Friday 6 June 2014

Hanging gardens

Our vertical gardens are on the way, yet very much in their infancy. Time, and growth will meld them into the environment. There are five panels. The top-most panel, being the rake-down of the fence, I have not even begun to address.
The left hand photo is the second panel from the road-edge. It contains 18 * 16cm terracotta pots from Bunnings which are about $1.50 each. I put them in a top heavy design, with 7 pots on the top fence railing, 6 pots on the midle fence railing, and 5 pots on the bottom fence railing. The loop is home-made and is from a roll of 2cm wide tin with ready-made screw holes. Darren attached them to the railing using treated-pine appropriae screws. They are strong enough, but with a bit of a slope, which makes it crucial not to overfill each pot with soil, to allow the water to soak in rather than run-off. More details on this panel in the days ahead.

The right hand photo is the panel for the girls. Alannah had already laid claim to this panel with her HB-pencil. It is where she writes up all her "tape-measuring". So it just seemed obvious to put up some sheets of marine-ply and coat them with chalkboard paint. We have a good supply of chalk in the toy box. Have yet to work out a storage/hanging place for the little buckets that hold the chalk.
The left hand photo, here, is the 4th panel from the road, and requires the fence to do a lot of heavy lifting. So far, so good. The trellis is an old piece that Hamish used for his hen-house. We brushed it, and washed it, and the gang attached it to the fence panel one afternoon at Easter, as detailed yesterday. I chose that panel because that is where the fence had to "break" to go around the Jacaranda tree, and the result bordered on untidy. This has made all the difference. The wall-pots are flat on one side and of two styles, basket, and trough. The baskets contain herbs, and the troughs contain strawberries. More on this in the week ahead.

The right-hand photo gives the appearance of being all structure waiting for a planting. Darren has strung four wire stays to cover two fence panels, and I have temporarily placed three large black tubs in-situ. I had planned to plant three passionfruit vines - until Alannah confessed that she was not keen on them, but would prefer one to be a Kiwi-fruit. However, kiwi-fruit require bothe a male and a female plant. To compound the issues, A;lannah then tasted a kiwifruit and realised that was not a favourite, So, the jury is out. I had thought of grapes, however, they prefer a drier climate than Sydney affords. Unless, I can find a variety that is mildrew resistant ...

The top'n'tail of this post shows the vertical gardens from each direction

5 comments:

Mo said...

I look forward to following the progress of the garden

Julie said...

Thanks, Mo. I missed your entry last Theme Day. Will go look for it.

Julie said...

Hah! Now I emember ... I did not miss it at all ... a wonderfully zestful riff upon gin!

diane b said...

Who waters all these?

Julie said...

Guess. Yep, moi!

Most of my wateroing is by hand. That way I can keep a close eye on progress, and talk to them all.