ᐅ Garden Photos Chat Corner

Recently, I looked up my old hometown, the Vorderpfalz region, and was shocked when I saw the large red drought area affecting the top 25cm (10 inches) or so of soil, where plants typically grow. This region is also heavily involved in vegetable farming.

Where I live, Perth, we receive about 700–750ml (28–30 inches) of rainfall per year, mostly between May/June and September/October. Due to our dryness, which apparently is nothing compared to Vorderpfalz (I checked drought maps), we are only allowed to water with sprinklers twice a week for 10 minutes before 9am or after 6pm. If using well water, watering is permitted three times a week for 10 minutes, but not at all from June through the end of August. Watering by hand is allowed.

Fines are imposed for violations, though sometimes helpful neighbors lend a hand. Plants adapt to the limited water, but no one here tries to maintain a golf course-quality lawn. Nobody owns a robotic mower; either you mow yourself or someone comes every two weeks with a commercial mower, and then it looks neat. We have removed all our lawns, replacing them either with plants or artificial turf. As I said, no one here is interested in having a lawn—it’s a real pain. You also have to use tons of soil amendments since we basically live on a sand dune without any valuable soil components.

Besides native plants, anything that grows around the Mediterranean thrives very well here. I’m a hobby gardener, and my soil is not sandy.

Fummelbrett! schrieb:

- Rowan tree (looks great and is edible!)

Wow, I never would have thought that. Until now, I was firmly convinced it was poisonous. Thanks for the information!

evelinoz schrieb:

Where I live, Perth, there’s about 700–750 millimeters (28–30 inches) of rainfall per year, mostly between May/June and September/October. Due to our dryness, which apparently is nothing compared to the Vorderpfalz region (I checked our drought maps), we are only allowed to water with sprinklers twice a week for 10 minutes before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. With a well, 3 times a week for 10 minutes, and from June until the end of August not at all. Watering by hand is permitted.

I hope you meant millimeters and not milliliters. Otherwise, that would really be just a drop in the ocean. 😉

If it is millimeters, it is slightly less than here. We usually have around 1000 mm (40 inches). The small town I mentioned this morning has just under 500 mm (20 inches).

For milliliters, where does the water come from?

I think there will still be changes in the gardens here. Plants, technology, regulations, etc.

There will also be significant changes in urban planning. I will throw the idea of vertical greening into the discussion.

@evelinoz could you show us some pictures of your garden?

OWLer schrieb:

Wow, I never would have thought that. Until now, I was firmly convinced that it was toxic. Thanks for this information!

That statement is generally misleading, too. Most berries contain a lot of bitter compounds; a few varieties are edible, but not all.

kati1337 schrieb:

Next year. This year it’s probably too late.
We have a huge slope to plant on, and I want to have lots of fruit shrubs there. At first, we wanted to leave it as it was, but when we tried to manage the greenery, we ended up doing what all the neighbors did: put black landscaping fabric over it. Thistles grew there, as thick as tree trunks.

Fummelbrett! schrieb:

On our embankment we planted a lot of edible plants:
- Zipperle (wild plum) – makes wonderful jam and sweet puree (even without added sugar); also great for snacking
- Service berry
- Sea buckthorn (extremely thorny...)
- Aronia
- Raspberries
- Rowan berry (looks great and is edible!)
- Barberry
- Hazelnut
- Blackthorn (grows wild with thorns – and the fruits are great for processing)
- Elderberry
- Medlar

All of these can be eaten right away or processed if you want – and the birds and other wildlife also enjoy the fantastic buffet. I highly recommend Zipperle – it comes in yellow and red. They flower early in the year (a beautiful sea of white blossoms) and are immediately swarmed by the first bees.

Thank you for the wonderful list! I will definitely use some of these!
My grandma used to love blackthorn for making liqueur. Rowan berries are really beautiful. I’m a bit worried about the birds, though. I remember from my parents’ house that many birds came to pick them, and we have two cats. 😉
I had never heard of Zipperle before, but it sounds exactly like what we’re looking for!

In general, I’m looking for plants for the slope that grow quickly because we want to cover the black fabric as soon as possible in the long term.
I was thinking about Euonymus, which comes with two-colored leaves. Does it spread quickly sideways? And are there other ground covers that form dense cover faster?