Peaceful place

By Jade Lawton
EVERY TIME she moves house, Norma Allen leaves behind a garden far more impressive than the original.
The most recent effort at her Pakenham unit could be described as a work of art.
In it she has planted roses, camellias, some birds-nest ferns and hydrangeas, along with a weeping maple tree that sports bright red leaves.
But the stand-out feature would have to be the wall that Norma, who is quite crafty, has painted with a garden scene.
“It is a big garden for a unit; it goes right down the side of the unit and has the back garden and front as well.
“That’s why I bought it,” she said.
“It had a lawn, but by the time I bought it in February 1998, it was just some dried grass.
“I dug out bags and bags of clay; it was like digging into a stone.”
Norma’s daughter, son-in-law and friends bought some topsoil and put mulch and newspapers down before she got planting.
Hot weather over recent years has caused some problems, with the maple and hydrangeas getting sunburnt, but the maple has been revived with recycled water and Norma plans to move the hydrangeas to a shadier spot.
Norma’s favourite flower in her garden is the rose.
“I love the perfume and there are so many different colours and shapes – some are pointed buds and some are fatter,” she said.
She has stuck to a pastel colour scheme of blues, yellow and some pinks and describes her garden’s theme as ‘peaceful.’
“I don’t have bright exotic things – I think it’s a peaceful garden.
“I think I am a peaceful person and you tend to put a lot of yourself in to your garden,” she said.
She painted her feature wall two years ago.
“Because it was a blank fence and because of the pathway and I had to get the barrow round to that side, I really couldn’t have a very wide garden at all.
“I decided to do a garden mural so it looks like it continues on,” she said.
Norma, who is nearly 87, has scaled back the time she spends gardening, although she still tries to eat her lunch in the garden as often as possible.
“I could never not have a garden. If I didn’t have any ground I’d have to have planting boxes or something,” she said.
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