Before the kerb and gutter
ALONG WITH HER OWN front and backyard, Elizabeth Walton has claimed the entire verge in front of the house where she lives in with her partner Robbie and their two children. She spoke with Steve Payne, editor of ABC Organic Gardening magazine (Issue 148, 2024) about how she has effectively created a public garden – the verge being public land in front of each of our properties where the footpath provides pedestrian access along streets and roads as connections across the suburbs and villages where we live.
She wrote numerous times to her local council about planting it out, but the wait for council help was four or more years! So Elizabeth did the research, checked on any services underground, and got planting.
Although she was initially shy about gardening on the street, she’s now regularly seen in the morning in her pyjamas with a coffee and hose.
“It is about 10 degrees cooler now in front of our house and a haven for those who walk by,” Elizabeth says. “People love the flowers so much. I planted a row of sunflowers out there one year. It was adored by the kids who walked past on their way to the nearly primary school.”
Among the plantings are grevilleas, wattle, lillypillies, banksia, plumeria, ornamental pear, sedges, kangaroo paw and then a few patches of annual flowers. “I wanted to add as many layers of greenery between our house and the road to cut out noise, heat, pollution, and to add privacy, clean air, birds and beauty.”
… From MMM Issue #46, Oct-Nov. 2024