beaconsfield my home

In our own home in Beaconsfield we have experimented with grey water after having had a grey water system installed by Water Capture we attempted to test the premise that grey water gardens can be elegant and productive too. This has turned out to be the case with my favourite parts of the garden being powered entirely by grey water. This includes our wonderful and productive front olive grove which keeps the family in olives for the year. It was only hand watered initially and has since been watered exclusively through the grey water system.

The second part of the garden, which is watered entirely by grey water, is the feature garden adjacent to our Northern deck. This area has two Oriental Plane trees which were planted strategically in this position to allow in winter light after they had lost their leaves. This area is underplanted with philodendrons and monstera deliciosa as well as clivia and native sedge. The area was only mulched with a selection of granite pieces 6 years ago and has never required any further mulching or much attention other than picking up the plane leaves. To the rear in another part of the garden we have a Fig tree, a Eureka Lemon and a White Mulberry all of which are thriving on grey water alone.

We have also been experimenting with our frog pond deliberately not attaching a filter. The test has been to see whether it can be entirely cleaned by the plants that are living within it. Even though it is in a reasonably sunny position with the strong potential for algal bloom it has remained clear and odour free for the past 2 years and we have also managed to attract a resident frog.