On the verge of something wonderful

My verge garden journey

My sustainability journey brought me back to verge gardens when I attended my first Australian Conservation Foundation Brisbane Northside event and met Gayle from The Shady Lanes Project who is passionate about verge gardens.

Before that, I honestly thought of them as just a way for people to feel less guilty about not being sustainable enough and figured any veggies I planted would be pilfered. But Gayle helped me to see things differently.  She encouraged me to think of verge gardens as native plant corridors to boost biodiversity. This sounded like a win-win for the environment and the neighbourhood. So, I decided to give it a go. Afterall, it seemed like another simple, low-risk environmental action I could take to make a positive impact.

When I visited Gayle’s native verge garden at Bridgman Downs, I was delighted by the trove of native pants with colourful flowers.  But the cherry on top was the Jewel Beetle I spotted (pictured). Now I was motivated and ready to start planning my own verge garden.

I began by researching which plants would be most suitable, taking in to account local council rules and what plants would work best in my location. The Kumbartcho Sanctuary Community Nursery was a goldmine for plants and advice.  I found the staff very helpful, and their website was user-friendly too. Shopping there felt good since it ticked the box on several Sustainable Development Goals, by fostering sustainable communities and businesses.

My biggest concern was how my neighbours, and our local “postie” (Australia Post) would react. Luckily, we have very approachable neighbours who were fine about what I proposed when I talked to them.  And the postie? He was pleasantly surprised I even asked before making any changes – apparently that doesn’t happen very often.  He also had no concerns as I was leaving a clear path for him to ride through.

Next the ‘real’ work began. I double-checked the council guidelines for verge gardens and made sure the local utilities knew I would be digging in the verge. Of course, I didn’t want to damage any vital infrastructure or endanger myself. I discovered I would be fine if I stuck to hand tools and kept the digging shallow (around 20cm for tube stock).

Following Gayle’s advice, I started small, clearing a few patches of grass to plant the first natives. I dug up all the topsoil and sifted out the grass roots.  This way, I avoided an ongoing battle with regenerating grass. As I expanded the garden, to join up the initial patches, I found myself wanting to delineate the grass area as separate from the verge garden so it would be easier to mow.  I used mulch from my compost heap to cover the cleared areas.

Our grassed footpath is on a curve with a streetlight which unfortunately means we won’t be getting a street tree.  The lack of a concrete pathway means there were no natural boundaries for the garden other than the mowing strips of the garden beds along the property boundary, the driveways, and the street gutter. Under the council rules I had to leave an area at least 1.2 metres across for pedestrian access. I’ve left more than this, so there is plenty of space for walking and for the postie to ride through, not to mention room for the local children to play. We don’t get much foot traffic since most people tend to walk on the roads around here.

One thing I didn’t anticipate was how the new verge garden would affect how I trim my Lilly Pilly and Grevilia hedges – it’ll be trickier to get the ladder in the right spot now! But on the flip side, the native violet, Viola Hederacae and Dichondra Repens groundcover must love the moist conditions and mulch.  They have started to creep onto the verge, creating a beautiful low-maintenance carpet over the verge garden that is now spreading across the lawn. If this keeps up, I might not even need to mow anymore. I mean, who doesn’t love a lush, ground cover that looks after itself and produces small pretty flowers periodically? One day I am hoping to see a Jewel Beetle like the one I spotted in Gayle’s verge garden in my verge garden.  Til then I am enjoying the flowers.