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Verge Garden

Verge Garden

For attractive verge gardens that have been designed with the environment in mind.

Voting is open from 10 to 27 November 2022.

View all the submissions below and cast your vote here.

Verge Garden Entry #1 Watch Us Grow

My vision is to show people that it is possible to rehabilitate and "rewild" a piece of empty ground, to create something beautiful and fertile, bringing nature into the local environment. All of the plants were propagated for free from seeds and cuttings from my garden and from friends' gardens. They were chosen for their drought tolerance, their ability to withstand the hot Western sun and summer winds, as well as their fragrance and colour. I want to show people what is possible with a little effort and a dream. I want them to stop and appreciate nature as they walk through the suburb. Before we started, our verge was a dry, barren, empty wasteland... The clay soil was as hard as rock. The rain couldn't penetrate, and nothing would grow there, not even a weed. Facing West, the summer heat reflected off the ground, heating the surrounding air. With some serious digging, the incorporation of gypsum, mulching with leaves collected from the gutters, and the penetration of roots through planting we have been able to transform the soil! Now it is full of earthworms! And the rain stays in the verge garden without run-off. The birds visit to find insects to eat. The bees and butterflies come for food. Passing people and pets enjoy the shade and cooling effect of the plants that we have planted. Our little verge garden is an oasis. Please come and visit! You can transform your verge too!

Verge Garden Entry #2 Ruth Court

My verge garden is an eclectic mix of succulents and flowering perennials. The plants, I have collected over the past ten years. They are all heat and drought tolerant and provide year-round interest with their variations in colour and form. I aim to make people look twice at the garden. I love it when non gardeners take interest in something that has caught their eye. Many people have never seen such a range of plants that I grow, and this I hope is a source of inspiration for others. I love original garden schemes, not cookie cutter ones with the same handful of commonly available species. The sheer diversity in the verge provides a smorgasbord of habitat and feeding opportunities for birds and insects. Birds enjoy the Aloe flowers, hoverflies love the euphorbias and bees, and butterflies often visit the always flowering limonium.

Verge Garden #3 Exmoor Avenue

Our verge garden started a while back. We recently added some wine barrels with different plants throughout the year, as well as some plants that we have collected from other grow free carts or buying from Marketplace on Facebook. Our new additions are the Giant Russian Sunflowers as well as some daisy plants to add a bit of colour some of the plants self-seed from year to year like the stocks that have come through this year, we also have a firecracker creeper that looks amazing in summer and the wild white daisy that comes up is looking great. Our aim is to bring a bit of colour to the area and something nice to view while out walking as well as sharing produce on our grow free cart we also have a free book library so people stop to get a book or drop one in or collect seeds from the grow free cart its lovely to see the children come by and see what's in the garden and chose to pick a flower or a book or plants. The birds and bees and butterflies have been seen enjoying the garden keeping the soil healthy for the plants, it stops the rain just being washed away into the drains as it soaks into the ground for the plants.

Verge Garden #4 Butterfly Garden

My garden was sparked by a long lived interest in butterflies and specifically our local Adelaide species. I approached the Marion Council a few years ago for permission to plant on my verge and asked for a few Australian natives to start me off. Since then my love for the garden has grown and I have researched native butterflies to my area planting specifically for them to have their host plants to complete their life cycle. I have developed a diverse habitat and valuable nectar source for butterflies, bees and animals alike. Some of my plantings include Running Postman, Goodenia, Kangaroo Grass, Lonandra and Native Sorrel. I aim to bring the butterflies back to our local area. I hope my garden can provide food sources and a butterfly corridor. I have partaken in some seminars provided by Australian Association for Environmental Educational and Bring Back Butterflies Adelaide to support my ideas and choice of plantings. I have added signs to help educate the community on the importance of our butterflies and their habitats.