Bellgirl

Three years ago we bought a house on a small block with only dust, weeds and pebbles. Now we have a ‘doing’ garden designed to be enjoyed by doing things in it.

Our garden is ‘highly designed’ to make the most of the space. It incorporates permaculture design principles to make the most of natural light and shade to warm and cool the house. We garden organically, and have planted a xeriscape to use little water in addition to natural rainfall. We love Australian native plants and have chosen many indigenous plants and others that are suited to our climate. We have a vegie patch for cooking or eating straight off the plant. We compost and re-use, and collect fallen leaves to mulch with and ‘found objects’ for decoration.

The garden is home to a small brown dog and a baby boy and also two adults, and it is designed with everyone’s enjoyment in mind. There are open playing spaces, shubby areas for weaving through the bushes, places to dig and hide bones, pathways to run or ride a tricycle. There are places to sit quietly and contemplate, to enjoy family meals in the cooling evening breeze, or big dinner parties in the warming winter sun.