thanks for coming along for the ride and sometimes the uphill climb as all gardens can sometimes be. Your support is always appreciated and we love getting to share it with you all from scratch……..
THE DRY POOL GARDEN
Finalising the design for the pool garden (available to view as part of The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 25 with progress shots and more detailed info regarding the process) became pressing as I took a moment out of the swirl of work and the stuff of life to realise my window to get the capeweed jungle smothered in these winter months was well and truly underway and the closer we get to spring, the harder it was going to be to find the time to do what is just quite simply, A HUGE JOB!
NOTE: To view plant lists and an illustration of the planting design, you can visit The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 21 and all the information I am referring to will end up in a Garden Guide for the Dry Pool Garden, as does each area as it progresses.
A large portion of the pool garden is mapped out so we can see where the beds and paths all are and feel how we are going to move through the space and use it. Essentially we have used 63 bales of pea straw, after brushcutting all the capeweed very short, to smother it where the beds are. As wet as it is and has been, this capeweed jungle will rot beneath the thick pea straw and add to the organic matter of the soil. We will then plant into the beds, as you would in strawbale gardening using the 13 sqm of premium garden soil we have arriving. The paths will be made into composting paths to suffocate the capeweed, improve the soil and help to insulate the beds at the edges. This will be top dressed with gravel at a later date, a process we used at Little Oak, and stone steps added also.
It is not only a great way to see a design fleshed out before your very eyes before you’ve invested in custom metal edging or any hard landscaping (which we will add at a later date on paths where needed to define up the lines and when budget allows), especially over such a huge garden on multiple terraces and with a number of functions. What works on paper largely works in the real world we’ve found but tweaking or at least the allowance for it, results in a better, more user friendly space. It also has the added bonus of improving the soil and growing conditions, in our case, an area of heavy clay that dries hard in summer and is a soggy mess in winter. Win Win!
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN
It took a number of goes back forth to get something we were happy with and felt right to move around in. So important in a space like a vegetable garden because you are in it more than most areas, requires a lot of upkeep and input, so if it is not a joy to be in, comfortable to use, you’ll commit to it less and therefore, produce less or not as healthy produce. We learnt this several times at Little Oak, tweaking it over years of using it and trying to get it to work better for us. We are determined the Moorfield Vegetable/Cut Flower/Berry Patch Garden will go in right the first time 😆 The chosen design is part of The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 20, as well as variations we went through to get there.
As we wait for another 63 bales of pea straw to arrive in order to build the lasagne beds that will create the beds for growing veggie’s, cut flowers and berries, I am working on a crop rotation plan.
Arrival of berry canes from Yalca Fruit Trees for the berry patch component of this garden was very exciting but caught me off guard arriving so soon after ordering, so I had to do some quick thinking. They have since gone in (information about that process is in this weeks The Garden at Moorfield Journal: 26 out on Friday).
Ordered and put in to settle over winter ready to burst forth in spring, are:
Tayberry
Boysenberry
Silvanberry
Loganberry
I am literally dreaming about picking handfuls of these with Nes and smothering big, fluffy scones with homemade berry jam and cream!
Raspberry Canes have also been ordered from Heritage Fruit Trees, varieties that will give us fruit from summer through autumn. These are due to arrive in the coming months and will be planted rather differently to the other berries but more about that later.
Nootka Raspberry
Autumn Bliss Raspberry
THE MALUS AND MEADOW GARDEN
We ordered 8 more Malus floribunda from Yalca Fruit Trees also, and were delivered before the months end to go in next to the existing 7 already in the ground. These 15 trees will create the forest effect we are going for.
The reasons we are creating this space are as follows:
From a design perspective it is to create a clear break between the original homestead and the new dwelling which, while built to mimic a traditional style of sorts and mimic the other outbuildings on the property, it is still a new structure versus a 170 year old one, so it softens their relationship to one another.
It offers privacy between the two residences and a sense of two separate homes as part of the same farm.
It creates a switch between the exposed northern end and the less harsh southern end of the garden/property. The exposed northern end is made up pro-dominantly by the Dry Pool Garden/Olive and Citrus Groves and the more drought tolerant Useful Garden aka herb garden and kitchen apothecary. The less harsh southern end of the garden/property is more lushly planted with the areas of the Long Border, the Green Room, the Rose Garden and mum’s courtyard garden and the hardest working productive ends of the garden; the Orchard and the Vegetable/Cut Flower/Berry Patch Garden.
And finally, Malus floribunda is a spectacular speciman once grown, in both spring and autumn, though spring is a standout. To plant them in such a large stand will create the most exquisite space and spectacle throughout these seasons and the view from both the homestead and mum’s new house will be breathtaking.
ORCHARD
We ordered the final trees for the orchard, a couple are newbies to fill gaps that we’d not planted up and a couple to replace the odd fellow we lost to drowning in the most ridiculously wet winter and spring last year, and with our rather heavy clay soil, they didn’t stand a chance. Out of 40 planted, losing 3 ain’t that bad.
The additions:
Stella Cherry (Drowned) - One of my all time favourite cherries!
Brigg’s Red May Peach (Drowned) - A super doer and great disease resistance!
Goldmine Nectarine (Drowned) - One of our fastest growing trees at Little Oak.
Duchess D’Anglouleme European Pear - A pollinator for our existing Josephine de Malines Pear.
Mutsu Apple - A delicious juicy apple and pollinator for Golden Delicious.
Blenheim Orange Apple - A beautiful apple which will help pollinate our Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Cox’s Orange Pippin and Gala.
WORKSHOP:
My month began with the most incredible workshop held back in Tassie on the banks of the Huon River in my friends wonderful home/business/airbnb
and with photographer Lean Timms and the most amazing bunch of women all there to learn as well. I finally got the opportunity to understand my Canon SLR and how to get the most out of it and I have been so thrilled with the results. A highlight was getting to finally visit the most exquisite place @satelliteisland and also, to learn I need all new lenses 😂 All in good time, we’ve so much else to pay for in the garden first!MUM’S HOUSE:
June has been rather wet and work vehicles for mum’s place, which has run over time and into winter, are struggling to get access which you’d expect at this time of year but they’re still slogging away. It is looking like it’ll be finished by the end of July with any luck. We are all desperate for this huge task to be done and for some kind of normal life to resume and where the garden can be the focus with all the major infrastructure (for now anyway) almost in.
The kitchen and laundry benches are in, cabinetry and wardrobes, the pantry is finished 👏 and all the electrical and plumbing is done except for the mains connection from our place which is due to take place in a couple of weeks. We are waiting on the tiling of splashbacks, timber flooring and painters to come finish things off inside and out, in the coming weeks. We can’t wait to show you the finished product!
In other news..
FOLLOWING: Over on Insta…..
LISTENING TO: Recordings of myself reading The Garden Journals, as we are finally turning them into a podcast (it takes a lot of practice to get this right) which I know I have been promising since we began this process back in January but have no fear, it is on the way for those of you who don’t have time to read them and would rather listen to me gab on while you jog or dig holes or fold laundry or drive to work or sit on a train…..stay tuned for news on those.
WRITING: The Useful Garden Guide aka Herb Garden - now live under Garden Guides (this, like journals is paid subscribtion content).
Also, writing the new The Garden Gadabout Album from my Australian Landscape Conference Coastal Gardens Tour. This will be available to all subscribers in the coming week, look out for the email.
BUYING: Liliums from Van Dieman’s Quality Bulbs for summer flowering interest in the Long Border and the Cut Flower beds as part of the Vegetable Garden area. I’m very excited about these purchases having been seduced by them growing in both Michael Cooke and Simon Rickard’s Gardens (you can also enjoy following both of these brilliant designers over on their beautiful instagram accounts) and having grown a few at Little Oak and been gobsmacked by them in full bloom amongst the roses and cottage garden. I hadn’t been much of a lilium fan, really, until I grew them. They were such standouts in the masses of summer flowers and the fragrance was incomparable on a hot day.
Other lilium varieties will be available in August from VDQ Bulbs, otherwise Tesselaar has a number available now.
I ordered the following:
3 x Tiger Babies - Tiger Lilium
LOOKING FOR: A Clematis in a pale purple/pale mauve colour to compliment the other clematis growing in the rose garden. Currently we have Clematis x jackmanii ‘Minister’ Group 2 and Clematis Arabella Group 3.
Dry Pool Garden additions of drought tolerant evergreens and perennials for the extensive borders. We have many of the plants already but it is such a huge expanse to fill I have the bonus of being able to add a few more interesting options also.
Pool decking timber and other hard landscaping materials but namely recycled timber, besser blocks for the base of the pizza oven (to be rendered) and the base of the glasshouse (to be faced with stone capping). And sourcing gravels and lawn soils.
BOOKING: A visit to Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Park as part of our US trip in September, cannot wait to see the majestic and barely fathomable Sequioa’s in the flesh.
PLANNING: The next stage of excavation work to clear up a big twitch grass problem area in a tricky to get to spot for manual removal which we would normally do and for the shaping of the new Front Garden area, directly in front of the homestead off the driveway and where folks will pass through when here touring the garden or attending workshops in the future.
READING: I shared this one in one of my most recent journal entries but wanted to share this little bit with you all as well…
“Our National Parks” by John Muir, first published in 1901. Many of you may have heard me speak of my love for John Muir’s writings, I quote him often also and I deeply admire how his work helped to protect some incredible natural environments, none more so than Sequioa National Park, Home of the Giants which we are very excitedly flying out to see in September, as well as Kings Canyon National Park which adjoins it. Getting to take Nes to see the biggest trees in thew world is a dream come true and for me also, as I have long since wanted to go there.
I wanted to share a little piece of what I have been reading in this book with you about the Sequioas specifically, if you will indulge me……
“The largest are about 300 feet high and thirty feet in diameter. Who of all the dwellers of the plains and prairies and fertile home forests of round-headed oak and maple, hickory and elm, ever dreamed that earth could bear such growths, - trees that the familiar pines and firs seem to know nothing about, lonely, silent, serene, with a physiognomy almost godlike; and so old, thousands of them still living had already counted their years by tens of centuries when Columbus set sail from Spain and were in the vigor of youth or middle age when the star led the Chaldean sages to the infant Saviour’s cradle! As far as man is concerned they are the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, emblems of permanence. No description can give any adequate idea of their singular majesty, much less their beauty.” John Muir, 1838 - 1914
I will do my best to paint you a picture in words when I visit them but I think the above could not be said better by the likes of me.
Thanks for the mention Pip, your Lilium order showed great restraint and I have a feeling they will become an addiction to you as they have been with me. Keep up the good work with the cape weed, after six years of hand weeding my paddocks I’ve finally beaten it x
Lovely post Pip
W lived in SOCAL for a number of years and visited those stands of majestic Sequoias. The atmosphere is very spiritual/ghostly and ethereal. A wonderfully soulful experience.