Plant / Life: Judy Sederof
- Words by
- Georgina Reid
Sixty square metres isn’t big. Think a small studio apartment, an inner city courtyard garden, or your kitchen and living room combined. Now, think about this: 25 fruit trees, 150 eggplants, zucchinis till the cows come home, and a year round supply of greens and herbs. Welcome to Judy Sederof’s over-achieving sixty square metre East Brunswick garden!
Judy and her husband Andreas own Sunpower Design, a sustainable home building company. They built their own home a few years ago (check it out here), and the garden quickly followed. Like their house, the focus of the garden was very much on sustainability. “We’re hoping to eventually produce most of our own food,” says Judy. “I think we have around 25 dwarf fruit trees. They’re espaliered on the boundary and in pots, there’s pomegranates, olives and a fig growing in the nature strip out the front!”
With a background in interior design and a keen eye for beauty, Judy designed the garden herself, with assistance from a permaculturalist from her local nursery. The property is a dual occupancy, and Judy and Andreas’ house sits on the southern boundary, ensuring as much room for the north facing garden as possible. The garden’s aspect is perfect for food growing and ensuring solar access to the house.
Large slate stepping stones interplanted with Corsican mint lead to a laser cut Corten steel entrance gate at the property boundary. Not given to wasting space, Judy has espaliered fruit trees growing along the entry pathway, as well as the odd sunflower!
Upon entering the property, a curved white cypress timber pathway leads through the garden to a large timber deck – where most meals are eaten during the warmer months. Concealed under the deck are two large rainwater tanks, used to water the garden and flush the house toilets. Flanking the timber pathway are some of the few ornamental plants found within the garden – a collection of tough drought tolerant plants like lambs ear (Stachys byzantina), rosemary, and tall stonecrop (Sedum spp.).
And then there’s the edibles, many of which are planted in raised timber wicking beds, as much of the site sits on basalt rock, meaning areas of very shallow/non existent soil. Wicking beds are raised planters with a water reservoir at the bottom from which plants can draw up water through their roots as they need it, through capillary action.
Judy loves the garden. “When the weather is good I’m in the garden every morning for a few hours,” she says. However, even she is blown away by the food she’s managed to produce from it. “I’m amazed at the produce we’ve gotten from the garden. The eggplant is still producing fruit and its June! I think I’ve had over 150 eggplants from it over the season.” One plant, 150 eggplants. Clearly Judy is doing something right.
“People can be sustainable in a small space,” says Judy when I ask her what she’d like to share about her experience of creating and nurturing her garden. “You can downsize and still grow a lot of your own food.” Holy moly you certainly can! Judy’s garden is testament to this very fact. I just wish I lived next door so I could have access to the excess eggplants.
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This story was produced as part of our monthly collaboration with The Design Files.
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- Author
- Georgina Reid is a writer and the founding editor of Wonderground. Her prose and poetry have been published in books and magazines nationally and internationally. She’s the author of The Planthunter: Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants and lives by the river on Darug land.
