The Science Of Gardening

To have a garden that’s not just productive but also pretty year-round is the aim of this Queenslander.

- Sandra Tuszynska

Luli Faber is a neuroscientist and passionate gardener who loves to have flowers on her property year-round. Her 16ha block borders the Stuart River in Wilkesdale in the South Burnett region of southeast Queensland.

“My main requirement is to find perennial varieties of bushes and bulbs that are frost and drought hardy, making them compatible with the prevalent temperate climatic conditions, where the temperature can fall to -6°C in winter,” she says.

The glorious butterfly bush in front of her home attracts hummingbird moths, butterflies and countless species of native bees and wasps. Luli has planted oleanders, hibiscus, which die back in frost but regenerate, kangaroo paws, star jasmine, drought- and frost-tolerant daisies, geraniums, daylilies, a climbing honeysuckle and marigolds, which are annual but self-seeding.

“I try to reduce work by going for flowering perennials rather than annuals, or alternatively use annuals that will self-seed each year, like marigolds or nasturtiums,” Luli shares.

“I once heard some great advice on a gardening show: to have gardens that look good all year, go to a nursery during each season to buy something in flower and that way there will be something pretty in the garden all year-round.”

NOT MUCH ADO ABOUT MULCH

Luli is a busy bee, constantly learning and designing experiments. Her latest project is learning how to use high-tech brain and heart monitors to evaluate bodily responses to our emotions in order to demonstrate the importance of connecting to and releasing our emotional trauma. For this reason, Luli prefers gardening that isn’t labour and time intensive.