I’ve had a soggy start to the role, with steady rain throwing out some of the gardens’ regular maintenance routines, but dry patches in recent weeks have allowed us to get stuck into some of the more regular programming. A lot of the hard yards are done in winter; while there’s no fertiliser going out yet, there’s still plenty to do.
This time of year, we’re really focussing on cutting back what we have. The Sedum, the Euphorbias, the Smoke Bush, grasses, Lobelias, roses – they’ve all either had a much needed trim, or are next in line for some attention over the next few weeks.
"We’re striking a fine balance of keeping interest and texture for visitors to the garden during winter, and doing what needs to be done in order to ensure we have a beautiful flower display come spring."
We’ve already done some mulching up through the Elm Forest, with a layer of fallen leaves providing some great additional mulch – ready to go for spring when the weather fines up and the ground starts to dry out.
Work on the Bill Cane Collection is continuing, with the hardscaping really opening up the garden beautifully now - definitely compared to what was there before. The rest of the collection is expected to be planted shortly, with some of the plants on order. Of course, the collection is very special – the plants only exist because Bill, a Maffra horticulturist, apiarist and nurseryman, experimented with propagation to introduce several new plants, manipulating hybrids and making naturally superior forms of existing bush species. Some of the plants are already in, thanks to Bill’s children Jenny and David, who laid them out and helped us plant a month or so ago.
The standard weeping grevilleas at the centre of the collection already beginning to give off a waterfall effect. There are also three dwarf Corymbia eucalypts that will be trimmed together to look like one plant, but there will be three different colours in there. If they end up intertwining and you get the pink, orange and red in there, it will be magnificent.
We’ve laid some seed for some new turf near the playground, which, despite the grizzly weather, has shown signs of growth, so we’re happy with that. We’re going to start looking at the other turf pretty hard over the next month or so, because we’ve got some weeds in some spots. We’re probably going to get the Tiff Tuff at the Garden for Life scarified this year too – we want to get that looking pretty specky.