Colleen’s Water-Efficient Garden in West Footscray
Gardening in the drought taught me habits I’ve never dropped.
My garden is small, but it gives me an immense amount of pleasure, purpose, and stress relief. I’ve shaped it over many years using the principles I learned during the drought: I water sparingly, reuse every bit of cooking water I can, and rely on my rainwater tanks — even the one that doubles as a fence. I don’t use chemicals at all. After years of campaigning against chemical factories, I decided that if a plant dies, it dies — I’d rather garden in a way that’s safe for me, the soil, and the wildlife.
Creating habitat has become one of my biggest joys. The bees, New Holland honeyeaters, and silvereyes flock to the rosemary, pineapple sage, and bottlebrush. The birds even line up to use the bird bath, which never fails to make me laugh. A friend set up a bee bath for me once, and it was such a simple, clever idea that I’ve kept it ever since.
I garden by trial and error. I move plants all the time — sometimes it’s the only way to save them. I’ve learned from friends, from cuttings, from Gardening Australia, and just from paying attention. Most of my plants are hardy ones: natives, herbs, greens, and tough fruiting plants like citrus. I don’t grow tomatoes anymore because they take up too much space and you can buy good ones now. But picking fresh herbs like dill and coriander makes all the difference to our meals.
I grow herbs and greens because you only need a little and they make such a difference.
My garden has evolved into a cool, layered space that shields the house from the harsh west sun. The Boston ivy I grew from cuttings gives us brilliant summer shade and gorgeous red colour in autumn. I love plants that come back every year without fuss — jonquils instead of daffodils, for example — because they’re reliable and economical. Plants are expensive, so I do lots of cuttings, swap plants with friends, and even trade big bags of rosemary at the local bakery in exchange for almond croissants.
Most people will tell you how they grow something — you just have to ask.
Gardening has connected me deeply with my neighbours and friends. We share cuttings, advice, citrus, spring rolls, and stories. During times of stress, being able to potter in the garden was my absolute brain saver. It was grounding, peaceful, and full of small, beautiful surprises — like the first apple blossom of the season, which is my favourite flower of all.
I’ve really enjoyed the workshops from My Smart Garden — composting, pruning, preserving — and I always read the newsletter. There’s always something new to learn. I think workshops about container gardening or balcony gardening would help a lot of people, especially in new developments and retirement units where space is limited.
If I were giving advice to someone starting out, I’d say: start small. Look around your neighbourhood and talk to people about what grows well. Choose hardy plants, be economical, and grow things you love — because the real pleasure of gardening is in using what you grow, smelling it, watching it flower, and feeling connected to the place you live.