Victoria Grove is a small street that I usually walk down on my way to Auburn Station. Now that I've been in Hawthorn East for a little while, I feel like this road is a prime example of the area. The houses all very similar, with many of the gardens clearly several years old and more than a couple that have just been completely overgrown. It is a pretty street though, based on a slight slope with an entrance to a nearby park as well.
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The first garden that really caught my eye was across the road from the park entrance with some tall and closely clumped together Silver Birches (Betula Pendula) in the front which act as a type of screen.
Here are some pictures of the house and garden:
It's quite funny, about six months ago, I decided to take some photos of interesting and particularly inspiring gardens in my local area, but as I didn't want to confuse anyone by taking photos of their gardens, I decided to knock on their door to say hi and request permission. Some owners were friendly, some comparatively weren't – but they all gave me permission to take those photos. I chose gardens that were not professionally done, but of a high and clearly cared for standard. When we were given this assignment I kept thinking.. what a great way to undertake the same activity again! In business and in art, the most successful are typically those that have a wide understanding of the genre and of others in their field and I feel the same goes for gardening as well. The more I see and examine of my future field, hopefully the more I will have to draw on when I am ready to design gardens of my own.
So I decided to do the same thing, I rang the doorbell and waited for the owner to come to the door. I knew exactly the first impression I would be giving off, and I knew I only have a few seconds before they sigh and say “sorry not interested”. See, I used to door knock for the Seeing Eye Dogs, so I know the feeling.
Instead of talking too much, I decided to keep it simple.
Hi, my name is Jeremy and I am a Horticulture student at Burnley – and I love your garden!
I then explained that I'd like to take some photos for my assignment, to which I was quickly approved. Surprisingly though, she stayed around to watch. To avoid the awkward silence I started to ask her some questions about her garden. I realised this had so much potential! Have you ever walked past a garden and had some questions about it? Well I sure have, so I got the ball rolling.
Her name was Natalie and she had been in 17 Victoria Grove for just over 9 years. Since then her garden has been pretty much the same, though she has noticed damage from the drought a few years back. I had noticed that too, which I pointed out to her, in a talkative way. I explained that the Helleborus and Azaleas seemed to be the primary victims, which really seemed to pique her interest.
She explained that her goal was to build up the garden again and help it recover, hopefully by bringing in some more Camelias and Azaleas and they were her favourites. She explained that her Camelia seemed to grow quite well the garden and I agreed, explaining that Camelias are quite happy with not too much sun. I, also of course, explained that I was just a student who did some part-time work at a nursery and that I wasn't always in the know, to which she smiled but continued to ask questions. She explained that powdery mildew was a big problem and that she had tried to remedy it but had been struggling. We talked some more and I suggested a powder that can be bought at most local nurseries that fixed my Azaleas at my parents house. She thanked for my time and suggestions and that was mostly it. I left with a smile on my face after some more photos, I left.
Here are a few more photos of her most recently bought plants:
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