Road verges
Presenter: Sue McDougall
A road side verge that is planted with lawn needs to be watered, weeded and fertilized to keep it looking really good and this is important for street appeal and it can add value to a property. Have you ever stopped to wonder how much water is going on this small area of your garden?
If you are really series about your waterwise garden then the verge is the best place to start. An average verge is approximately 15 metres long which means about 10 pop sprinklers in the area. Each sprinkler delivers seven litres of water per minute and they usually run for fifteen minutes so the verge is getting over a thousand litres per watering.
Compare this to inline drippers, the subsurface dripper system in the same area delivers three hundred litres of water and there is no overspray or runoff. This water gets to the plants roots where it is needed.
Once the reticulation system is sorted you can be more waterwise by planting up tough hardy shrubs and ground covers. When these plants are established they only require watering occasionally during summer, compared to lawn is twice a week forever.
In Ellenbrook, there are some outstanding examples of road verge planting such as the Prostrate Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Huntington Carpet’) which was discovered many years ago and is now one of the most popular prostrate forms. Rosemary grows naturally in the Mediterranean and it copes extremely well with the temperatures and rocky alkaline soils of that area. When it is finished flowering you can give it a light trim back to encourage beautiful dark glossy new growth and you can still use the leaves in the kitchen.
For a burst of bright colour you can not go past the yellow ground covering Goldrush Lantana (Lantana montevidensis ‘Goldrush’). It grows to about 40cm in height and 3m wide and it is one tough hardy plant.
Gin Gin Gem Grevillia (Grevillea obtusifolia ‘Gin Gin Gem’) is one of Sue’s favourites because it is a tough and hardy ground cover that spreads to about 3 metres wide and the end result is a lush green verge.
A road side verge that is planted with lawn needs to be watered, weeded and fertilized to keep it looking really good and this is important for street appeal and it can add value to a property. Have you ever stopped to wonder how much water is going on this small area of your garden?
If you are really series about your waterwise garden then the verge is the best place to start. An average verge is approximately 15 metres long which means about 10 pop sprinklers in the area. Each sprinkler delivers seven litres of water per minute and they usually run for fifteen minutes so the verge is getting over a thousand litres per watering.
Compare this to inline drippers, the subsurface dripper system in the same area delivers three hundred litres of water and there is no overspray or runoff. This water gets to the plants roots where it is needed.
Once the reticulation system is sorted you can be more waterwise by planting up tough hardy shrubs and ground covers. When these plants are established they only require watering occasionally during summer, compared to lawn is twice a week forever.
In Ellenbrook, there are some outstanding examples of road verge planting such as the Prostrate Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Huntington Carpet’) which was discovered many years ago and is now one of the most popular prostrate forms. Rosemary grows naturally in the Mediterranean and it copes extremely well with the temperatures and rocky alkaline soils of that area. When it is finished flowering you can give it a light trim back to encourage beautiful dark glossy new growth and you can still use the leaves in the kitchen.
For a burst of bright colour you can not go past the yellow ground covering Goldrush Lantana (Lantana montevidensis ‘Goldrush’). It grows to about 40cm in height and 3m wide and it is one tough hardy plant.
Gin Gin Gem Grevillia (Grevillea obtusifolia ‘Gin Gin Gem’) is one of Sue’s favourites because it is a tough and hardy ground cover that spreads to about 3 metres wide and the end result is a lush green verge.
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