about


The purpose of the blog is to record the progress of my garden and to provide a space for musing on anything related to gardens, nature and wildlife.

In the blog I call myself Catmint. Catmint has everything a plant in my garden needs: beauty, friendliness (mixing well with other plants) and sufficient toughness to survive a regime of benign neglect.

I have been making my Melbourne (Southeast Australia) garden since 1979.   I am not a professional gardener. Everything I know about gardening has been learned from other gardeners, written sources and through the painful process of trial and error. 

I have a busy life but whenever possible I immerse myself in the garden. In the day I garden.  In the evening I blog about the garden.  At night I dream about the garden.

I see garden design as an artform and aim to create pleasing and restful garden pictures. In the garden, as in life, nothing is permanent. Everything continually changes. Plants grow or die, and this is why the garden will never be finished and continually evolves.

A garden is not only for human benefit.  It is also a habitat for wildlife – birds, insects, reptiles and mammals. I welcome wildlife to my garden.  I try to provide them with places to shelter and with food and water.

Australia is a very dry continent and water is a scarce and valued resource. I aim to show that it is possible to create a lovely drought resistant and sustainable garden without watering, except when a plant is newly planted or moved.  I grow Australian indigenous plants together with plants from other countries. I grow ornamental plants, herbs and fruit. Vegetables need watering, so I don’t generally grow vegetables.

I don’t use pesticides or fertilizers.  I nurture the soil with compost and mulch.