Rain is about, and the grass is green at last. Gloucester Garden Club met in the garden of Terry and Brian Hardwick, on March 27. Terry's garden was a leafy oasis nestled beside the headwaters of the Avon River. As we gathered under the cool green trees we could hear the bellbirds in the distance and the sweet melody of the lewin honeyeater nearby.
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This was not the case, Terry explained, when they bought the block some 25 years ago. It was just a bare paddock, with a fence running along the river to protect the riparian zone.
With great determination Terry and Brian set about planting a large numbers of trees and native shrubs in order to bring in the bush and to attract the native birds. Unfortunately, as the trees grew taller some of the shrubs were crowded or shaded out. They have now been replaced with salvias and other shade loving plants, which attract many butterflies.
The garden extends right up to the house, giving a great feeling of being in the bush, the native wildlife thinks so as well. Terry has a Lyrebird that visits her every morning, a goanna that sits close by to sun itself and the brush turkeys help themselves to what they can find. As well as this, there is a well-established citrus orchard and a very productive veggie garden. It was inspirational to see what can be achieved with a vision and a lot hard work.
The entries in the vegetable and flower competitions were abundant. Kim Arney took first place for her enormous pumpkin; Lea McDonald was second with her passionfruit; and Pearl Begg third with her purple beans. In the flower competition Pearl also took first place with her gladioli, while Frank Begg was in second place with his hibiscus; and David Pierce third with his gerbera.
Members have decided to provide funding to council for the construction of an arbour over the Gloucester rose garden as our contribution to further develop our community's garden and park lands.
With all this rain about Margaret Blamires encouraged us to add compost or animal manures to our garden as these help with water retention as well as adding goodness to the soil. She also gave us lots of other helpful information in the 'What to do in April' section of the meeting.
During the show and tell section there was a discussion about the problem of cut worm in vegetable gardens at this time of the year. There were suggestions to water the area with either neem oil or pyrethrum water solutions to control the problem.
Our next meeting is on April 24, in the garden of Bruce and Marguerite Barnes, 4427 Bucketts Way South Gloucester. Hope to see you there.
