Colourful gardens are synonymous with spring, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a green thumb out there who hasn’t been looking forward to the change of the seasons. At Sale Botanic Gardens, we’re starting to see some hard work we’ve done in the cooler months pay off, as well as some of our perennial favourites start to pop.

While Sale was lucky enough to receive some decent rain at the beginning of September, I am a bit concerned with the El Niño forecast. The team and I have mulched over winter to trap some moisture in the soil where we can. We will monitor dryness levels, irrigate as efficiently as possible and hold out hope the rain over the past few years hasn’t softened the soil too much.

The warmer weather means our deciduous canopy is starting to bud up, and some of the trees have had lovely new mulch rings installed overwinter to keep cosy. As always, our arborists keep an eye on all our trees around the garden to make sure they’re happy and healthy.

Speaking of which, keen visitors to the Gardens might have noticed we have a new (old) habitat tree. After an arborist report came back with not-so-good news for an ancient Eucalyptus cladocalyx (Sugar Gum) tucked away in the south-western corner, we were able to hang onto what was salvageable – great news for the resident possums taking up residence. Hollows take well over 100 years to form and double that time to fit larger animals. The destruction of tree hollows is one reason behind our declining wildlife, so it’s a priority hold onto habitat and support biodiversity where we can.

In terms of other projects about the place, we have a contractor helping us out with a partial renovation of the turf – aerating to open up the soil and reduce compaction – which means our lawns will be *chef’s kiss* come summer. Quite a few of our gravel paths have been resurfaced, and we have a fresh new bed in the Sensory Garden!

To tie in with Kathy Luxford Carr & Paul Gennings’ Seed Pod sculpture and mosaic, we have planted out the former lavender beds with red, purple and pink camellia flowers to cover off on the sight component of the Sensory Garden. We’ve also hedged it out with gardenias for their scent. In Sale’s climate and soil, after we’ve shaped it up with the Friends, it’ll be set and forget. It’s really opened up the area, and builds on a section of the Gardens that has been well-developed over the past two years.

You can’t give a spring update without touching on flowers. Our natives are on the way out, and ready to pass the baton to the exotics. We’ll start to cut back all the natives that flowered over winter as other parts of the garden wake up from their snooze to take the focus.

It’s always interesting in one of our lesser-celebrated gardens – the Catalogue Garden - this time of year. We have plenty of surprising combinations in this Collection and I am still deciphering what’s been intentionally planted, and whether some plants – native violets, lamb’s ears – have been sneakily introduced over time. Nevertheless, the Quinces, Rhaphiolepis indica (Indian Hawthorn) and Felicia are flowering away quite nicely. The Echiums are about to put on a huge show for anyone using the north-eastern entry, and we’ll give the Philadelphus a haircut post-flower.

We’ve mulched up Garden for Life and the natives have loved it over the winter, with plenty of growth and colour. While they’re finishing up flower now, there will still be quite a few heroes in the other beds over the next few months. We planted a lot through the Garden for Life last year to help fill out some of the patches, so keep an eye on this space.

Nearby, we’ve coppiced the University of Melbourne’s Woody Meadow back to 200mm, as we do annually. Part of a research project, this bed is full of highly ornamental yet low maintenance species that regenerate well after a hard prune. Prostrate varieties means there’s still interest in this bed while the larger trees and shrubs are cut back.

As always, my favourite part of the Gardens is the Elm Forest. The still spring late-afternoons seem even more crisp up there. The bulbs have really benefited from last year’s mulch, and Bluebells have begun to pop up everywhere. The Clivias are also currently in flower. I’d really like to focus some effort getting the forest looking as spectacular as possible all times of the year through planting a sea of bulbs.

The Gardens are packed at the moment as the nicer weather kicks in, which is awesome to see so many people enjoying a space that brings our team so much joy. But just as how humans are beginning to get out to enjoy the nicer weather, our animal-friends are also more active, so please keep an eye out and remember this is a shared space.