| 1st Willow Lodge Retirement Village Permablitz |
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| Written by Paul Fogarty | |
| Sunday, 13 July 2008 | |
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Who would have thought that a day of gardening could be so much fun? On Wednesday 11th June a group of residents from the Willow Lodge Retirement Village (plus a few extras) discovered that you can laugh as hard as you work while you improve the planet! We spent the morning working in Roy and Mary’s garden. The day began with talk about how the Australian sun effects our gardening practice – ie movement of Sun in different seasons; patterns of sunlight and shade in the garden; what-to-plant-where. Then the physical work began. A well-positioned vegetable garden was already in place which just needed the addition of compost and more vegetable seedlings. Two growing areas near the back door were prepared with compost and planted out with cooking herbs and vegetable seedlings. Another easily-accessible area was planted out with predator attracting Alyssum, herbs and vegetable seedlings. A native plant area was mulched. A group of us then joined in the community lunch in the Willow Lodge hall – the best valued $5.50 lunch in Dandenong (which includes 3 raffle tickets!).The afternoon was spent in Derek and Carol's garden. The sunny front garden is a perfect growing area. We left the existing flower plants in place. The area was sheet-mulched and planted up with a mixture of rainbow silverbeet, lavender, pansies and alyssum. Also in the front garden, we removed a strip of gravel path and turned it into a herb and flower garden – lavenders, sage, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary. All near the front door for easy access. In the backyard a No-Dig garden was established and planted with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, daisies and pansies. A shaded area became the home for various types of mint.Thank-you to the hosts (Roy & Mary and Derek & Carol) for opening their gardens to such a noisy rabble. Thanks to all the Willow Lodge residents who came along and happily joined in the hard work. And our thanks to Paul and Kathleen who also spent the day with us.Stay tuned for details of the next Permablitz at Willow Lodge on 30th July. You won’t want to miss the fun.[PS. We’ve been told that the plants are already growing well despite the cold weather. Yeah.] |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 August 2008 ) |
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