To mow or to grow
THERE IS AN EMERGING TREND that is gaining traction when it comes to the verge. As convention would have it, the default has been to plant it out with couch or kikuyu or buffalo grass. While this remains the predominant practice for many households, there is a growing realisation that what was normally the accepted way of planting out the verge, perhaps other ways could be just as good – just as attractive, just as socially accepted. Enter a couple of creative folks who have given the subject considerable thought.
In: Against the lawn-industrial complex (Blueprint for Living on ABC RN, 6 April 2024) Andy Mason, a bush regenerator, gardener, community activist, and geographer who also reads Marx, argues in favour of the re-invention of the suburban backyard as a site of sustainable production and ecological regeneration as well as a space for community building. Listen here.
In: Redesigning the nature strip, former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Tim Entwisle explains the possibility for the nature strip beyond alienation and agapanthus. It is a repudiation of uniformity and an embracing of community. Listen here.
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Give me a verge garden among the gum trees, please
Reduce mowing and create valuable habitat in your garden for insects, frogs, lizards and birds. This is the reasoning behind transforming lawns into veritable.
THE MORE WE LEARN about how unhelpful the monoculture of the single species lawn, based as it is, on centuries old Victorian concepts, the more we come to realise how this is yet one more action against nature that needs to change. As an act of positivity and as part of creating constructive dialogue, the Transform Your Lawn workshop conducted by the Valentine Sustainable Neighbourhood Group on Sunday 28 April, was a great success.
Staged onsite at two locations, and led by Gayle Russell, this event provided opportunities to experience first hand how verge gardens can be practical and beautiful additions to our urban communities. But more than that, they are providing small ecological niches where native plants can thrive and increase the diversity of habitat for small animals.
…. First appeared in MMM Issue #44, June-July 2024