Ipswich in Spring 2019

GARDENING WITH JAMES HILYARD: SELECTING THE RIGHT PLANTS FOR YOUR YARD

James Hilyard is Ipswich City Council’s Infrastructure and Environment Department Principal Officer (Parks and Sport). James is a horticulturalist, arborist and holds a masters degree in sustainability. We all want to know how to have a beautiful garden that doesn’t need constant watering. As much as we love our gardens, most people are time poor and need their garden to be low maintenance.

That is why I am a big fan of Xeriscape gardening.

Xeriscape gardening is a style of gardening that requires little or no additional water to be added to the landscape. The Ipswich City Council free plant

program has a great selection of drought tolerant native plants that will thrive in your garden with limited watering.

There are seven principles to Xeriscape gardening: 1 Plan and design – Good garden design will take advantage of site conditions like aspect and prevailing winds, existing trees and shrubs. 2 Soil amendment – Improving your soil by adding composted organic matter and amendments will both increase the water holding capacity of your soil and promote healthy plant growth. 3 Efficient irrigation – Frequent and deep watering will promote deep root systems for all plants. 4 Appropriate plant and zone selection – Choose and group plants that require similar amounts of water, if you put drought tolerant plants together you can apply the minimum amount of water to keep them healthy. 5 Mulch – Mulch will keep down weeds and retain water in the soil. 6 Limited turf areas – Large expanses of grass will require large amounts of water. 7 Maintenance – Regular maintenance such as pruning, will increase vigour and health within the plant collection.

Check out more gardening tips at Ipswichfirst.com.au

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