What is your gardening style ?

Glennis starts with ...
My edible garden .
I live in brisbane and have a block under 1000 sqm.
I am about 5 klms from the bay and have red loam soil , it was an old strawberry farm . Frost is not a problem
and the yard is on a hill with a gentle slope so perfect drainage .
I grow subtropical fruit and a few tropical mixed with native rainforest shrubs and weeds.
Why the native rainforest shrubs ? I need them for mulch and attracting native birds .
I also have butterfly host plants as well .
I also use the rainforest shrubs for the mulch i use around the fruit trees . There is a lot of trimming involved
sometimes but its free mulch . Everything gets shredded up and put back in the garden . I havnt taken any green waste
to the tip in over 10 years , except for larger branches that might be white ant attracting . Mind you ,
if you are going to do this style of gardening i suggest you keep up the termite treatments .
Actually i am beginning to think common weeds are very important in my garden so i let them grow now . The number
of ladybugs on the solanum is amazing . I just scatting seeds around the mulched areas and watch fruit plants come up like loquats ,
pawpaw etc . I guess i am slowly turning the yard into a food forest . No chemicals are used at all ever . I have had everything from visiting
herons looking for worms to butterflies of all types . Cicadas , sometimes the yard is thick with insects and birds . The fruit trees are healthy and abundant .
I wouldnt go back to any other style of gardening . cheers .

BJ says...
I actually think this is a really important topic.
The majority of Aussies live in the city (like me). My block is a normal suburban block (i.e. < 500m2); with less than 50m2 that can possibly be converted to garden. Garden beds are less than 50cm wide and against fences. There is minimal room to allow nature to 'take its course' as resources (space, water, and soil nutrients) are so constrained. Small gardens can easily look untidy, and close proximity to other gardens limit the ability to manage disease if neighbours choose not to.
I would like to understand gardening styles of those who have size restrictions of cities. Productive gardening on apartment balconies or where strata rules require particular aesthetic results adds a challenge never anticipated by nature.
My style involves light pruning 3 times a year, composting in an enclosed bin (as there is insufficient space for the bin to be directly on soil), importing nutrients to add to compost (coffee from work and horse poo from the local track), importing and creating my own mulch (which is added to the garden 1-2 times per year), and recycling shower and washing machine water. Where there are gaps plants (such as rock melon) are included as a ‘living mulch’ to protect the sand from harsh summer sun. If I were to select my plants again I’d select things that were more suited to the environment and things I couldn’t purchase in stores. I would also spend more time preparing the soil instead of getting excited and planting things in the first year!
The ability to “farm” even a little bit in the city is wonderful. But there are some very unique city challenges that I’ve not yet found solutions to (unless one plans for several years before planting and is very discerning in selection of plants). It would be good if that information were more available as it might encourage others to choose productive plants rather than artificial turf.

MaryT says...
I have 196 square metres on a subdivision (a semi detached house in front cut off its backyard to build my 96 sq.m house. One side is a right of way and two sides are 1.6 m set back from the boundary so my food garden is a container garden on a concrete carspace right outside the front door. I also have a small courtyard of similar size dominated by a giant jacaranda from which I hung a swing that sways sideways as there is not room to swing. :)

Though I don't grow enough to feed myself the garden is a place of solace and peace and the small amount of produce nourishes me in many ways.

I manage to grow a surprising number of plants and trees in containers and there's something to pick from them every day. I make marmalade from the citrus (I have lemons, limes, cumquats, oranges, lemonade, grapefruit) to give to friends and my neighbours know they can help themselves to the herbs. I am Chinese so I always have spring onions and garlic chives and ginger and now have shallots growing as well.

au0rey says...
I have a small garden. I love the lawn space we have. I love growing good looking plants that are at the same time edible and useful, esp perennial plants such as choko, grape, passionfruit, rhubarb, artichokes, and fruit trees that can last for years. I also focus on growing leafy veges for a good supply in the kitchen as they are more perishable even when kept in fridge. And dont forget about the herbs and spices, they are my favourites - oregano, thyme, rosemary, thai basil, chillies, lemongrass, saffron, ginger, galangal.

My style would be beautiful yet useful/edible. :)

starling says...
An old strawberry farm with red loam in brisbane...sounds like where I used to live--mitchelton.