For me autumn is a special time of year

For me autumn is a special time of year. The soft pale yellow light, the lawns and ground covered in a carpet of bronze, yellow and claret leaves, rustling in a gentle vesper. The cool crisp air beckoning winter, but not yet, I am not ready. I embrace autumn for its reward to my simple gardening.

The climate in North East Victoria is known for its amazing autumn foliage colour much of which was replicated by English immigrants wishing to create an environment similar to ‘home’. The climate is also conducive to ornamentals as during autumn there is usually an absence of wind, allowing the turning of foliage  to remain on trees indefinitely creating a brilliant landscape. Many towns in the North East of Victoria have used ornamentals as street trees providing shade in summer and light and warmth in winter. Although there is some controversy about roots of these trees and the safety of pedestrians they seem to win out as trees of choice in our hot summer climate.

It was obvious to me during the drought that the oaks were the most robust and had  the ability to with stand long periods of dry, as those in my garden of various ages did not show any signs of stress during the 13 years of drought. Using the trees in my town as an example most survived well over the long dry period with a small number having limb die back due to stress.

Wishing to create my own garden with marked seasonal change and with a naked landscape and pallet to work with I introduced many ornamentals which I will describe as we wander through my garden.

As the years went by I grew many trees from seeds such as the Fraxinus “Raywoodi’, Claret Ash  Quercus robur or Quercus pedunculata, the English oak, the Quercus canariensis,  syn  Q. mirbecki  Algerian Oak. And a treasure Quercus accutissima , Bristle Tipped Oak which has supurb yellow foliage.  More recently I planted a   Quercus coccinea , Scarlet Oak which is currently producing amazing red foliage. The acorns for the English oaks were collected from the streets of Yackandandah and their avenue of majestic oaks.

Liquid Amber Photo by
Don McNicol
Cumerland Photos

I also planted a number of Quercus palustris , Pin Oak for their colour and durability and although relatively slow growing compared to other trees planted, have survived well but were the only  ones that did show some stress  in  a couple of situations.  Liquid amber styracifolia never disappoints with its plumage and several unidentified maples are scattered about.

 I had less success with Platanus orientalis, Oriental Plane, which I subsequently discovered was position or rather soil type. I planted several in a paddock situation in a fenced area with plenty of blood and bone as it was my horse graveyard. These are thriving and survived the drought with no stress. Those planted in the garden were on clay soil and obviously did not do well so have been removed. I now have one growing extremely well in loamy soil.