Mad Garden Skills

I’m so impressed with the gardening skills on display in my street. I feel like all the neighbours are really killing it at the moment – or not killing it, so to speak, which is an achievement given the recent heat waves. In particular, I take my hat off to those who think to plan ahead for extreme weather, when the couple over the road seems to have successfully achieved with the excellent drought-tolerant arrangement in their front garden.

I’ve meaning to pick their brains about the best place to buy flowering shrubs. Online garden retailers are of interest to me, but I’ve often wondered what the quality is like. That said, I’ve seen plants being delivered to this couple’s home, and I think I heard it mentioned once that they were fans of online plant shopping. Maybe there’s something to it after all.

It would be good to organise a neighbourhood meet-up where people can share their gardening moves with the street. Personally, I don’t have heaps to offer in that regard, although I do have a signature composting technique that I’m sure the owner of Ruffles at number 24, for one, would be down for.  

Composting, I suppose, is really my main area of expertise. I’ve even engineered a single-bin composting system from scratch, which I understand is a pretty unusual achievement. The thing is, I’m not as well versed in actually growing plants – I mean, I have a few, but I’m nowhere near as deep into it as you’d think, given my fascination with compost.

So, yeah – that’s the appeal of organising a neighbourhood gardening meet-up. I could clue people into my kitchen and garden waste disposal methods, and I could expand my knowledge to include garden things that are actually alive! Seems like a win-win.

I suppose I could start by going around the block and offering my homemade worm juice. You know you live in a place where people are into gardening if that’s a conceivable route to making friends!