"Happy Father's Day"

My dad loved his garden.
Sunday, 06 September 2015     

My father in his vegetable garden, 1957

Both my parents were very keen gardeners; both taught me different things about gardening. My artistic mother loves colour and I have learned much from her about using colour in the garden. Since today was Father's Day, I found myself thinking about what I learned from my father about gardening.

1. That gardening is a wonderful hobby - my father had keen gardening parents but had never gardened himself until he and Mum bought their house in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney in 1950. At that time, my father was a medical student, but he always took Saturdays off from his studies, and spent that time gardening. He found relaxation and exercise in the garden and particularly enjoyed cutting up sandstone rocks to make myriad paths around the garden. Every weekend, for as long as I can remember when I was growing up, Mum and Dad spent hours working in the garden. At that time, I thought they were quite mad. I now understand how wonderfully therapeutic gardening can be as an antidote to stresses in the rest of our lives.

2. That hard landscaping is important - before any planting really commenced, Dad spent many weekends building his paths, which formed the structure of the garden, dividing it into sections and providing access around the garden. These paths lasted at least 50 years, and were loved by little children to run along. The contrast of plants growing over and softening the hardness of the stone paths was one I have admired always. He also built trellises to screen one section of the garden from another. Later these were planted with climbing plants. Screening off one area of the garden from another is a great trick in making a garden seem larger and in allowing different garden 'rooms' to be created, and I have used this ploy myself.

3. That organic matter is vital for the soil - I don't recall my father ever buying a packet of chemical fertiliser. His mantra was that organic matter added to the soil was the most important way to improve soil fertility and plant health. The original soil in their garden was straight sand; after 50 years of the application of organic matter, it had become a beautiful loam. Compost heaps were dotted round the garden and all kitchen and garden refuse went into these. On trips to our grandmother's farm in the country, we kids were commandeered to collect cow manure from the paddocks - not always a pleasant task, especially when gardening gloves were in short supply! It would be shovelled into sacks and put on the roof racks for the long journey home. I can still recall that distinctive aroma! The manure would be dug into the garden or made into a particularly pungent 'manure tea' which would be applied to the plants as a tonic. These ideas have been vindicated over the years, with modern thinking underlining the importance of maintaining a thriving population of microorganisms in the soil to ensure healthy plants, by adding lots of organic matter .

4. That growing food is satisfying - my father's parents originally had a commercial citrus orchard in the Hills District of Sydney and also grew vegetables for the markets. After moving to the Southern Tablelands of NSW they continued to grow fruit and vegetables and were at one time almost self-sufficient in these. My father continued the tradition by planting a number of fruit trees in our garden and cultivating vegetables for many years. The joy of eating freshly picked fruit and vegetables was something we took for granted as kids; I am now at last growing some of my own crops in my garden and understanding how rewarding it can be, and wish I had paid more attention to his methods when I was younger.

5. That growing vegetables and flowers from seed is cheap and fun - my father loved a bargain and never bought a punnet of seedlings in his life. As well as vegetables, he loved all the old-fashioned, romantic annual flowers that his mother had grown in her country garden - larkspurs, pansies, petunias, snapdragons, wallflowers, foxgloves, Nemesia, stock and hollyhocks - which he grew from seed every year. I can still picture him checking the progress of his seed punnets (which were actually shallow wooden boxes, possibly old drawers) every afternoon when he came home from work. These were carefully grown on and planted out in the garden when big enough. We always had a gorgeous display of annual flowers in our garden. I too have always been intrigued by growing plants from seed: the excitement of seeing a tiny seed germinate then grow into a plant never palls.

6. That reading gardening books is as enjoyable as gardening itself - my father, a keen bibliophile with a massive home library, gave me a gardening book for my birthday every year for about 20 years, once I began to take an interest in gardening. I have amassed a fair collection of gardening books over time, which have enriched my knowledge of plants and gardening immensely.

7. That good-quality gardening tools will last - I still have my father's old wooden gardening sieve, which he used to sift compost for his seedlings. As I filter the compost from my own heap with the sieve, my hands grasp its sides probably exactly where his hands used sometimes to hold it, and my hands are starting to resemble those hands: spotted with age, ingrained dirt in the whorls of fingerprints. Whilst I will never see those hands again, the gardening lessons I garnered from my father are put into practice almost every single day of my life.


 Reader Comments

1/9  Ann - 2120 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 07 September 2015

Ahhhh Deidre. You miss your Dad. You have learned a lot from him. Nice photo of you and the kitty cat. Thank you for your weekly blogs ... always very appreciated. Was there a reason why your Dad took Saturdays off? Was he SDA? All the best! Thanks again. Ann. Hi Ann - that was my favourite ever cat! No particular significance to the Saturday ritual, just that after five solid days of lectures and studying, her needed a break! Deirdre.


2/9  Margaret - 2122 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 07 September 2015

Wonderful blog, Deirdre. Your words reminded me of the tradition of gardening, passed on to me. My grandparents and parents were avid and knowledgeable gardeners, and I was surrounded by all kinds of plants, continuallly absorbing information, although I was probably not aware of it at the time. My interest began at an early age, and has continued throughout my life. Your blog should be mandatory in schools! Thanks so much, Margaret. I do think we take in so much as kids even if we do not realise it at the time. I hope the next generation of children will learn to love gardening too - the school gardens programs are wonderful for that. Deirdre


3/9  Sue t. - 2566 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 07 September 2015

Your memories of collecting cow pats reminds me of collecting manure dropped in the road by the milkman"s horse. my mum made liquid manure by soaking it in water. The liquid manure thing must have been popular at that time - we always had a vat of it stewing away! Deirdre


4/9  Betty - 3104 (Zone:10 - Mediteranean) Monday, 07 September 2015

What a wonderful tribute to your Dad and other elderly relatives who have "gone before". Isn"t it wonderful now when a Grandchild shows interest and wants to "garden" with you? Just potting up a few plants is enough to put a smile on their faces. Thank you Deidre for sharing with your readers. Lovely when the next generation takes an interest in gardening. I am sure my parents were pleased when I took it up! Deirdre


5/9  Julie - 2158 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 07 September 2015

O my goodness what a great Blog this is my favourite. Thankyou for such a wonderful story just wonderful. My husband and I always had Saturday"s in the garden with the children they especially loved it when the day finished and we took them to the corner shop. Happy gardening Julie. A lovely memory, Julie. Deirdre


6/9  Maureen - 2118 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 07 September 2015

What a wonderful and priceless legacy your parents have left you. A worthy Father"s Day tribute. Thank you for sharing your memories with us all. Maureen Thank you, Maureen. Deirdre


7/9  Marie - 4506 (Zone:11A - Sub-tropical) Monday, 07 September 2015

Thank you Deirdre. My great love for gardening comes from my childhood too. Dad planted the veggies, mum raised beautiful blooms and we 7 kids devoured, admired and picked all of them! So glad you mentioned your dad"s hands - mine are just like my dad"s too! Wonderful memories! Thanks, Marie. What lovely memories of your childhood. Deirdre


8/9  Kerrie - 2125 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 07 September 2015

Deirdre I really enjoyed reading this blog . Wonderful memories . My parents gardened all weekend when I was growing up as well and we did the same when our children were growing up while they rode their bikes and swam in the pool. I loved the photo of you as a young girl . You haven"t changed a bit. Thanks so much, Kerrie. Lovely memories of your family. Deirdre


9/9  Christine - 2429 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Tuesday, 08 September 2015

Yes, such a great blog with so much feeling and wonderful memories. My mum and dad were also keen gardeners on our farm in Victoria - no compost bin as such but all scraps were saved in a bucket and dug directly into the soil in trenches - vege. garden near the dairy - so PLENTY of cow manure to use too. We do absorb much as children without realising it, or being interested in gardening - unlike now. Thankyou Deirdre and to all other comments posted. Chris Thanks, Chris. When you mentioned about the scraps being dug directly into the ground, I remembered that my parents did that too, maybe before they started the compost heaps. The cow manure seemed to really benefit the garden. Deirdre


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