Meet Claire Farrell, Plant scientist

A low-maintenance garden that flowers all year - sound good? Meet the Woody Meadow.

Photo credit: Robin Powell and Thomas Tyrrell Adolph

What's the Woody Meadows project all about?

We wanted to develop an aesthetically pleasing, low-maintenance planting that could be used in public landscapes such as roadsides, railway sidings, verges and parks that offered an alternative to trees and grass. And the outcomes have amazed us. It was a randomly planted experimental plot not a designed garden, yet we got really good growth, continuous flowers, and nothing got smothered. It was an instant success.

What plants did you choose?

The idea was to use shrubby plants that evolved alongside regular bushfires. That allows us to manage them through coppicing, cutting them back to the ground, which we did at six months and then again at two years. We choose 21 readily available species, ranging from low-growing plants like Goodenia ovata ‘Gold Cover’ to trees like the fast-growing Eucalyptus caesia.

What attention were the plants given at planting?

The most important thing is that they were planted into a layer of 20cm of scoria, including the fines. What that meant was that any weeds on the soil at the time couldn't emerge, and it also gave these plants better drainage in the first year when they were establishing. The scoria was simply laid over the existing soil, which was ripped to reduce compaction.They were planted in spring and watered through that first summer.

What did you find?

Higher density planting was better in getting canopy coverage quickly, but after that first coppicing all the test beds achieved canopy closure, giving us low weeds. And we had flowers in all plots throughout that first year. So our recommendation is that in the most hostile sites go for tighter spacings to get canopy closure quicker, and if you have more luxurious conditions you can space them out at 50 cm.

Is the same approach suitable for home gardens?

It’s going to work even better in a garden, where you can do a bit more maintenance - not necessarily coppice it all on the same day -and maybe mix up the planting a bit. But it looks pretty good as just this random planting that we did!

How can gardeners find out more?

Our website gives information on how to do it, and a plant list.As well, gardeners will be able to register their woody meadow and report back to us on how it goes to extend our knowledge base - a bit of citizen science!

Find out more at www.woodymeadow.unimelb.edu.au, or visit the experimental plot at Birrarung Marr on the banks of the Yarra in Melbourne.