Judy says, “In summer I can grow some of the bigger vegies like eggplants and tomatoes. They also provide quite a lot more moisture to the site, so I mulch, but I don't have to weed very often.” Much of the garden is edible, including flowers like nasturtium, marigold and viola. With no bare ground in the planting style, Judy says, “one of the things is to plant heavily so it keeps weeds down. Pipes direct grey water from the shower to the garden, as well as “two squat rainwater tanks underneath the deck here that are connected to a pump they collect rainwater from the roof. Timber used in the wicking beds is Cypress macrocarpa, which is known to be a sustainable timber, and “things like not having any hard surfaces so that the land absorbs the moisture, and it doesn't heat up the building,” says Judy. The sustainable principles that underpin the house can also be found in the garden. and to get this house to 9.5 stars, we had to provide way more concrete or brickwork than this house was planned for,” says Andreas. “Everything in here is double or triple glazed. We chose this block because the house faces north which is the optimum angle for sustainable building design, often called passive design.” In this home, the ceiling has 2-feet of insulation which Andreas calls “super-insulation” as it’s double the standardised requirements. Andreas says, “the four critical elements are glass, mass, insulation and most importantly orientation. Judy and Andreas have been designing sustainable houses for 30 years and built their own with the aim of being light on the land. Whereas this side of the garden is really all on rock, so it had to be built above the ground.” There’s a lot of colour in this garden and Judy says this is due to her background in design and interiors, “I just love colour and I'm always changing the colour pallets and getting it to work together.” Judy says, “we have quite deep, productive soil here which was nurtured, adding compost and mulch, but it really was pretty good to begin with. The diversity of the garden highlights different types of plants, which take advantage of the various soil profiles. I'll see a plant and I’ll love it.” The site has been designed with the house built on the back boundary to leave a bigger space for a garden out the front. Judy describes it as “pretty eclectic, pretty crazy. Situated in Brunswick east near the Merri Creek, it's filled to the brim with plants and ideas in every inch of this 66sqm garden. Garden owners, Judy and Andreas Sederof, have transformed a challenging block into a productive patch that is filled with colour year-round. Hannah's in Melbourne to visit an inner-city patch that's small on space but big on plants and style. Hannah visits a tiny yard in Melbourne’s inner-city that is bursting with ideas and productive plants.
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