Renting and gardening

Renting imposes lots of challenges for keen gardeners and like most people we can only have what we can afford. Our current house is a lot of fun, a bit rough. We have a huge Loquat tree in our courtyard which throws heavy shade to 80 percent of my garden leaving just a small pocket of light at one end. I like to sit in the outside at night to watch the stars or light a fire in the brazier, cook dinner and burn marshmallows.

The house is orientated to the west with a courtyard running down the side and without our huge tree it would be unbearably hot! We also love the birds and bats that visit the tree who chirp and squawk and spit and throw the seeds at me every time I put the washing on the line.

But the question constantly at the back of my mind is that I don't own the space so why spend the money on a garden. It's simple, you cannot put your life on hold its just a matter of adapting and doing as much as you can with the space.
 

I've carried my six large Buxus sempervirens bushes with me to three different houses with very different growing environments. As I add to my garden am haunted by the vision of having to lift them onto the back of my ute to move house and I constantly ask is it worth it. Yes, I survived every move so far and there's more to come.

At first I wanted to grow lots of vegetables and had of be happy with just beans and tomatoes. I'm growing a lot of new plants as well as rediscovering gardenias and camellias. It's definitely making me a better gardener and have my successes. I have more flowers then in previous years,new petunia cultivars flower for a long period of time and are tough. If they get a bit of wind damage recover in a few days.

Lack of space is always going to be an issue but being able to rearrange everything to suit the season and maximise light becomes a priority as the season changes. Large terracotta pots are out of the question, I have a mix, terracotta small pots and anything over 30cm is plastic. Keep things light, I know that I'll have to pack these up some day as well.