P R O J E C T S
We have several ongoing projects in the Garden, such as composting, fruit tree pruning and adding to and maintaining the food forest.
An exciting new project is the installation of a small water tank and rain garden to harvest water from the
roof of the seating area.
​
Food Forest
The food forest is modelled on a natural forest and is planted with productive, perennial trees, shrubs and understory plants. It uses permaculture principles and aims to demonstrate:
• stacking of plants to increase yield;
• perennial systems = less work;
• companion planting;
• productive spaces can be beautiful!
Composting
Compost is an important resource for the Community Garden. It turns our green waste into valuable plant food that we use throughout the garden.
From time to time we have compost workshops, working bees and trips to pick up manure.
Please place any plant material from your bed into the green bins near the compost area. There are three of them. Once they are full we make a batch of compost. Please chop your plant material into smaller chunks. About 30cm long is ideal.
Our most problematic weed in the garden is Convolvulus. We have spent countless hours trying to remove it, so we don't put it through the compost heap, just to be safe. Convolvulus goes into the red bin.
Water Tank and Rain Garden
We are installing a small rainwater tank to collect water from our shade structure. In heavy rain, any overflow from the water tank will be directed into a rain garden.
A rain garden is designed to hold stormwater and allow it to slowly penetrate the soil. It will be planted with plants that can tolerate fluctuating moisture levels such as Lomandra, Dianella and Callistemon.
Pruning
There are over 30 fruit bearing trees in the garden representing a range of pruning shapes: espalier, vase and central leader. To encourage healthy trees and good cropping an Annual Tree Management Plan is being developed. This will include when to prune, net, fertilise, thin and control pests and disease.
_edited.jpg)