Guerilla gardening

Lately we have been surreptitiously planting native shrubs in the bit of neglected land at the back of our house. It lies between two lanes and is a kind of reserve/ shortcut with a few eucalypt trees on it. We had a few native plants we coudn't accommodate in our own garden so thought we would plant them there. It is strange how guilty I feel when I do this, as if someone is going to challenge me. But when the house next door was sold and the new owner chopped down every tree and bush on the property to our horror, I felt that I needed to plant more to make up for the impact on the greenhouse effect in our street.

Apparently such illicit horticulture is called "guerilla gardening" and there are websites devoted to it. It's a big thing in the UK. GG's plant deserted patches of land at night and residents and officeworkers discover that their street has been greened overnight. A lovely idea. The sites can vary from blocks of land to traffic islands.

We are planting natives such as tea tree, mint bush, gymea lily and dwarf eucalypts on our patch. At least it is nearby so we can keep an eye on the plants and give them TLC from time to time.

Callan Park - where do I start?

With the fact that the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is exhibiting a master plan for the park which proposes development which, under the existing legislation, is not permissible?

Or with the fact that in 2002 the Act was passed to reassure the community that Callan Park would remain open public space, and yet in 2005 and again in 2007 the Government is planning to lease it to Sydney University for what appears to be four storey student accommodation and facilities?

What about the uncertainty for the community organisations and the psychiatric hospital that still occupy the site?

Or the mountains of spin ?

Eg - the University of Sydney presentation at the community forum stated that in 1873 when the land was purchased by the Government for a hospital, some local residents objected "as the land... had been originally advertised for subdivision as a residential area." So, are they saying we should all be bound by what our predecessors said in 1873? Guess I'll give back that pesky right to vote then. And hand back that University degree.

Check out the proposed master plan.

And the response from the Friends of Callan Park.

Submissions due by 22 February 2008.

Reading, not gardening

I have put a Listmania list of fiction featuring gardens on Amazon.com. This may be the first of its kind. Or it may not.

History, time travel and old buildings

I just finished reading a novel called Ghostwalk, by Rebecca Stott. Stott is an academic whose speciality seems to be the history and philosophy of science, and the novel is based around mysterious events which occurred while Isaac Newton was studying at Cambridge in the 17th century. The narrator is asked to complete a biography of Newton begun by her mentor, who has recently died in strange circumstances. In doing so she finds herself seeing and hearing people and scenes from Newton's time.

What caught my attention after reading this book (which is basically a ghost story) was the comments on the cover. Several of them said things like "this will make readers think differently about what history is" and "you will begin to wonder if what happened then can affect what might happen now."

This theory of history, or time, touched on in the novel, appears to be based on quantum physics theory - that moments in time, like sub-atomic particles, can connect and become entangled, allowing passages between past and present. Is this really a potential theory of history? if so, it's not fully developed in the book. Much more convincing is the author's portrayal of a researcher so deeply engrossed in her research that she can recreate historic events in her mind's eye, which become "real". She can do this because in Cambridge she is surrounded everywhere by history in the form of old buildings - as she says at one point "Nothing is ever quite lost while there are still a few old buildings standing sentinel. " That's the best and the only feasible basis for time travel in my opinion.

The Garden inside the House

This post is about a house for sale. But not just any old house. This is a house by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) , described as "a treasure of international significance". Windyhill, outside Glasgow, was designed by Mackintosh for a friend and completed in 1901. It is one of only 3 complete houses which he designed in his lifetime. Sadly, a man who is now regarded as one of Britain's greatest architects and designers had few opportunities to practise his skills and died poor. Now his house is expected to reach over £5 million.

Mackintosh style unites Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau and modernism with the Scottish vernacular. Windyhill is an example of this. Mackintosh has been described as a designer who brought the garden into the house (Wendy Hitchmough, Arts and Crafts Gardens). He and his wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh used flower and plant motifs in their interior decoration. A stylized rose was a design that appeared again and again, as can be seen at Hill House, owned by the National Trust. Mackintosh was not greatly involved with garden design although he did make suggestions for the garden at Hill House, with high stone walls, espaliered trees and an arbour. His plans show rows of standardised rose bushes and trellises which would harmonise with the interior.

Windyhill's owners have restored it carefully and the house is a work of art. One wonders though, is it possible to live in a work of art? If I had £5 million I'd give it a go.

Papal Visit and Historic Pine - Neck and neck?

Ah January, the season of days at the beach, barbecues, and development applications lodged in the hope that anyone who might object is away on holidays.

At risk this time is a 120 year old Norfolk Island Pine, one of the last of a set of pines planted to mark the entrance to Randwick Racecourse. The Racecourse is the venue for World Youth Day in July 2008 when the Pope and reputedly 300,000 Catholics will descend on Sydney. The Racecourse has decided it needs a new entrance to cope with this onslaught. The race will be on to build it before the Pope arrives. The Minister for Planning has used his powers under Pt 3A of the planning legislation to take the decision out of the hands of the Council. The Racecourse was carved out of land which is now part of historic Centennial Park in the 1830s and 1840s. The current wall which is to be demolished was built around 1911.

It's true that the current entrance to the Racecourse is a disaster, stuck on a busy road with no "presence". But in order to accommodate buses and cars, more than 40 trees, many of them historic, will be lost. They say they will plant replacements, but they will take decades to grow.

Unfortunately it's now split in two by a busy road (see photo). There are many other potential entrances. One further down Alison Road is currently used as a car park and if it was developed, would minimise the loss of trees. But it has been rejected as unsuitable.

Submissions close on 31 January and should be made to Randwick Council