Am I meaning to be sensationalist with the title of this piece? Yeah probably. Do I apologise to anyone upset by my use of the word cancer? Yes absolutely. But seriously, coloured mulch available in 10 colours, am I the only one who has a problem with this? From where I sit the use of it is a kin to a cancer slowly spreading through garden beds across this nation. It creeps across the ground poisoning the soil and deadening the imagination of the user. Once infected the users use of plants becomes spasmodic and the area slowly becomes sanitized and dull.
What ever happened to colour anyway? I'm referring to annual bedding plants and colourful perennial border displays. These once common plant outs offered pretty much any colour combination you could want. I know they still exist here an there but they seem to have been removed from the colour pallet of the landscape designers, architects and home gardeners of today. Will we ever again see annual beds of seasonal colour planted in our parks and gardens? Will long lasting coloured mulch (now available with even longer lasting colourfastness) be the norm? From my point of view I'd rather be buried six feet beneath it rather than looking at it from above!
I understand drought had a big impact on this form of gardening and in particular the decision makers who make the call to plant in public spaces. Public open space is one thing and for the same reasons I assume private gardens have suffered the same fate. Maybe its just a trend that we are going through, perhaps not dissimilar to the flax epidemic of recent times or box hedges and iceberg roses back in the early 90's. I'm hoping its just another cycle but I have a bad feeling about this one. I fear its become too easy and too cost effective to now move away from the bare spaces of bland coloured mulch we have today. How do you influence and set trends in horticulture? I wish I knew the answer to that, what I do know is that the brilliance of flower and foliage colour should never be replaced by the black and white decisions of bean counters in positions of power.
Sunday 8 May 2011
Monday 2 May 2011
My local
Petersen park or Petersen reserve Highett is my local park. Located directly across the road from my place, I shouldn't talk it down, living so close to a park or any open space is a luxury in any ones terms. In a recent blog I wrote about my local in quite a derogatory way and now with hindsight I'm feeling a little guilty, after all its not the parks fault.
Its a pretty basic suburban park, two playing fields one for footy one for football. Whats the difference between footy and football you ask well I shouldn't have to explain and its probably unaustralian that you asked anyway!
Firstly lets talk about facilities and infrastructure, we do have a very new and quite ostentatious jungle jim/play ground compared to some I have seen, the local kids and mums seem quite content. The footy/cricket club has a recently re surfaced ground, flat and well drained, club rooms are a bit rough but serviceable so they seem happy with the status quo also. The resident soccer club cries foul and demands equal rights the same as the footy club but I think ultimately they accept their place in the park pecking order. The latest installation was a brand new automatic public toilet, self cleaning, self closing nearly self aware that knows its out of order. Unfortunately for the toilet the local vandals targeted it like the little fat kids they are usually attracted to, its a shame really it promised so much.
Now you have been introduced to the hardware let's talk about the green life. The trees and shrubs around the park are an eclectic mix of native (when I say native that typically means Sth African, New Zealand and Australian) and European, no real theme but some real gems here and there. Dotted amongst the bland old meat and potatoes park classics are some quite unusual botanical treats. Cape chestnuts, waterhousias, lilly of the valley trees and the one lone rupestris growing in complete anonymity. I think in the past someone, somewhere secretly penciled in some trees and shrubs not typically considered park fare, maybe as a private joke to see if anyone actually noticed. Also recently I noticed a single clump of dieties robinsoniana which is a native of Lord Howe island and once thought to be quite rare. ( There is only half a clump left now)
Anyway that's a little bit about my local, its serviceable and easy to maintain, it caters for all groups and interested parties, could it be better, I'm sure it could but at the end of the day it is an open space that performs a role for this community, my community.
Firstly lets talk about facilities and infrastructure, we do have a very new and quite ostentatious jungle jim/play ground compared to some I have seen, the local kids and mums seem quite content. The footy/cricket club has a recently re surfaced ground, flat and well drained, club rooms are a bit rough but serviceable so they seem happy with the status quo also. The resident soccer club cries foul and demands equal rights the same as the footy club but I think ultimately they accept their place in the park pecking order. The latest installation was a brand new automatic public toilet, self cleaning, self closing nearly self aware that knows its out of order. Unfortunately for the toilet the local vandals targeted it like the little fat kids they are usually attracted to, its a shame really it promised so much.
Now you have been introduced to the hardware let's talk about the green life. The trees and shrubs around the park are an eclectic mix of native (when I say native that typically means Sth African, New Zealand and Australian) and European, no real theme but some real gems here and there. Dotted amongst the bland old meat and potatoes park classics are some quite unusual botanical treats. Cape chestnuts, waterhousias, lilly of the valley trees and the one lone rupestris growing in complete anonymity. I think in the past someone, somewhere secretly penciled in some trees and shrubs not typically considered park fare, maybe as a private joke to see if anyone actually noticed. Also recently I noticed a single clump of dieties robinsoniana which is a native of Lord Howe island and once thought to be quite rare. ( There is only half a clump left now)
Anyway that's a little bit about my local, its serviceable and easy to maintain, it caters for all groups and interested parties, could it be better, I'm sure it could but at the end of the day it is an open space that performs a role for this community, my community.
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