Re: Low Maintenance

Tim Dutton wrote:
> 
> Erik van Lennep-Hyland said:
> 
> >A half-way measure towards natural landscapes is "editing" the landscape.
> >Here, without attempting to introduce anything new, the naturally occuring
> >plant community is selectively thinned, retaining important elements and
> >inter-plant associations, while opening up or closing view lines,
> pathways,
> >etc. Areas you wish to remain open for frequent use can be paved with flat
> >stone, for instance, pathways laid to prevent erosion, and the native
> >ground covering allowed to flow back to meet the hard surfaces. Only after
> >this level of adjustment has been made, does the gardener consider very
> >cautiously introducing locally ocurring native plants to augment the
> >design.
> 
> This is how I have spent the last few years gradually turning the wild and
> untamed parts of the garden into something to delight the eye. In my case,
> the first step has been to remove all of the non-native interlopers from a
> given area, then cut out and remove dead, diseased, overcrowded or
> malformed native plants, plus those that are in the way of any pathways or
> tracks that I want to establish. After that I usually find that the first
> storm will blow down a few more of the natives that are no longer protected
> by the plants that have been removed. I plant new natives into any gaps
> that have been created. This has certainly resulted in low maintenance
> parts of the garden, as all I have to do is remove fallen branches after
> occasional storms. Over the years the native trees have grown several
> metres and the feel of the whole area has altered markedly from how it was
> originally. I would not want the whole garden to be like this, but so far
> it has worked very well for around 20% of it, and as a result I only have
> 80% to 'maintain' on a regular basis.
> 
 Tim 
Had this a long time, but just wanted to say how much I like the sound
of your "reconstituted" or (maybe it should be "enhanced") bush. Giving
nature a helping hand can have many rewards and certainly the more
nearly natural it becomes the less maintenance should be needed. 

I guess the main advantage of our local bush for low maintenance schemes
is the almost compete lack of indigenous annual plants, so if you can
keep the exotics out your need for maintenance should eventually become
close to zero...

Moira

-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, 
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
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