Gardens of Bedfordview: Carol’s secret garden
Her passion for her garden haven is the result of many years of work, converting her property into a forest.
Bedfordview resident Carol Payne has had a life-long passion for gardening. Her passion for her garden haven is the result of many years of work, converting her property into a forest, which also used as the venue for her wedding.
Carol’s Kings Road garden is a mix of lush indigenous plants planted in the hundreds and has been the feature garden for Garden of the Golden City a number of times.
“I like an abundance of plants. In my garden, everything has a time of year and there is always something to look at and to look forward to.”
Her property also features a vegetable garden that feeds her family. “We converted our front lawn into the vegetable garden about four years ago,” she said.
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The couple later added an aviary-type covering over the vegetable garden to prevent the birds from eating all the crops.
“We also raised the garden beds to make them more accessible. Everything grown in the vegetable garden is done so organically and without pesticides,” Carol said.
She makes use of companion plants to keep insects at bay. “We also planted a whole range of bee-friendly plants,” she said, adding that the bees help with pollination of her vegetables.
The success of Carol’s vegetable garden can be tasted when eaten. Since the start of the summer season, Carol has harvested 58kg of tomatoes of various types from her garden.
She said the average weight of the pumpkins harvested during 2020 was 13kg. “We eat a fresh salad from our garden every day for lunch.” In addition, Carol also grows cucumber, beans, spinach, butternut, ginger, turmeric, strawberries, beetroot, and raspberries, among others.
“Most of my vegetables are grown from living seeds.”
The plants that fill Carol’s garden were either gifts from friends and family or populated from those she’s already growing.
“I like to think I have a garden full of people. Everywhere I look I see a plant that someone has given me.”
Carol is also an avid sponsor of vegetable plants for the Bedfordview Urban Farming initiative.
She is also an enthusiastic supporter of eco-friendly home solutions. Carol’s home is run on solar power. She produces her own fertiliser using off-cuts from her garden and compostable household waste as well as the Bokashi system and makes sure her plants receive enough water through a drip-irrigation system run off the property’s borehole.
“We recycle almost everything in our home. For the five people living on the property, we only throw away half a refuse bag of waste every week.
“More people need to adopt a more eco-friendly way of living, our landfills are full and we don’t need to be adding to the problem.”
Carol’s Gardening Tips
• When you want to start gardening talk to other gardeners. Visit homes with gardens you like to get a feel for what you want to do with your garden. Everyone likes different things about gardens and it’s important to know what you want from your garden.
• If it dies, move on. Carol has lost countless plants and said if a certain plant doesn’t want to take to your property, there’s probably a good reason for it. Rather move on to another plant.
• When you plant vegetables, grow those you will eat. It’s useless having a garden filled with vegetables you won’t eat.
• Think about what you like and what suits your lifestyle.
• Soil preparation is very important, so make sure you do it properly before you start planting.
• Make space for a composting area in your garden.
• To reduce insects in a vegetable garden always interplant vegetables with companion plants. A great example of this is planting basil with tomatoes.
• Never pull a plant out when you have harvested, simply cut it down at the base. The roots and all the nutrients will go back into the soil and feed the newer plants.
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