Green Genes
Some of us love to garden, some can take it or leaf it! When it comes to loving gardening, Pete Goodlet believes it’s in the family greens (genes). He can’t help himself, but he’ll try to weed out the puns.
Instilling a love of gardening in the young is something they will treasure forever.
Never before have we appreciated just how nurturing our garden spaces can be – they fire the imagination and offer unlimited creative possibilities.
Start with little projects, maybe a herb patch or flower garden. Whatever you do, don’t just pass off chores that you’d rather not do yourself… like weeding!
You want to instil a love of all things green in your children and not have them seeking a restraining order for child labour.
Buy your kids or grandkids a worm farm so they can turn green kitchen waste into a dynamic fertilizer for their plants. Giving back to our natural world is a true gift.
I love to garden; well, I like planning and planting. If someone offered to do my weeding, I certainly wouldn’t say no!
There are limits to all passions though. My dad and I loved to garden together. Of course, when I was younger he would guide and I would follow.
I was happy to learn and loved our trips to the nurseries, especially the one with display gardens, waterfalls and ducks. My childhood idea of Nirvana.
One stand-out local plant place is Manawee Garden Centre in Buderim which Marjorie (Marj) and Hans Van Roy started more than 30 years ago.
Today, it is run by Marj and their son Simon who both take great pleasure in passing on horticultural tips to the next generation of gardeners.
Marj is delighted to see younger people gardening more these days than 20 years ago when she says it was mainly older people creating mixed gardens and growing veggies.
“That’s completely changed and we’re finding young people are spending a lot more time in the garden – and teaching their children gardening skills,” she said. “That makes me feel good because it’s bringing the next generation through.”
Manawee is the perfect destination for all ages and garden types and they have fabulous examples and great advice of successful plant combinations in their expansive display gardens.
I have brought home many a plant to add to my garden in the foothills of Verrierdale. Our lush climate lets me fill the garden with exotic beauty – my dad would have loved it.
Dad and I evolved as gardeners as fashions changed.
Thankfully gardeners like Edna Walling led the way with wild, natural gardens with no bare earth.
Layered gardens with ground covers, shrubs, and an upper story of trees. Did I mention I didn’t like weeding?
The chore of weeding the baked earth under the rose bushes that bordered each side of our front path scarred me for life – that seemed like the longest path in the world. I was so grateful when dad and I moved on to mulched gardens, smothered in ground covers that in turn, smothered the weeds.
Gardening together enriches life’s journey. It is an art and a skill and it also brings people together in a fabulous, healthy outdoor pursuit.
As gardeners we continue to honour the gardeners that have gone before us – leave the weeding for the next generation.
