Monday 14 January 2013

Farewell Pumpkins

Yesterday I made a decision that I have been agonising over for some time. Should I remove the pumpkin vines that self seeded when we planted the Murraya hedge on the front boundary? It was a difficult decision because on the one hand, why would you destroy the plants that will provide you with vegetables? But on the other hand, they were robbing the moisture and nutrients that were needed by the hedge.

I am not the most patient of gardeners and I want a fully grown hedge as soon as possible.

So I had to be ruthless. Any vines that had pumpkins growing on them were left, and I pulled out the rest. Now these vines were given plenty of time to prove themselves. I even helped with the pollinating to accelerate the process, but the male flowers outnumbered the females by a long way.

I remember hearing Don Burke say on his tv show Burke's Backyard, many years ago, "A good gardener does not waist their time on non-performing plants". So now most of my Murrayas are free to grow to their potential ( and as quickly as possible please), and as soon as the remaining pumpkin vines aren't proving themselves they will be removed as well.

I am after all trying to achieve an elegant formal garden, not a vegetable patch. Yes I know that I am superficial and it is all about 'the look', but the vegetable garden can have its place a little later (further away from the house, down by the stable perhaps).

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