The Tropics in the 'Burbs - Granitic Sand & Organic Gardening

By Marjie Courtis

Marg's Tropical Cornucopia and Marg's Magic Mix are two of the trademarks I associate with Marg Smith.

But it's her interest in granitic sand which really seems to have gardeners talking. Marg tells me that after the first year her garden featured in Australia's Open Garden Scheme in 2009, she discovered two blogs discussing her opinion on the value of this water-retaining sand.

It was only after Marg appeared on the ABC's Gardening Australia in 2009, following the opening of her garden, that even I began talking about granitic sand because it was the very phrase that we missed from the broadcast. Yet it is one of the vital ingredients for the soil underlying Marg's Tropical Cornucopia.

So in the end we were all trying to solve the problem of the missing phrase.

As an industrial chemist, Marg had a hunch that granitic sand would be a particularly suitable additive for the sandy soil, and she was right. Marg says that not only does it retain moisture in the soil, but it is also staggeringly rich in volcanic minerals which add fertility to the soil.

And she insists that it be granite sourced from Dromana, Victoria. According to the Victorian Department of Primary industries, you can see this ".. along the southern side of the Nepean Highway one kilometre northeast of McCrae [where there is] a steep slope exposing Dromana Granite overlain by unconsolidated sand deposits".

As a result of her passion for her garden and the chemistry of things she's not only doctoring her garden, but has also manufactured a wonderful concoction called Marg's Magic Mix. It's a high potency foliar spray and it's only available for purchase when her garden is open to the public. (It also smells terrible!) The garden is open over a weekend most years during mid to late summer and there is usually a small admission charge. So if you want to experience its magic you'll need to be in Camberwell, Victoria around that time of the year and you won't have far to travel.

With its main ingredients certified as organic, Marg's Magic Mix is comprised of plant, fish and mineral sources. It's concentrated and I've seen gardens come alive when foliage is sprayed with a diluted mixture of this product. Another customer asked Marg, "How did I ever do without it?".

When you see this unexpectedly lush, sub-tropical garden in Camberwell, Victoria, you too could easily become a convert to granitic sand and Marg's Magic Mix!

Because here, a few kilometres from the busy Camberwell Junction, you'll see dense jungle-like foliage, colourful bougainvilleas, flowering tobacco, elephants ears, succulents, spiky canna lilies and meandering paths. And a kitchen garden that provides Marg and her partner Ian, with avocadoes, water chestnuts, aromatic herbs, figs, grapes and stone fruits. There are about 40 fruit trees in the garden altogether, and altogether, 70 food producing plants. There are even medicinal herbs!

Ian even captured a bee hive from the garden last year and they now provide Marg and Ian's kitchen with 30 kilograms of honey each year, while performing a vital pollinating function for the garden.

Now, I should mention, that Marg's partner Ian calls himself just the unpaid help. Marg, he assures us, is the inspiration and the designer of the garden. Despite his obvious pride in Marg's work, he literally has a lot of sweat equity in this garden. So this year, despite Ian's protests, Marg has insisted that, from here on in, the garden will be known as Marg & Ians Tropical Cornucopia.

However, there is one part of the garden that Marg has decided that she alone will plant. It's her baby. She is in the process of creating a hydroponic vertical garden, inspired by the vertical garden in Melbourne Central shopping centre. That garden was created by Patrick Blanc, a French botanist, who has made living walls his genre.

Marg waited impatiently for three months for her Patrick Blanc book to arrive from Amazon and is now waxing floral about the system of hydroponic pumps, layered felt, plant pockets, plants and staples. She thinks it is a fantastic technology.

In time for the weekend of February 13 & 14, you will be able to see her vertical garden growing. Of course, it's an Open Garden scheme and not an Open House scheme, but today I had a preview from the living room through a delightful arched window that shows it off at its best.

Marg and Ians Tropical Cornucopia is really an inspiration and a fine example of the visual and sensory delights that the Open Garden Scheme has to offer. It is likely to inspire you to create your own little wilderness at home!

Not only that, proceeds from your entry fee, sales of plants, Marg's Magic Mix and other garden products, will go straight to Rotarys Eradicate Polio Now campaign. It's the chosen charity of Marg and Ian.

So do yourself, and polio eradication, a good turn and visit Marg and Ians Tropical Cornucopia this weekend.