Visit Jenny P 20 January 2019

Reaching Jenny's garden at West Hobart on Sunday 20 January was forecasted to be a challenge for Eastern Shore members of our group because it was the weekend when the Remembrance Bridge was going to be put in place at the Cenotaph.  

I am glad I did not cancel the visit, because virtually everyone was able to arrive on time, the weather was great, and Jenny's garden put on a great show of flowers for the day.

Jenny and her husband have lived here for just two years.  The garden, when they arrived was a complete mess, and the first half year was spent just clearing everything out.  

Now it is a delightful mix of flowers, fruit, pathways, unexpected nooks and crannies, garden sculptures, veggies, steps, berries, espaliered trees, and very functional but also ornamental stone walls. It is unbelievable what Jenny and her husband achieved in just a short period!  

As soon as people arrived the discussion started.  Jenny (in black and white dress) would have realised that people really liked what they saw, because enthusiasm was in the air.

Someone commented that this garden has a very relaxed feel in spite of the fact that it has such a slope. Once you are out there, you want to stay there.

At first, when you arrive, it does not seem to be big, but that is because of the slope.  Once you walk up via the many paths, you realise how much space there is, and how it is all used very effectively, but in a very visually-pleasing way.

Here we are at one of the higher levels of the garden and can look all the way over the river and see the Eastern Shore.

Someone commented that a water tank at the top of the garden could be the start of a watering system that would make watering by hand a thing of the past.

I likes Jenny's use of concrete-reinforcement-mesh arches.  Here one is used to contain a berry bush into a thin high shape and provide support for nets.

At one of the higher levels there is a long row of berries and espaliered fruit trees draped on a wire fence that once again supports nets. 

The photo on the left shows a mesh arch with a male and female kiwi fruit at the ends.  In front of it a few pineapple guave bushes (see photo on the right).  Jenny took the bottom out of the pots and planted them like that to give them good drainage.  The plants look happy.

There was so much to see everywhere.  Here an egg plant (aubergine) is flowering in a pot.

A young apple tree producing nice apples, grapes going well (this bush was one of the few things that were already in the garden when Jenny arrived) and artichokes.  There were things to see everywhere,  and all interplanted with flowers, making this a very attractive garden.

The day before one of Jenny's friends had pulled some young fruit trees out of their garden, saying they would go to the tip.  Jenny decided to take them. Not having had the time to plant them yet, they were sitting in a bucket of water, which is okay if it is only for a few days. Fruit tree expert Max K looked at them. His verdict was that knots (where the graft was applied - see photo on the right) sometimes happen after the grafting process, and there is nothing wrong with that, but in this case branches are coming out of that knot, and they could be either root stock or top stock, you wouldn't know.  You could be wasting your time if you planted these trees, as root stock would never produce good fruit.

Full marks, Jenny, for what you have created here, and many thanks for showing it to us!

Thank you, all those who came, for ignoring the bridge-related traffic woes, for all the great discussion, for your contributions to morning-tea and produce table, and for making this yet another successful food garden visit.