It takes time
We have come to expect things to happen instantly, even things that should normally take time. Gardens are no different. We can now create instant gardens. We see them being made on various TV shows and then want to make them ourselves. It just takes a little time - and a lot of money! Lawns are instant turf ($9-$13 per square metre), trees are advanced ($1,000-$3,000+) and may require an excavator ($420 plus driver) to plant them. The rest is filled-in with advanced potted plants ($13-$40)….lots of them. It all adds up. I suppose if you can afford it is not a bad way to create a garden, but for the rest of us it is not financially possible. We have to take the long road with our gardens, trying to strike a balance between what we can afford and having a garden that looks good. So here are some ways to achieve a good ‘not-so-instant’ garden.
Divide and conquer. Some plants grow in clumps and can be divided. If you can get them from another part of the garden or from a friend’s garden, they are a good way to get reasonably well-established plants for nothing. But beware, some plants such as acanthus look good, grow quickly but are impossible to get rid of. Others are actually classed as weed species. Make sure you know what you are getting. Other plants, particularly succulents, are easily grown from cuttings simply shoved in the ground. Again, do a little research on what you are planting.
Trees. You may like to plant one or two 2m or so high trees as features. Dig a big hole. At this height trees usually will grow quickly and in just a few years will be as big as those expensive established TV trees. Alternatively, you can buy a quick-growing tree. Again, you need to know what you are planting; you don’t want to plant a tree that will grow to be 20m tall. Most acacias grow quickly without getting too tall, but the down-side is that they will only last for 10-15 years.
Lawns. Regular readers will know I’m not a fan of lawns. They require a lot of watering, mowing and other maintenance. If I had a choice between spending Sunday mornings pushing a mower around in ever decreasing circles or sitting in the garden with a good book and a pot of tea, I would choose the latter any day. If you want an open area in your garden, why not just plant it out with ground covers or even native grasses? There are ground-hugging succulents that easily grow from cuttings that are very effective.
A good strategy is to put in cheap, quick growing plants and then gradually replace them with more permanent things. It means that you get a garden of sorts in a year or so and then over the next few years it evolves into something more permanent. It means you will buy your plants over a longer period, making the cost manageable and keeps you involved in your garden, something you rarely get in instant gardens which are usually ‘set and forget’.
While none of these options will give you an instant garden, they will give you a garden in just a few years that you can enjoy at a fraction of the cost. Just be patient. Remember: gardens are not made, they are grown.
The Zen Gardener
