THE term ‘oasis’ has often been used to describe gardens in the harsh conditions that living in Queensland’s outback bring, but the stories of digging, lifting, mulching, watering, designing and redesigning that accompany these havens are often left unsaid.
Lindy Hardie’s gardens, first at Jandowae on the Darling Downs and then at Blackall in the Central West, have each received accolades for their creative flair and sense of peace – both have been selected for Australian Open Garden Scheme visits – and she is sought after on the gardening public speaking circuit, but now she has opened up her personal diary to give the world a glimpse into the creation of her cool and magical retreat at Dumfries, Blackall.
Already the co-author of Gardens off the Beaten Track, a peek at 32 western Queensland gardens in locations as diverse as Hughenden, Birdsville and Charleville published in 2006 with Rachel Noble, Lindy’s latest endeavour is her own gardening journal, Beyond the Dust.
Although offering a very practical side – job lists for each month, tips learnt about western Queensland gardening along the way, blank pages for the reader’s own jottings – it’s the humorous anecdotes and hard-won information that make it an enjoyable reading adventure as well.
Most readers, male and female alike, will laugh over Lindy’s 2010 comments about her ‘better half’, David adding his personal touch to the garden with his blower, whipper snipper and Roundup – blowing gravel into garden beds, cutting weeds off at ground level to give them a stronger root system, and blanket poisoning of beds.
“I own up to being stupid too, planting out rows of lavender just before summer, when I should know by now to put the garden to bed in those months,” she said.
“It’s a bit cheeky – it’s more than gardening; it’s a story about us.”
So much of their story is about drought and flood and doing their best for their stock, elements which permeate the pages of the book in a way many will relate to – the times when cattle work won’t wait, when dust storms shred carefully prepared plans, or when days of drenching rain sends months of carefully spread mulch “down to Lake Eyre”.
“People are interested in how we live in the west,” Lindy explained, something she has observed after hosting many an interstate garden club bus visit as well as the much-loved late Colin Campbell and his Gardening Australia film crew.
Despite this, journalling is a personal therapy for Lindy, a way of burning off her frustrations.
“I could write heaps at the moment,” she laughed. “Even the lantana and oleander are dying from lack of water now.”
“I’m one of those people who like lists and working to a plan,” she added. “When I was going through my notes to do a job list for our daughter’s wedding, I realised I had so much stuff.
“People told me there were lots of ‘how to’ books out there, but they’re not always pertinent to out here.”
She added that drought years like the one just experienced – the Hardies had only 125mm at Dumfries in 2013 and the dam emptied a fortnight after the October wedding – were even more important to journal, to remind oneself in good times that drought does happen and to prepare the garden.
“Now is a really good time to look at our gardens to see what is surviving the best so we can plant more of the same, or to ask if we need to plant more trees for shade,” she said.
Her ‘Secret Garden’, a fragrant revamped tennis court, is heading for just such a shady remodelling.
With exotics such as African mahogany and Kapok trees growing profusely, and listed extensively in an appendix at the rear of the book, people can plant with confidence after reading it.
Lindy’s photographic talents are another feature of the book, showing the garden’s breathtaking array of vistas – birdbath nooks, classical statues, splashes of colour, and its gradual germination from the seed of an idea to a beautiful outdoor living space – to illustrate the journey she and her family have taken in constructing the garden since 1999.
The journal doubles as a workbook with a spiral binding, so that it can be laid flat and written in.
“I purposely left space for notes – everyone’s garden is different and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see it filled with people’s own thoughts.”
Fellow horticulturalist Jenny Muir runs the Universal Garden Centre in Blackall and has worked extensively with Lindy on many of her dreams.
She described the journal as a reliable testament to her skills and an invaluable guide for those who want to become a passionate and informed gardener. –Pictures: SALLY CRIPPS and LINDY HARDIE.
*Beyond the Dust: A Gardening Journal is available for $33 – contact Lindy at hardie.dumfries@ipstarmail.com.au