DIG - Designing Inspirational Gardens

19/11/2010

Gardening the hard way - broke a shovel 10 mins into today's job, with ~60 plants to then plant with a trowel. No local hardware store. So today's lesson is always pack a back up shovel.

18/11/2010

http://dignic.blogspot.com/2010/11/garden-designfest-weekend-of.html

09/11/2010

Heading off to visit as many gardens and designers in and around Melbourne and the Peninsula as possible this weekend thanks to the Garden Design Fest. Great opportunity for inspiration and garden renourishment... blog and pics to follow, but for now check out the link. If you don't have plans for the weekend then do yourself a favour, anyone can visit. http://www.gardendesignfest.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77:gardens-index&catid=16&Itemid=20

The fourth sensational Rotary Garden DesignFest will take place on the weekend of November 13 and 14, 2010 exhibiting over 25 superbly designed gardens by some of Melbourne's most acclaimed garden designers.

15/09/2010

Sara A, to your question on fb - something is eating your broccoli? Probably white cabbage moth or caterpillar in its early stage. Try scattering broken halve egg shells around the base of the plants. Also think about planting some bird attracting plants, like Grevillea or Bottlebrushes as a urban habitat feature. Birds will do a good job at keeping caterpillars at bay. Food for thought.

02/09/2010

31/08/2010

Sourced all the plant material for tomorrows job and absolutely love going to the nursery's to collect them. I always find a few plants to try out at home. Recent purchases include native ground cover Myoporum parvifolium (fine glossy leaved, very compact form) and an Australian native version of English Box - Syzygium australe 'Tiny Trev' with glossy coppery tinge new foliage (pic below). I can recommend both plants for low water use gardens.

29/08/2010

Heading out to Cruden Farm Open Day, the grand home and garden of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. I've heard so much about it's beauty and am looking forward to taking it all in.

20/08/2010

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/20/2988828.htm?section=justin
The historic Seperation Tree at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne has been attacked. This is such a senseless and irreversible act.

Victorian police are investigating an attack on one of Australia's most significant trees, the Separation Tree, in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens.

18/08/2010

BIG day on the tools today. Moved 3 metres of sand-soil mix (heavy) by shovel, bucket and pulley to large cement planter boxes around 3 - 4 metres above ground. It makes me wonder how in the hell those pyramids were built. Would have been an enormous amount of blood, sweat, tears and physical exhaustion...The finished landscape looks good. Photos to come soon.

16/08/2010

Dirt - Soil, call it what you will, but be sure to appreciate its overall benefits and effects on our system - that is the worlds ecosystem...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8_dN5YWnyc

Dirt! The Movie is an insightful and timely film that tells the story of the glorious and unappreciated material beneath our feet. Inspired by William Bryant Logan's acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, Dirt! The Movie takes a humorous and substantial look into the history and curren...

10/08/2010

Planning for jobs seems easy enough, I get out my diary, the client theirs, work out the required lead for orders and lock it in. One factor that cannot be known until the date is close is - the weather. Over the next two days, I have a job planned to implement a Mediterranean garden design and have just heard the BOM and SES have issued sever weather warnings of heavy rain and strong winds. Life's a trick...