Grass Out, Verge Garden In

The grass is gone and our native verge garden has been planted! Thanks to BIEPA and project leader Angela Armitage for the encouragement and financial support. The verge garden was designed by Ben Timmings to comply with Moreton Bay Council's verge garden requirements. Ben also provided a plant species list to suit the design, and Dave from Bribie Island Community Nursery sourced most of the plants.

Before...

After...

We'll post more pictures once the plants have filled out a bit.

What we learnt

Using a turf cutter to remove the grass was a challenge as it didn't like move easily over our sandy soil. It also doesn't like cutting dead grass. We killed off the grass using cardboard with the intention of digging out the grass. But that proved too big a job to do manually.

Despite providing all the paper work in advance to Council, it got lost. So suggest following up to check Council received your paperwork.

Someone put in a complaint to Council and a ranger came out, took photos and left a note saying "illegal works on Council property". We weren't home. We phoned the ranger, and once we forwarded him a copy of the paperwork, he could see we were compliant and the garden was approved. The ranger was very helpful.

Council's website says pebbles of 5mm for paths are acceptable. However, we were asked to replace our pebble path with wood chip. Council prefer paths to be of biodegradable material rather than pebbles which can wash into drains and cause blockages.

Despite the complaint hiccup, we are happy with the experience, love the outcome and can't wait to see it in 12 months time. If you want to know more seek us out and have a chat.

— Jill & Peter Cutting