Visit Conningham Loes 2024

Despite weeks of stormy weather, Max and Gaye waved their magic weather wand, and we relished the first food garden visit of the season under clear skies and sunshine at Conningham.

And what a delight to join nonagenarian Loes, in her lovely north-facing garden – flowers, fruit trees, native plants, a vegie patch and chook run combining with a beautiful view out over North West Bay.

Loes (in light-blue jumper in the photo below) generously shared her lived experience in essential need to adapt as we age. She provided both inspiration and food for thought about practical garden design to support gardening at all stages of life and the importance of maintaining connections with nature.

In addition to engaging and accepting extra assistance with some of the heavier tasks, Loes has actively redesigned her garden to reduce maintenance and improve accessibility. 

Raised garden beds with built-in seating around the rim provide a solid base off which to tend the vegie garden. She’s also had an additional bench seat installed at the top of the vegie patch, so she can rest and enjoy the fruits of her labour.

 

The netted vegie garden contains a number of fruit trees, including an espaliered Victoria Plum, a young quince tree and a series of currant plants.

 

Lower maintenance native plants across the bottom half of the block are multi-purpose – providing an important windbreak for the vegie garden and critical biodiversity – attracting local birds to keep the fruit trees free of pests. 

A top tip from Loes ... work with the weather and build the garden to suit!

Other fruit trees are dotted around the yard, protected by a range of different structures. After a particularly bad pademelon attack on her cumquat tree, that’s now been relocated to the safety of a pot on the patio where it's guarded by Loes’s loyal Boxer dog!

This netting structure against a paling fence, only needs to be lowered for a brief time each year when the apple and pear trees are bearing fruit. The rest of the time, the net is neatly tucked away allowing Loes to easily access and utilise the area beneath to grow asparagus.

A three-bay compost bin system provides the nutrients for the garden, along with an annual fertiliser treatment for the native plants and rhododendrons.

Loes maintains a lovely flock of Dutch Welsummer hens, along with a black Barnevelder/Maran-cross ring-in! They enjoy an outdoor run with plenty of tree canopy for protection, and a section of the garage for their permanent shelter. 

Other great finds in Loes’s garden included this solar-food drying structure ...and a nifty looking door lock on the netted garden.

... and a nifty looking door lock on the netted garden.

 

And lastly, these little beauties were sunning themselves in the flower garden. Loes informed us they are the native tulip variety from which cultivated tulips have been developed … what a find!

 

Everyone enjoyed catching up after the long winter break, with plenty of delights on offer on the morning tea and produce tables – raspberry canes, tomato seedlings, herbs, yakon plants, and lemons, just to name a few.

Thank you, Loes, for a perfect Sunday morning of sound advice and garden wonder!