Canberrans with drought-ravaged lawns can learn a few tips this weekend from an ACT sustainable gardening guru who has reduced his use of potable water by 95 per cent.
The guru in question is Ian Lawrence, a research fellow at the University of Canberra’s eWater Cooperative Research Centre. His garden, featured on ABC Television’s Gardening Australia, is open to the public this weekend as part of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme.
He developed his garden using scientific principles which helped profoundly cut his potable water consumption as compared to a decade ago when he had a water-guzzling cottage garden.
Nine years ago, the need to replace the fences around the block provided an opportunity to turn his garden into a more water-wise haven.
According to Mr Lawrence, his principles are easy enough to adopt. He just chooses plants that don’t need much water, waters efficiently through a dripper system, retains rain water on the 850sqm block using swales, improves infiltration of water to the soil, and uses grey water.
In the garden, a big pond sitting at the lowest point collects water run-off through the swales. The suburban wetland attracts plenty of frogs, dragonflies and damselflies along with birds.
The garden features 100-year-old yellow box and red gum trees in the front.
There are also acacias, casuarinas, grevilleas and a variety of grasses.
More formally planted westringias, croweas and grevilleas line the driveway and hardy groundcovers have replaced the lawns and are green all year.
Mr Lawrence has had to work harder on the soil ”even the drought-resistant plants are struggling” in the hottest and driest months.
The use of more organic material has helped build up the soil’s water-holding capacity.
He hoped the public would see his garden as an example of what could be achieved sustainably in a Canberra backyard. It would in theory be possible to grow the garden with absolutely no potable water if not for the prolonged dry spells of the latest drought.
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