Luxury custom homes are a beautiful way to live and a beautiful sight to behold, but a designer home without a flourishing garden? That’s like having popcorn with no salt: you just shouldn’t do it.
With lockdown and social distancing in full swing we’ve never been spending more time at home. While there’s an art to indoor living, if you’re located in the south east of Queensland you’re likely a lover of the great outdoors, so there’s every chance you’re feeling very deprived of your beloved nature. It’s time to get creative!
Einstein famously said:
In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.
Sure, this pandemic is not what we were hoping for in 2020, but – like any home builder knows about the building process – it’s not if but when something goes wrong, and it’s how you respond to what happens that matters more than what happens.
So, (drumroll please) in response to your lack of outdoor adventures, this Autumn, it’s time to finally get that garden flourishing! Add the bedazzle factor to your custom house and get that nature time you’re craving.
Here are a couple of ideas to get your imagination and inspiration flowing.
Your Veggie Garden
If you’ve ever fantasized about having your own veggie garden – a place to pick fresh lettuce and tomatoes for your nightly salad – then you’re in luck. Autumn is actually the perfect time to start planting seeds and seedlings for your veggies.
Think hearty vegetables: tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants, beetroot and beans. Find a section that gets about 5 hours of direct sunlight a day if you can. Sunshine is a precious commodity as winter approaches, and you want to get the most of the last warmth of dying summer to give your seeds and seedlings the best start possible.
About a week before you plant, prepare your soil. This means turning it over and adding some good hearty compost or manure. Keep it well watered and maybe even mulch the surfaces to keep all the good nutrients of the soil in the soil.
Once you’ve planted whatever you’ve decided to plant, make sure you water every day (this is made much easier considering you’ll be home every day). Just add your watering time into your daily schedule/routine. Your veggies will thank you and reward you in return.
Gardening at its simplest is this: soil, sun and water. The final ingredient is patience. But, once you see your first little veggie sprout, your patience will be well rewarded with a real spark of joy!
Annuals and Perennials
Annual flowers are flowers that grow from seed to flower and then need to be replanted the next year.
Why bother? You might ask.
Well, one answer is because often annuals are a cacophony of colour. While veggies are a much more practical and usable type of gardening, annuals have no purpose other than to be beautiful. And in this time, beauty may be just what we need.
Perennials are flowers that bloom and die but don’t need to be re-planted. While these are amazing to watch bloom each year, they don’t typically get the same vivaciousness of annuals.
Either way, adding flowers to your garden will get your hands dirty each day, and will make your dream home even dreamier. Like veggies, think: soil, sun, water and patience!
Herbs
One of the easiest ways to grow your gardening confidence is to start with some herbs. You can try from seed, but the easiest way is to buy some seedlings from a local nursery. Plant them in a pot that receives sunlight indoors, or dedicate a section of an outdoor garden.
For autumn in Brisbane and surrounding areas, try dill, mint and thyme. While these grow all year round, they seem to thrive in autumn. There’s nothing like adding some fresh herbs plucked straight from your own garden to enhance a meal and connect you to the mind blowing process of nature at the same time.
This is also the time to plant some garlic! Bury some bulbs deep in the ground and by springtime you might just have enough garlic for the whole of summer!
We suggest finding a local nursery to get more complete knowledge and specifics on how to get into gardening. But know this, if you can find a way to get into gardening, not only will you be doing favours to your well-being, you’ll be doing favours to your home too!