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This article can be also found at this Hub Pages link, Gardening in Brisbane.
.Gardening in Brisbane.
Welcome to our
article,
Dear readers, I find that gardening is a relaxing thing to do. You see, when we talk about gardens, we
visualize in our minds, these places with plants in flower, that we enjoy
looking at their beauty. Most people find great pleasure when they visit a
well-kept garden, because it is relaxing, and a pleasure to walk among those
healthy plants and flowers.
Now, we have called
this article, gardening in Brisbane, so, let us look at Brisbane gardens, even
if the photos that I am using here will come mostly from the Internet, since
these days I cannot visit these places much, but I can tell you that gardens
are relaxing places, therefore, it is good for any of us to visit them; you see,
when you come back from the gardens, you feel refreshed and a better person. Anyhow,
there are three main Gardens in Brisbane city that are worth visiting:
(1) Brisbane city
Botanic Garden, (this is the first garden in Brisbane, they used to grow food there
when the first settlers came to Brisbane)
(2) Mount Coot-tha Botanic Garden (this is a new garden, created after Brisbane city botanic
garden was made smaller, from a new university building and a bridge that spans
the Brisbane River)
(3) New Farm Park Garden,
also called the rose garden, because of the many roses that grow there.
Then, we want to write about our own gardening, while we look
at these gardens.
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Brisbane city
botanic garden and Mount Coo-tha botanic garden
Now, in the original article, we have
shown you a few photos of Brisbane gardens, New Farm Park garden, let us also
visit Brisbane city botanic garden and other important gardens in Brisbane. To
start with here-under is a link that I have taken from the internet in you-tube
that talks about Brisbane botanic garden, (Just hover on the line below and
follow the instructions).
BRISBANE, the beautiful Botanic
Gardens (Queensland, Australia)
It is nice to find on the Internet these links; they make it easier to explain things that are hard to explain.
Explain the above
and other natural things.
Now that we have
shown you some garden photos above, and Mount Coo-tha look out. Let us talk
about some gardening, which Mother Nature does by itself and sometimes they may
even seem strange. Now beside this text there are a couple of photos that are
just a natural happening, these things do not require much gardening skill,
since they happen in the wild, and it is Mother Nature way that helps these
plants grow, so, let us look at them. One photo I believe has been taken in New
Farm Park, since I know that trees like that are growing there, this photo
shows these strange trees that have roots coming down from their branches,
these roots hit the ground and grow, they grow so big that you cannot tell
anymore, whether they are the first tree that was planted there, since they all
seem like a tree trunk, I believe that Mother Nature is strange, but it is
interesting to note those things.
Another photo shows
some wild flowers; this photo was taken from somebody that travelled to
Northern Italy, it shows some wild flowers that grow up in the mountain there;
this goes to show that Mother Nature can do things on its own and does not need
us to make a display.
Now that we have
explained Mother Nature ways, which does not need our help to happen, we are
going to talk about some simple gardening that we want to do ourselves.
Thinking about
doing some gardening.
Now, we have talked about, some
public gardens that you can visit in Brisbane; but what about if we want to make
a garden ourselves, or a kitchen garden for ourselves, that we can have in our
own back yard; since in Brisbane all stand-alone houses have a back yard.
We would like to do
that to stay outside and try our skills, and at the same time enjoy the
relaxing atmosphere that gardens and gardening produce within us. So, if we
want to do some gardening ourselves, what is the first thing that we need to
know about gardening?
If we want to do
some gardening, there are a few things that we need to know, before we even
start gardening. Of course, we need some local knowledge, so, it is helpful, if
you know someone that has some local gardening knowledge, because local
knowledge helps a lot. You see, when we talk about gardening, if we know
anything about gardening, the first thing that comes to our mind is the
weather, and the second thing is the sun shine, then the seasons of the year,
when to grow certain plants, then, the average temperature of the place, where
this gardening is going to take place; because these things will influence what
plants we can grow there, and the time when is most likely that they will grow
well. If we don’t know that, then we should learn as we go on planting our
plants. Of course, today when we by any seeds there are instructions that say
when the best time is to plant them, and this is very helpful. Anyhow, let us
talk about our gardening.
Let us talk about our
gardening.
Now, I am writing
this article about gardening from Brisbane Australia. The city of Brisbane is
situated in the subtropical region of the Southern hemisphere, I have mentioned
the Southern hemisphere, so that my readers are not going to be surprised, when
I am going to tell them that while I am writing this article, I am getting
ready to plant some winter plants. Now, this is the month of May and the Month
of May is spring in the northern hemisphere, so, it is shocking for any reader
in the Northern hemisphere to hear that I am planting winter plants, I know
this because I have come from the Northern hemisphere. But as you know the
seasons in Australia are the opposite of the Northern hemisphere, but even
knowing this is not enough, because there are a lot of other factor to consider,
which it is hard to explain in a few words.
In Brisbane, the
climate is a bit on the hot side; with this warm climate, we should be able to
grow all sorts of plants and vegetables all year around, at least in theory we
should be able to do that, but here I am telling you that it is not that
simple, because any place on earth you go to, it is a different and has its own
ways how to grow plants and vegetables. So, we need to learn those things
before we can grow plants, or vegetables the easy way. But let us not despair
because we can always copy the gardening people around us. Of course, gardening
and gardens can be enjoyed in other ways, as we have shown in the photos that
we have pasted in this article.
Anyhow, I wish I can
grow flowers in my home garden, beside my vegetables, because I like flowers,
but I may have to let it go, because it takes time and effort to grow them. But
because I am an old man, I have to let it go and be happy to grow a few
flowers, and a kitchen garden with tomatoes and vegetables, and other things
that are already growing there, so, let us talk about what we have in the back
yard.
What I am growing in my backyard.
Now, most of us who own a standalone house on a large
piece of land, like what we have in Brisbane Australia, have land that can be
used to grow vegetables, or other plants. You see here in Brisbane, most of the
cheaper affordable house are built on a piece of land, which is about 400
square meters; most houses are 100 to 150 square meters, so, the rest of the
land is vacant land, we call this land our yard and it can be used in different
ways. Now, some of us have a beautiful green lawn in the yard, and we are
satisfied to have this green grass, and you know it is very enjoyable on hot
days, because that green lawn makes you feel cooler; but we have to mow the
lawn to keep it at its best, but that is easy done with a lawnmower.
But, some of us
beside keeping a perfect lawn, want to have a flower garden and grow many types
of flowers, here and there and decorative shrubs; this type of decorative
gardening is done usually in the front yard of the house, as most of the houses
in Brisbane suburbs, are set well back from the road: in the new suburbs of
Brisbane this is usually 6 meters, in the old suburb this distance could be
different. Anyhow, even if we use the land in the front yard for flowers and
decorative shrubs, we still have the back yard, where we can grow anything we
want, if the land is fertile enough, and we like gardening.
Now, I and my
partner may not be the best gardeners around, but we like to try to grow a few
things in our back yard, when we can. So, when we have spare time I go in the
back yard and try to improvise, by starting our own garden patch, we think that
we should grow our own vegetables, herbs, tomatoes, and other plants.
I believe that anyone
of us has his own gardening story, why we are growing our own stuff in our
yard, some of us have had experience from a farming background, so, we have some
knowledge of how a few things can grow, for this reason we are willing to have
a go at gardening.
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In our kitchen gardens.
To tell you the
truth I have always done some gardening in Brisbane, sometimes I have had a
good crop too, but it has been a struggle, because of the hot climate and
because my soil is not good for gardening, I have used fertilizer but it does
not help much, so, I have done gardening sparingly.
But, today in my
old age, I am going to do more gardening in my back yard. You see, I want to
grow my own vegetables, tomatoes, herbs and a few other things in my kitchen
garden. I know that my soil is not that good, so, I wonder what I could do to
improve it without spending too much money. In fact, I don’t like to spend
money, if that is possible.
So, I am wondering what
other people do, and what could cost. You see, if it costs too much, there is
no point of spending money, when you are better off financially, if you go to
the greengrocer and buy what you need. If that is going to be the case, then I
am continuing to do my gardening in a small way as I have done before.
Therefore, I wonder
how I can improve the soil, and which the best way to do it; I know a few
things about this, because when I was young I have worked in my family farm in
Southern Italy, but can those same principles apply in Brisbane Australia, where
the climate is a lot hotter, here plants need more water to keep them growing;
I know that there are lots of diseases in this hot and humid climate, so, I
need good soil where plants grow fast and healthy, so that we can pick our
produce before the disease sets in, for any vegetables, and also for tomatoes,
capsicum, egg plants etc.
The last few years,
I have tried to grow my own vegetable and tomatoes etc. But so far, I have been
able to be successful only in springtime, and as soon as summer comes everything
starts dying out.
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In my kitchen garden today.
What I am growing
now in my garden patch, are some purple king beans, that we are going to pick
them up green, also some broad beans, as you can see from this photo beside
here, I had winter vegetables that we have used, but now summer is coming, and
I wonder what I can plant. The problem in Brisbane is watering, not only plants
in summer need a lot of water, but there is water restriction. The water
restriction applies when there is not enough water in the dams, because the
climate and the raining season are unpredictable these days, so, the local
government want people to save water, for that reason the price of water goes
up, and people lament this increasing cost of water, so, we must be careful how
we use water.
For this reason, I
have worked out that I need to divert the water from the bathroom, straight
into the kitchen garden patch to save water, I believe that the water from the
bathtub and the vanity basin does not constitute a health hazard, when it is
used to water the ground and keep it moist, I have no problem to divert this
water myself, as I am a good handyman and know how to do these things; once I
have done that, every time we use the bathroom to have a shower etc. a small
part of the kitchen garden in being watered.
There are other
things that I can do. I know that once the broad beans have been picked up, I
am going to bury the stalks under to ground, because they are good for the
soil, I am also going to collect all the grass clipping from the yard, and any
other vegetable matter that can improve the soil, I can use fertilizer and
other things, these are the things that I believe can be done, if I want to
have a kitchen garden.
--------------------------------
Trying to improve the soil.
What I have done
lately is this, I have compost that I have made from lawn mowing, that I placed
in a large container and leaves that I have collected from my lawn and other
vegetable matter, now, I have put this compost in large buckets to be used in
my kitchen garden thus, I pick up one of the buckets full of compost, the
compost in the bucket is not very compact, so, I fill it up with water, the
water in the bucket absorbs the compost nutrients and becomes like strong tea,
with this water, I water the plants in the garden and it seems to work well, it
is like when you water your plants with a soluble plant fertilizer.
Having tried this
for a short while, I can add here, that my idea of using the waste water to
water the garden is working well, but because we had heavy rain that lasted for
three days in a row, it did not make a lot of difference, but it is a good way
to water the garden in times of draught.
Here I need to add
another observation, it is March 2016, this summer it has been hotter than
usual, the temperature has been averaging 32-33 centigrade for several weeks, I
believe that it is hotter than in the past, I have not been able to grow much
in my kitchen garden, the only thing that we can grow are snake beans, so, I am
waiting now for the temperature to go down, so, I can plant for the cooler
season, which in Brisbane is a short season and not cold at all, so, I need to
plant my plants, as soon as is becomes cool, and hope they grow well, before it
becomes hot again.
So far from my
observations, I believe that it is hard to grow vegetables in Brisbane, except
in wintertime, but winter here is short. Anyhow, I believe that this article is
becoming too long, so, I better stop.
See you soon in
another article, that I am going to call,
To see the original article with several photos click on this link, .Gardening in Brisbane.
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