British Expat Forum

When I first left England my only experience of gardening and growing things entailed much usage of cold frames, greenhouses and 'pots of stuff' being coaxed along on window sills and in airing cupboards.

Anything growing in the garden usually had its 'season' and once finished would normally be discarded or 'lifted and stored' until it was time for planting out once again.

Gardening in a warm or hot climate is a whole new learning experience for the British gardener!

One of the very first things I very quickly learned about in Oz, was not to let the garden get overgrown, especially if you live, as I do, in a semi-rural area.

The first time I did have to get stuck into the 'undergrowth' that had sprung up in abundance, after a particularly warm and wet period had
coincided with a particularly busy time at work - I was more than aware that here was an ideal environment for snakes to enjoy!!
(although I am told that if you make plenty of noise they will just slither away - I am yet to verify that theory.......not having encountered one yet !!).

But, snakes aside......the joys of gardening in a warm climate far outnumber the drawbacks!

The variety of things that will grow in these conditions is as large as your imagination.
When we first moved into our house the garden was already established (the previous owners having lived in it for the best part of 20 years) and it held many lovely surprises.

Even though the house is perched high up on a hill overlooking the Southern ocean and comes with its own Force 10 gales at times (roof tiles have been known to abscond!!)......we still manage to keep a beautiful display of camelias, hydrangeas, roses and a beautiful Bird of Paradise plant in the front garden. This being achieved by a very thorough planting of bottlebrush bushes that act as a wonderful windshield for these less hardy of plants.

The back garden covers quite a large area and we have some wonderful old fruit trees in this part of the garden....apricot, peach, pear, apple nectarine, passionfruit, cumquat and plum.

There is normally a mad scramble as to who gets to eat the fruit......us, the possums (we have both ringtail and brushtail varieties) or the birds!!.
This year I decided to set up a few more bird feeder tables in the hope that they would enjoy the seed and we could enjoy the fruit........alas to no avail!!
A flock of Crimson Rosella parrots dropped in one evening to feast on the bird tables and followed up their meal of seed with a fresh apricot and plum dessert!!

Whereas in Britain it is all a race against time to get things sown and grown in the planting season, here in Australia things can continue growing the whole year round.
And once plants are finished, its a personal choice of whether to 'lift and store' them or just leave them in the ground.
I tend to leave dahlia's, crysanthemeums, gladioli, fuschias etc in the ground for the winter....although that's probably more on account of laziness than for any other good reason!.

Anything that is of a more delicate nature (ferns, palms, african violets, cyclamen) we tend to grow in 'shadehouses', which are very much like the British 'greenhouse' but instead of the glass panes, ours consists of a shadecloth material which keeps out the heat of the sun and protects the shade loving plants from getting burnt.
I also tend to throw some shadecloth material over the hydrangeas when the temperature gets over 25C as they do wilt very quickly in the hot sun.

But as far as the vegetable garden is concerned........things grow wonderfully well with all that sunshine and provided you keep everything well watered first thing in the morning and last thing at night you can have home grown vege nearly all year round.
We have a large rain water tank in the garden and rain is collected through the winter months and used for the whole of the summers watering.

Our vege plot produces tomato, lettuce, capsicum, cucumber (under shade) beans, broad beans, spinach, onions, parsley and corgettes.

Yes the joys of gardening in Oz are bountiful..........and we don't get moles digging up the lawn either!!

You sound very lucky. Here in Canada we have hot dry summers and cold winters with lots of snow. I suppose I should welcome the challenge, but I sure would like the opportunity of a longer growing season.

Very interesting story. I always wonder how people do things in other parts of the world.

Must be a very big tank. Do you use your grey water (shower, washing machine, etc.,) on the garden in the dry season?

Here on Canada's West coast especially on Vancouver Island, we have a mild winter. Snow is very rare. I have palm trees in my garden and a Bajoo banana tree. We also grow peaches, apricots and grapes.

In answer to your question Ruggie-

Our outside rain water tank holds approx 4000 gallons. We live in an area that gets quite a lot of rain between the months of May and November and most years that is sufficient to completely fill the tank to its capacity.

There is a small electrical pressure pump which is connected to the rain water tank so that we are able to connect a hosepipe and water the garden by rainwater from the hose. (a very nifty idea!!)

Here in South Australia we have very little rain from December to the following April, but we find that with conservative use we are able to rely completely on the rain water tank for garden watering without resorting to using grey water.....although I have been known to throw the odd bowl of washing up water over the roses. to kill the aphids!!!!

Hi quine


I am really surprised to hear of bananas growing in Canada. Is it the type of banana that are edible? I always though bananas needed a tropical climate to grow
You learn something new everyday!!

Me too. I just can't imagine Canada with palm trees, and certainly not banana trees. You live 'n' learn, eh?

SSue 8)

If that surprises you, Sue, look at what can be grown in Scotland!

http://www.britishexpat.com/garden/gd04.htm

Thanks Kay, I enjoyed the read.

It reminded me of the day we were guests of the Mayor of the Blue Mountains in NSW. We left home on a cool winters day, and climbed (by car) up into the mountains, and with each kilometre it got colder, and made us shiver more. We had lunch outside, and were invited to admire all the 'rhodys' in full bloom. They were spectacular, but by this time it was actually snowing, (first time I'd encountered snow, since living in Aus, and it wasn't a pleasant experience!). We hadn't 'rugged up', and when we finally got home, we had to thaw out in front of our log fire, with the help of a couple of Chivas Regals, among other things but in all, it was a memorable day.

SSue 8)

The palm trees are what are called hardy palms and recently the city decided to put some on the boulevards. They are completely maintenace free. Even the deer don't touch them. I did see one female take a nosh at one of mine but found it too stringy and spat it out!! The banana doesn't bear fruit There is however one which can be grown here which bears fruit but it has to be green-housed in the winter. The leaves on the Bajoo just kinda grow brownish and will die back each year only to sprout again in the Spring. By the way my snowdrops are showing white.
As Kay says, look what grows on the west coast of Scotland. I'm thinking particularly of Inverewe gardens. That is a direct result of the warm Gulf Stream. Here on Southern Vancouver Island, we have what is loosely termed the Pineapple Express which brings warm moist air across the Pacific from Hawaii. By the same token. if I want to go skiing, a 2 hour drive upisland takes me to Mount Washinton ski resort.