![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/sophie-thomson-royal-adelaide-show-gardenPhoto-27-6-19-8-55-09-pm-1080-1024x729.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Balance is also about increasing the quality of our home\nlife away from work, and a part of this is the home environment, and in\nparticular, the outdoor environment around our home. Having a garden, or at\nleast having access to a garden, can provide us with a sanctuary from our\nfast-paced crazy lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet as I drive around our city, observing how urban infill\nis replacing one house on a block with three to five new houses, I feel that\nbalance is sadly lacking. Our climate is getting hotter and harsher, and yet we\nare covering our city in hard surfaces \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026. which just make it hotter again!?\nAnd every time we turn our air conditioner on, while it may pump cool air\naround your home inside, it pumps hot air outside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have houses with big footprints covering most of the\navailable ground space, and areas for the garden is reduced to a minimum. We\nare being told that we don\u2019t have time to garden, and people don\u2019t want to\ngarden, yet I think we are being sold a lie. OK, I am totally biased, and as a\nself-confessed obsessive-compulsive gardener, I think gardens are the solution!\nThey can help to cool our homes and our cities, give us the opportunity to\nreduce and manage our stress, give us access to optimal nutrition when we grow\nat least part of our fruits, vegies and herbs. \nNot to mention the fact the environmental benefits gardens provide by\nhelping to increase biodiversity and urban habitat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let\u2019s bring the urban balance back by having gardens\nagain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many elements in our gardens which are seen to be\ncompeting, yet I believe they can be balanced to get harmony in our outdoor\nspaces. As we try to adapt to our changing climate, we need to get a balance\nbetween sun and shade, produce plants and ornamentals, foliage and flowers, exotic\nplants and natives, hard landscaping (paving and built structures) and soft landscaping\n(plants), and hardy waterwise plants and those needing supplementary watering.\nWe need to do all of this in a way which is both sustainable and affordable. So\nhere are my thoughts\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sun and shade<\/strong>.\nIdeally our gardens should be a mix of sunny areas and shady places, however\nultimately this depends on how much space you have got and whether you can have\nboth. If you only have a small courtyard and its facing north or west, you may\nwant to make summer shade a priority, otherwise you will be paying a fortune\ntrying to cool you house down in summer. As we try and adapt to a changing\nclimate where it\u2019s gets hotter and harsher, summer shade is a huge priority for\nme. However, we can be smart with our choices and have summer shade and winter\nsun by choosing an appropriate deciduous tree or climber over a pergola to get\nthe best of both, giving us passive cooling in summer and passive heating in\nwinter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Produce plants and\nornamentals<\/strong>. I know many people who will only grow it if they can eat it,\nhowever I love plants and choose to grow lots of different things in my garden.\nI have lots of fruit trees and a big vegie patch, but I also have large areas\nof ornamental plants which not only feed the bees, birds and butterflies, they\nfeed my soul. While that may sound a bit fluffy and light weight, the reality\nis that beauty and aesthetics in a garden are important to me. While beauty is\ndefinitely in the eye of the beholder, and many would argue that produce is\nbeautiful, I need beauty in my garden. If space is again limited, you can\nchoose productive plants which are highly ornamental from persimmons and\nquinces to coloured kales and rainbow chards. Don\u2019t forget though that birds\nalso think those fruit trees are attractive ?\nand netting may be necessary, which is not necessarily attractive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Foliage and flowers<\/strong>.\nIn recent years, landscaping styles have often focused on foliage rather than\nflowers, with varying shades of colour such as green, and different textures.\nThese layered gardens can look very contemporary, yet they are usually created\nwith only a few plant species, and if flowers are omitted what are the birds,\nbees, butterflies and other garden guardians going to eat. Rather than having a\nmonotonous monoculture of just a few species, we need gardens which have lots\nof different plants, flowering at different times of the year to help sustain\nurban biodiversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Exotic and native plants.<\/strong> Just as there are some\npeople who only want to grow edibles and nothing else, there are many people\nwho are only interested in growing Australian native plants. This gets further\ncomplicated by whether people are growing local indigenous plants (native to\nthe area where you live) and native plants from all over our vast continent. I\nhave areas of local native species in my garden, but I also have exotics, and\nthe focus in my garden is simply to grow climate compatible plants. Whether the\nplant grows locally or comes from a similar summer dry part of Australia, or\nwhether it comes from other Mediterranean-like climates such as the\nMediterranean itself, South Africa, California and the Middle East. The one big\nproviso though is they must not be weedy or be allowed to become garden\nescapees in my area. In urban settings where space is limited, verges could hold\nthe answer to biodiversity if they were planted with local native plants, creating\nwildlife corridors to bring back the butterflies, native bees, and birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hard and soft\nlandscaping<\/strong>. Ideally the hard landscaping (such as paving and built\nstructures) and soft landscaping (the plants) should work together, however\noften I see that the hard landscaping dominates, with huge unnecessary areas of\nhot reflective surfaces such as paving, exposed walls and fences. However where\npossible, keep the hard landscaping to a minimum, rationalising unnecessary\nareas of paving and exposed hard surfaces. When paving is necessary look at\npermeable pavers to allow the rain that falls to soak back into the ground, and\nreduce runoff to stormwater. Using trees to shade paving and plants to soften\nthe hard walls and fence lines will also help to cool down our outdoor spaces\nand make them more liveable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Balancing water use.<\/strong>\nGetting a balance between hardy waterwise plants and those needing\nsupplementary watering can be as simple as creating watering zones in your\ngarden. You may like to try and plan your garden so that the bulk of the garden\ngets little or no water once established (say 50%) and the rest is balanced\nbetween low water needs (25%) and high-water needs (25%). Verges planted with\nlocal native plants shouldn\u2019t need any supplementary watering once the plants\nare established so they could then form part of a no water zone, along with\nother native plants and climate compatible plants from similar summer dry\nclimates. Plants like vegies do need regular watering in summer, and if it\u2019s\nbaking hot, they may need daily watering and could be part of a high-water\nzone. Wicking beds can help to reduce their water needs to just weekly however\nand then they would fit within a low water zone. Plants which could fit within\na low water zone could include fruit trees, roses and other ornamentals and\nwould get weekly watering. These watering zones are just guidelines and\nobviously are all season dependant. Last year we had a very dry late winter and\nspring and plants within those zones would have needed extra watering support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Balance within our homes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Plants and flowers don\u2019t just have to be outside, they can\ncome inside to improve our indoor living spaces too. Just as I love to look out\nfrom inside my home and see my garden, I also love to bring my garden inside\nwith fresh flowers picked from my garden, displays of fresh produce harvested\nfrom my garden, and an abundance of indoor plants which can transform spaces\nwithin our homes and bring the green balance inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indoor plants were all the rage back in the 70s and went out\nof favour when they suffered from pest and disease problems and started to look\ndaggy, yet they have come back into vogue. Hopefully this time round, by\nchoosing the right plants and getting expert advice on their care and\nmaintenance, indoor plants will remain a staple within our homes into the\nfuture, as apart from their obvious aesthetic enhancement of our living spaces,\nthey have numerous health and wellbeing, and productivity benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, scientific studies show that indoor plants have\nsignificant benefits on air quality within our homes. The level of air\npollution inside our homes can be up to ten times higher than outside due to indoor\ngenerated air pollutants known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which\ncontinually outgas from solvents, and \u2018plastics\u2019 or \u2018synthetics\u2019 such as\npaints, fabrics, furniture finishes, floor coverings, cleaning products, and these\nVOCs are known to be harmful to human health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nursery and Garden Industry of Australia has worked with\nscientists at RMIT University and the University of Melbourne to look at 101\nscientific articles that explored the benefits of plants in indoor\nenvironments. These scientific studies have shown that indoor plants can\ngreatly reduce the level of these toxins in both air conditioned and\nnon-air-conditioned offices, and this can be translated to the home environment\nas well. In fact, studies show that indoor plants can remove 75-90% of airborne\npollutants depending on the plant and type of pollutant. These benefits are in\naddition to the previously known positive effects that come from reducing dust,\naiding humidity levels, and temperature and noise control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plants also have a positive effect on our wellbeing with a\nmarked improvement in our mood and concentration, creating feelings of\nrelaxation, inspiration and positivity. Indoor plants also appear to have indirect\nbenefits, such as increased productivity and positive social behaviour in\nworkplaces. If you have a home office filled with lots of indoor plants, that\nmeans that you will be more productive at home too. The researchers found that there is very\nlittle wellbeing benefit in just one plant, but once you start to create a\n“look” in your space, wellbeing begins to increase significantly, and\ncomplexity is also beneficial. Variety of size and plant species is important\nand the greater the mix, the greater the benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nursery Industry has a campaign called \u2018Plant Life\nBalance\u2019 with a great website and blog full of fascinating information and\ninspiration about the benefits of indoor plants. They also have an easy to use\napp to that allows you to rate your own space with the plants you already have,\nand then it suggests how you could improve it, suggesting just how many plants\nwould result in maximum health and wellbeing benefits. It even allows you to\nphotograph your own room, drag and drop specific plants in, and even add\nshelves, hangers and plant stands to help stage your plants. For more\ninformation visit http:\/\/www.plantlifebalance.com.au<\/a>\nor download the plant life balance app and always check your plant choices with\nyour local nursery and garden centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indoor plants can add personality to our homes and create a\nvibrant place to live, in just the same way as gardens can outside our homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Balance by Sophie\u2019s Patch\u2019 is my 2019 feature garden at the Royal Adelaide Show and it\u2019s where I hope to demonstrate what a balance in a garden and inside our homes could look like if plants are involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/sophie-thomson-royal-adelaide-show-gardenPhoto-27-6-19-8-55-41-pm-1080-1024x716.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBalance within our outdoor spaces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/sophie-thomson-royal-adelaide-show-gardenPhoto-27-6-19-8-57-30-pm-1080-1024x717.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/sophie-thomson-royal-adelaide-show-gardenPhoto-27-6-19-8-57-34-pm-1080-1024x717.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/sophie-thomson-Malabar-spinach-LS-600.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Poa](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Poa-Suggan-Buggan-closeup-foliage-600.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"open](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/sophie-thomson-open-garden-november-2018-600-8-Copy.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"designed](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/sophie-thomson-melbourne-international-flower-garden-show-achievable-garden-6-600.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/sophie-thomson-easter-open-garden2019-04-20-SP-OpenGarden-135-600.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"succulents\"](\"https:\/\/sophiespatch.com.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/st-hands-doing-succulent-frame-1200-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n