Kapiti Coast
Julian Matthews looks at how diverse elements can fit into one garden.
In a sun-drenched spot in the garden where the soil is fertile but stony, I’ve turned the planting into a carefree one which doesn’t seem to be calling out for me to apply more water every time I pass by. Instead, I enjoy the textures and colours of the bold echeveria succulents and drought tolerant perennials such as echinaceas and gaillardias.
Rather than have bare ground around the succulents, I have been planting dense, low growing herbs such as golden and cream and green and woolly thymes. This is visually appealing, weed suppressing and a delight for the nose when a bit of weeding or tidying is required. I let the thymes wander to the edge of the grass lawn so there’s a seamless join, and find this easy to maintain with careful mowing and a quick follow up with the Niwashi weeding tool.
It’s worth bearing in mind though that the mowing of such a garden area should not be done by a non-sympathetic, non-gardening person.
I was asked recently about plants which come into the category of “overlooked but deserving of more popularity”.
There are many, but I suggested gaillardias, probably because they have been a mainstay of this summer’s colour border. They’re not the superstars – those are the dahlias, cannas and echinaceas – but the gaillardias provide ground-covering, weed-beating, dense foreground planting which goes on flowering for months on end.
It’s sometimes suggested that the common name blanket flower comes from the low and dense habit of growth of these natives of the North American prairies, but I much prefer the thought that this is a reference to the traditional colours used in the blankets of the First Nations tribes.
These are sun-loving plants with a desire for soils which are well drained, and once established are drought tolerant.
I bought plants at the start of last summer from Watsons’ Gardens in Otaki but they can also be grown from seed sown in late summer and autumn. Kings Seeds have several varieties in their mail order catalogue (kingsseeds.co.nz).
New varieties of native cabbage trees pop up in garden centres at regular intervals nowadays.
Mostly they feature colourful striped leaves and can make striking garden features with year round appeal. But the one I have been particularly interested in is ‘Broadsword’, a hybrid between the broad-leafed species
Cordyline kaspar and the iconic cabbage tree Cordyline australis. ‘Broadsword’ is aptly named, for the shiny green leaves are indeed wide and sword shaped.
I’ve enjoyed using it as a focal point among bright perennials, such as Salvia
patens which has a lengthy display of its sky blue flowers through the summer. (If the old stems of the salvia are removed as the flowers finish, this will encourage an even more prolific floral display.)
As with other native cordylines, an occasional spray of the emerging foliage at regular intervals using an organic insecticide will prevent caterpillar damage. Keep a frequent watch for the caterpillars – gently fold back the newest leaves between thumb and forefinger to check if any are present.
Are bird baths a good idea in the garden?
I used to think one would be fun, but was persuaded that it wasn’t a good idea when there’s a cat in the family who likes to hunt. The funny thing is, now that the cat has grown old and spends her spare time sun bathing instead of hunting, I have provided her with several water containers on the deck. One of these is a low bowl and at times I’ve spotted one of the very tame local blackbirds using the bowl as a bird bath while the cat has its back turned or snoozes contentedly mere metres away.
A friend has added to her garden one of the rather large, natural looking, rough-textured concrete bird baths which the garden centres sell nowadays. It fits right in with its surroundings of blue-grey hostas and a Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ which casts dreamy reflections on the water’s surface. It looks good year round and the only attention it requires is a light scrub and flushing out with the hose every now and again. It has become a favourite of another very tame blackbird who has learnt to duck for cover when the aggressive but highly entertaining tu¯ swoop in to drink, splash about and sing their appreciation.