FRONT DOOR GARDENING

Gayle Tattle, Horowhenua 1960s onwards

Gayle Tattle chatted with me earlier this year about how much she had loved getting out into the garden for more than 60 years, but, due to ill-health, was no longer able to do so as much as she would like.

These days she gets a gardener in to do the work for her, but during my visit I noticed the large pots on her north-facing deck just outside her front door. She had several potted ornamentals and various succulents growing and, late last summer, she tentatively planted a small tamarillo tree in a large black plastic pot (with a saucer under it) and positioned it in a warm, frost-free corner of her deck.

“The leaves grew as big as dinner plates and the spindly stem thickened up very quickly,” she said.

“I had to nip the fast-growing tips to stop it growing up to the eaves and guttering and tied it to the veranda with jute to secure it against the prevailing wind.”

Gayle explained how she watered and fed her ‘pet’ tamarillo plant daily over summer with liquid fertiliser and blood and bone, and sprayed it for whitefly every now and then. She thinks keeping it moist and warm, feeding it often and sheltering it from the wind and frost is what made it grow like a triffid.

“I’m looking forward to it producing lots of flowers and fruit next year. I’m so pleased I’ve found a way to keep gardening, just outside my front door, at my stage of life.”