This Week in the Garden: Sharing Our Space With Wildlife
Some unexpected visitors popped by this week AND the rock garden reveal!
If something I’ve shared has helped you in your garden or offered value in some way, and you’d like to contribute, you can Buy Me a Coffee.
Thursday early evening. The light soft and hazy, casting a muted glow over everything. The sky a pale, washed-out pink, fading at the edges, the leftover heat of the day still hanging in the air. We’d just finished dinner and wandered outside to try out the newly rendered seat. The base a little scratchy under my bare legs. I ran my hand along the curve, thinking how the seat would smooth with time. I chose lime render – a mix of natural lime, salt, and water. People have used it for centuries, from ancient Roman walls to Mediterranean homes. It’s sustainable, durable, and ages beautifully.
Plop. A seed pod dropped into the pool, interrupting my reverie and shattering the still surface. Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’d spent the afternoon scooping dozens of those large pods from the bottom of the pool so they didn’t block up the pool cleaner. The tree belongs to our neighbour, but a long branch hovers over our pool, dropping its “crap,” as Dave calls it. The branch was on the chopping block for the coming weekend.
Then a squawk. Not Lorikeets. Louder. Gutsier. I jumped up and stuck my head outside the alfresco roof. Three Corellas balanced on the tips of the very branch I’d planned to cut, making short work of the seed pods. One looked straight at me; a pod clenched defiantly in its talons.
Plop. Another pod fell into the pool.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”
I bolted inside for my camera, leaving Dave chuckling behind me. The pool forgotten. The mess irrelevant.
When I talk about planting for wildlife, rewilding, habitat gardening, I talk about purpose. The Golden Cane Palms and Agaves we removed last year were doing little for the biodiversity of this place. Pretty to look at, maybe. But they didn’t feed anyone, or support local wildlife. And yet, here was this rogue branch hanging over my pool. A tree I didn’t plant, one I found a nuisance. Right now, it’s feeding these Corellas. I get so much joy from seeing them there – wild visitors stopping by my space. They remind me this is their space too.
I think about this a lot.
We invite nature into our backyards – we plant Plectranthus for bees, Lomandra grasses for lizards, add a birdbath for all the species of birds that visit our yard. But it does mean compromise. The mess, the ‘crap’ that doesn’t fit into the traditional tidy garden design.
Our human tendency is to try and create boundaries and control our gardens. We want order. Neatness. Convenience. We want nature on our terms – the birds, the butterflies, the bees – but without the seed pods in the pool, the caterpillars on the Callistemon, or the bat poo staining the new alfresco.
But maybe compromise is part of the deal. A give-and-take that requires us to loosen our grip on the idea of a perfect garden. To accept a little mess for the joy of seeing Corellas in my backyard. And yet, it’s complicated. Am I hypocritical to grumble about seed pods when I preach about biodiversity? Can we ever fully reconcile wanting a tidy yard with fostering a messy, thriving ecosystem?
Where do we draw the line? What’s the balance between our lives and the needs of the creatures we share our space with? If we want more biodiversity, more wildness, maybe we have to resist the urge to control so much. Maybe the leaves on the lawn or the frogs in the downpipes are the price we pay for living in connection with the natural world. And really, what a small price it is. But as someone who very much likes order and neatness, it’s still something I’m coming to terms with.
It’s easier when I remind myself that this is what it means to rewild, to reconnect, to think of our backyards as part of something bigger.
As of today, the branch is still hanging over the pool.
How the Rock Garden is Going
The sandstone rocks have finally moved from the bottom of the driveway to their new home. Remember last weekend’s 34-degree days? Slightly crazy to tackle landscaping, but it had to be done.
We added a steel barrier, laid the geofabric, dug holes, and planted. Hauled 1000kg of rocks up the driveaway. It was brutal, and we were absolutely wrecked by the end of it. But it was worth every drop of sweat.
Oh my gosh. I’m so in love with the new garden. I keep wandering outside just to stare at it. Even though it’s not quite finished yet. We’re still waiting on pavers from a landscape supplier (with no ETA, naturally), so the rocks are temporarily pushed to the side.
I’ve tried a few new plant species in this new garden, most chosen to support specific insects. I will share a detailed planting list in the new year.
For now, it’s almost there. And honestly, almost has never looked so good.
This Week in the Garden
The weather has been relentless. Torrential rain in Queensland, heatwaves hammering the southern states, summer isn’t going easy on anyone this year. I’ve written about planting for resilience in a previous newsletter. I only hope the plants I’ve chosen will adjust with our changing climate.
I planted the alfresco garden, and it’s brilliant. I love it. The lime render wall has this gorgeous earthy Mediterranean feel. The bed has a mix of woody herbs – prostrate rosemary, oregano, thyme, and native mint. Easy access to my favourite cooking herbs. Plus, some natives like Bacopa, Scaevola, and Plectranthus. I’m still on the hunt for some specific native species. I discovered Paten Park Native Nursery in Brisbane. I’ll make the trip to visit over the holiday break to see what they have.
The veggie patch hasn’t been so lucky. Out of four tomato plants, only one remains. One fell to blight, another two grew beautifully tall but produced no fruit. After some research, I think the soil has too much nitrogen. Lesson learned for next time. The basil hasn’t fared well either, six plants gone mouldy thanks to this incessant rain.
The Pheballium has started to flower again. Gorgeous bright pink flowers. I picked this one up as a tiny 40mm pot last June at the Narang Native Plant Market. Now, it’s over a meter tall! This is the Kay Bryant variety, endemic to SE Queensland and Northern NSW.
The Chrysocephalum is self-seeding! A hope I have for a few of the flowering natives. While weeding last week, I found new seedlings popping up in the surrounding areas of the main plants, filling the gaps in the retaining wall garden.
The Blue Banded Bees are now frequent visitors now there’s more food for them. The favourites are Plectranthus and Rosemary. Both plants are incredibly easy to grow and fast-growing.
This will be my last newsletter for the year as I get ready for the Christmas break. I’m going to enjoy a few weeks off from landscaping, and I hope you will too!
Kira
Your garden is looking fabulous, I love how you have a wide variety of plants. It is sooo good to sit and look at all your hard work and be happy with your achievements and enjoy your space.
Have a great Christmas and well earned break.
Garden is looking wonderful! Ours has gone a bit crazy with all this rain and heat in SE Qld.
Love your take on sharing our space with wildlife and the compromises we need to make. Hope you have a great Christmas and holiday break!