Visit Bellerive Vivien and Mark 2021

 Visit Bellerive Vivien and Mark 24 October 2021

Vivien and Marks garden in Bellerive is an unusual food garden because it combines ornamentals and edible plants everywhere. The result is a feast for the eye, and if you look carefully there is plenty of food to find as well.

The weather did initially not play the game on Sunday 24 October, when we met at Vivien and Mark's place in Bellerive, but that did not deter any of us and we gathered happily on the verandah. Here is Vivien telling us all about how their lovely garden came about.

Vivien explained they wanted a formal garden and she spent quite a bit of time designing the configuration of the raised beds and the paths and how the garden connects to the wider environment. The wide block edges separating beds and paths look great and they also have the advantage that you can sit on them while weeding or planting.

Rather than having dedicated vegetable beds, Vivien mixes her ornamentals with food plants. She also picks food plants that are ornamental, making for a very colourful ensemble. Not only does it look good, 'hiding' the edibles among the ornamental plants makes it more difficult for diseases and pests to take hold.

crabapple and iris with roses in the background

oregano and thyme form a complement to the ornamentals here.

An apple blending into the surrounding plantings

Peach coloured iris and espaliered grape vines along the driveway fence.

chillis and columbines (Aquilegia)

At the back of the house there are some larger beds with mainly edibles.

Potatoes, chilean guavas and a very happy lemon tree

One area is fenced off against marauding wildlife: the blueberries and raspberries

This bed currently holds potatoes, snowpeas, broadbeans and baby silverbeet as well as dahlias and other ornamentals.

We all enjoyed roaming through this colourful garden and discovering the edibles. Vivien counted them the other day: there are 100 different edibles growing all over the garden!

The strawberries are starting to flower. And this little Choko will soon cover the fence.

The produce table and the seed box contained all kinds of goodies and were quickly emptied! As was the morning tea table. Thanks to everyone who brought something to share.

A big thank you to Vivien and Mark for inviting us to their beautiful garden and delighting us with a feast for the eyes on a somewhat chilly spring day.