Blooming and Bold


Without the buzzards and bees

Where would we bee?


A blog by Nicolle Kuna

A blog about sustainable landscaping and some eco-humour and eco-creativity.

Inside this blog we look at everything that is encroaching in to our natural urban landscapes – outdoor rooms (errchkem), weeds, urban noise, excess nutrientsThere’s a bit of art to add extra colour and inspiration. We believe in making sustainability fun - more gaming, less shaming.

Also see website on social marketing for greenies

To contact us – go to the contact us page http://www.converseconserve.com as the contact facility on this blog has been giving us mischief.

Attribution for above garden design goes to

Andrew Jones, talented artist and designer.

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Saturday 24 September 2011

A burst of sunshine in the house

Another Andrew creation.  Cut flowers are a great  feature of
authentic gardens. 

And let's not forget the Wind! ........ Hiss!

Last week, we had one of those blistering barnacles of a windy week, and people I know were cursing, that's climate change, and what's it going to do to our gardens etc.

This is another thing to consider when we take away the garden and start installing something akin to an outdoor room.  How well are screens, structures secured down? In a mighty storm, are we better off having a well pruned garden  and trees with deep roots that can bend and sway, or man-made structures that might, if not installed correctly, break apart and wreak havoc in peak storm events. Then there is the permeability and heat island benefits of having planted up gardens with large porous areas.

This is where arborists come in in advising us about suitable trees.  Methinks in years to come, this profession will earn a more hallowed reputation than before.

Monday 19 September 2011

A cynical poem for gardens

Getting dirt under our nails
bothers our tidy minds
as do the bric a brac, cupboards jam-packed with jam jars
that don't match
because our shiny home so bright
we see our reflection in
shows up the dirt on our sheeny boots.

So we pack away the tired old things,
the objets that don't match
we bury the soil,
bury the bugs,
tramp down the worms,
scare away the bees
that need the trees,
that feed our afternoon teas.

We uproot the shrubs and put in a cordyline or three.
It is a  local environment take over bid
No habitat is thine
but an tidy outdoor room
where one might dine
gas heater, and all
and a silver spoon or two
(to see our reflections in.)

Friday 16 September 2011

And another great picture by Andrew

A desert landscape, after all this talk about drought and ground water .... does seem apt.

Thanks again to Andrew, for contributing a photograph of another one of your works.

Bore Water not so boring after all

Being naughty blogging during my online classroom about sustainable water use. A lot of this we have covered in water sensitive urban design, aka WSUD.

My teacher is talking about bore water, golf courses (clear-felling of vegetation), high salinity in our soil, and all the things that interfere with our water table.  One of the things affecting our ground water, in Melbourne is surprise, surprise ... the increase in urban impervious surfaces.  And one of the culprits,  sorry to say,  is the building of extensive outdoor structures which often (though not always) consist of surfaces which repel storm- water (also known as non-permeable surfaces). What happens is rain-water gushes off concrete, paving and decking and in to drains, creeks, eventually polluting our seas (fats, acids, contaminants, pathogens, hydrocarbons, nutrient load. Oh, when will she stop bleeting on, I hear you reply!).   What our groundwater needs is more permeable surfaces : recharging or replenishing - not vast amounts of water being flushed down our drains!  A major ground water complaint is the problem with house cracking and doors shifting which I know so well in my house, with the attendant expenses and security problems which ensue (doors/windows not closing properly).

Remember: it is the extensive garden with its vegetation and soils, which filters the rain-water, and replenishes the water table.

Our teacher reminded us that we have to be careful with how much water we harvest in rainwater tanks, and what water harvesting can do to our water table, especially if large volumes of water get stored over time, rather than being discharged back on to the soil.

So one day I will finish writing the A to Z of all the reasons not to build up our outdoor garden areas.
It appears we have most of the letters covered already.   (See previous blogs.)

And who would have thought ground water could be so interesting.   http://www.toplinenursery.com/images/sal_water_cy2.jpg This is an interesting link.

Saturday 10 September 2011

Talking to friends recently

        After the dinner I felt like sharing some photos from
              NYC evoking lounge room with glamorous cushions!
Hope to get back one day! 
I got talking with some people at a dinner I had recently, that it might be time we slowed down pushing the whole sustainability band-wagon, as a purely green related 'stunt' and instead promoted the cause under some other banner, eg economics, health etcetera.

I do have to say that bleary eyed and under the influence of alcohol, they looked back at me blankly, and abit askance.

I have long been interested in the way we market the campaign to the public, and ways of making greenie lifestyles more appealing.

Perhaps folks will be more interested to change behaviour if it's promoted to help them get fitter, or to slim down, or help save them money.  I note that all of these benefits go with gardening, and lowering your carbon footprint in the garden (as decks, paved areas and the like do cost a packet).

And so saying, in my spare wee hours of the night, I have set up a website called www.converseconserve.com   It's a place where we can share ideas about promoting sustainability. Green marketing from a different angle.

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Trees and CO2 Recapture

I went on to Green fleet and this is a very helpful site.  http://www.greenfleet.com.au re trees and C02 sequestration.

I entered my car use and came up with 1.84 tonnes (as compared with 4.3 tonnes for average car in Australia).   To offset these emissions, Green Fleet would plant 7 native trees.  So each native tree would be worth around 0.25 tonnes per year of uptake.

Note: a tree need only reach a height of 2m to be considered for carbon recapture.  Never forget the savings a tree can give you if placed properly for shade.

Green Fleet say their aim is to recapture 268 tonnes of C02e per hectare with 750 to 1200 stems planted per hectare.

And I make a true declaration that I do not have a conflict of interest in writing this blog, as I am not an investor or associate of Green Fleet.  Merely grateful for the information I found there.

Trees as Carbon Sinks - HELP!

Still looking for information on trees as carbon sinks.

So far the articles I have come across have not been that helpful.

Methinks will need to write around pleading for assistance with this one.

Thursday 1 September 2011

One more reason for the bee in the bonnet

Another reason for having a bee in my bonnet about outdoor rooms (especially those which occupy most of the garden!) is :

Their COST. An outdoor room can cost in the order of $50,000 to $80,000.

Bearing some resemblance to bee in bonnet
Now in these days of housing unaffordability in Australia where prices are at an all time high, we must consider whether it is economically sustainable to invest further in our homes.  How sustainable is it to to add value to house prices, when prices are levelling out and in some areas coming down? (And you can take it from me, as one of my jobs is a facilitator of financial literacy workshops!)

Householders need to look at whether they will ever recoup the investment of an outdoor room, especially in areas where prices are already overly-inflated.

For more reasons, for my 'bee in the bonnet' pardon the pun, go to my first blog of 22/6/11.