Gardening with Margaret Matthews
Taking stock – a climate for change
by Margaret Matthews
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains…
Dorothea McKellar
There are few gardens which have not suffered plant losses in this past summer of drought and water restrictions. Our losses are minuscule compared with those sustained in the terrible bush fires that have ravaged our country.
In the early months of 2003 we have had to face so many of the big issues that affect our lives, so it is a relief to turn, even briefly, to some of the ordinary, everyday activities of which gardening is one that brings pleasure to so many of us.
This coming autumn will not bring us the usual bounty of glorious colour when the deciduous trees display their wares as the frosty nights work their spell. In fact, this year many of the leaves have already fallen, affected by the drought, the intense sunlight and the hot winds that have shrivelled the leaves before they were able to complete their yearly cycle.
It is not only deciduous trees that have suffered. A eucalypt outside my back door first put on a sudden growth of new leaves in early summer, then shed firstly its old leaves and then the remaining leaves died. This tree was a mecca for many birds, both native and ‘asylum seekers’. (I welcome all birds to my garden, irrespective of their origin.)
I am sure that a great number of native trees will be lost to the drought apart from those consumed by fire. Hopefully, if the drought breaks soon, some trees will recover by next autumn, but there is no guarantee that the climate will return to normal at any given time, whatever ‘normal’ means, in this era of global warming and uncertainty.
Before we think about repairing some of the damage to our gardens, we need to take a long and careful look at them.
The parched, starved soil should be our first consideration. It is difficult to advise here how this can be corrected as all soils are different. First, of course, it is no use trying to put anything right until the soil is thoroughly drenched with beautiful, thirst-quenching rain. Then, no matter whether you are blessed with clay or sandy loam or all the variations in between, the soil will need building up with organic matter and the beds dug over and left for a time before planting.
Do not rush into the planting of new shrubs and trees. In fact, refrain from planting anything until you are sure you have considered all the options. Take careful note of any plants that have been lost and any others that have suffered, and refrain from rushing out to replace them with the same species. Consider the situation they will inherit. Remember that there are likely to be many more hot summers and winters of low rainfall to face in the years ahead.
Just as we must learn that fine English turf is not appropriate for Australian backyards, so we should consider that conditions in our gardens are not always suited to fragile plants from the northern hemisphere, however much we would love to have them growing in our gardens. We are, in fact, much closer to the Mediterranean climate and should look to plants that thrive in the heat and low rainfall, including those from our own deserts and northern plains.
It can be very tempting to go to a nursery and be seduced into acquiring a host of lovely plants in bloom, irrespective of their suitability to a particular garden. The nurseryman has suffered, too, and he would be only too happy to make a good sale. In the long run his cash register and his reputation will be justly rewarded if he advises you to hasten slowly and perhaps delay planting until late April or early May, depending on the rainfall.
Next month’s column will be devoted to suggestions for replacing casualties of the drought with more suitable plants.
Let us hope that before then we will have had some welcome rain. We all need something to lift our spirits and this would indeed be a great blessing, especially if it benefits our farmers and quenches the bushfires.
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