20 October 2023 – Attila’s Garden
Photography: Lauren Woods, Mary Walsh, Marilynne Darroch
We all appreciate Attila’s generous sharing of knowledge at our meetings, so we were really interested to see this oasis of a garden he has created on Snowgum Road.
The garden is flourishing in a bush block. The area is mostly scrubland, which makes it remarkable. The large trees, mostly elms and oaks, were planted over 20 years ago, but the gardens under and within them are between 10 and 12 years old. As well as the elms and oaks, there are gleditsias, which are grown for their foliage, but ultimately, for their timber – they are used for firewood, though they are not completely cut down but rather coppiced, leading to regrowth and a form which provide points of interest in the garden while they regrow, eventually be harvested for their timber again.
We all appreciate Attila’s generous sharing of knowledge at our meetings, so we were really interested to see this oasis of a garden he has created on Snowgum Road.
The garden is flourishing in a bush block. The area is mostly scrubland, which makes it remarkable. The large trees, mostly elms and oaks, were planted over 20 years ago, but the gardens under and within them are between 10 and 12 years old. As well as the elms and oaks, there are gleditsias, which are grown for their foliage, but ultimately, for their timber – they are used for firewood, though they are not completely cut down but rather coppiced, leading to regrowth and a form which provide points of interest in the garden while they regrow, eventually be harvested for their timber again.
Wind and Water
Wind and water are part of the foundation of the garden’s design, Attila’s dislike of wind, (and this is a windy place) has produced a garden that is divided into ‘rooms’ with protective hedges creating areas that are serene and delightful.
Attila uses a variety of plants for hedging – hazelnut trees and Portuguese laurel, to create protection, Teucrium as a feature and cotton lavender as edging.
The availability of water – or the lack of it – plays an important role in this as well. As you walk down the driveway, the plantings are all of drought tolerant, receiving no extra watering, just rainfall. This is something we could learn more about, especially as we head into another El Niño.
As you enter the protected areas of the garden, the plantings in each reflect the availability of groundwater, so one section is established on what was swamp, while others do require some irrigation. This way, water is used as effectively as possible, while still having a a densely planted largely perennial garden. Water use is concentrated on food production.
Plant Range
There were so many interesting plants. Attila estimates he has around 500 different varieties, so you can imagine all the questions that were asked. So no one else is allowed to work in the garden, to prevent any ‘weeding’ by mistake. It contains plants collected, rescued and searched for. We are going to ask him to talk about some of them at one of our meetings in 2024.
The Productive Garden
This garden is both protective and productive. There are large beds in the garden area, but much of the productive garden is in a huge, netted enclosure growing berries, vegetables and fruit trees. It is a prolific vegetable garden which when harvested results in preserving and bottling, so autumn is a very busy time.
And what about weeds?
I hear you ask. Well, Attila’s philosophy, and one that is well worth adopting, is to plant as much as possible that you want to grow in your garden, to outperform the weeds. Crowd them out. This doesn’t totally eliminate weeds, but it does make it much easier to control and gives you a lush garden.
Thank you, Attila, for opening your garden to us.