Meet the gardeners and their garden

June and Winton’s garden combines beautiful artistic design and great use of vertical space for growing food.  Over a north-facing deck, June is growing two varieties of grapes that will eventually weave together to form a red and green palette.  A circular ring of fruit trees in the centre of the garden is underplanted with flowers, strawberries, leafy greens and attractive shrubs.  There are many varieties of fruit trees including apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, lemons, oranges, mandarins and navel grapefuit.  The greenhouse that is used for seed propagation is in easy reach of the raised vegetable beds.

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How does your garden grow?

I use lots of climbing structures to maximise growing space.  My black mulberry and passionfruit vines have been espaliered against the side fence.  For raspberries, I’ve used timber trestle frames.  And, of course, the garden includes several driftwood teepees (which also appear mysteriously on the nearby Inverloch beaches) that support growing legumes.

What are some of your gardening challenges?

One of the lessons I’ve learned is that it takes kilograms of fruit to make preserves, so I’ve planted many black currant bushes.  I think we have about 40.  Growing dwarf stock makes it much easier to pick the fruit when it’s ripe, as well as allowing me to include more trees in the garden.  Small strawberries are deliciously sweet, but it’s always a challenge as to who gets to them first – the grandchildren or the birds!

Be inspired and learn!

June says: I follow Monty Don’s advice and prune my fruit trees so that there are big enough gaps for the birds to fly through.  Well-pruned trees mean that the fruit gets enough sunshine and stops mould forming.

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Garden extras

Spot the driftwood teepees that make great climbing structures for beans and peas.  Watch a short video that shows how June and Winton created their garden. 

Native Seed Box, a Wonthaggi business, will be selling their seed bombs.