Cranbourne Country Garden Centre employee Corina Lloyd, owner Jim Scarlett and nursery manager Eddie Dowers.
By Sarah Schwager
A CRANBOURNE South garden centre is boosting its expertise in water saving to help residents’ gardens survive this summer.
The Cranbourne Country Water Saver Garden Centre was approached by the State Government to participate in its Our Water Our Future action plan to help save water.
On Tuesday, Channel Nine gardening show Garden Gurus was out filming at the garden, which it will feature in the first episode of the season on 10 March.
Owner Jim Scarlett said many gardeners believed they should abandon gardening because of Stage 3 water restrictions.
“We can show gardeners how easy it is to maximise results while minimising water use,” he said.
As part of the State Government program, staff at the centre has trained in water-saving initiatives and has to go through an accreditation process.
Garden Gurus host Melissa King said the show was trying to push the message that it was still possible to garden during dry conditions provided people were willing to choose the right plants and modify their gardening methods.
“People will always garden,” Ms King said.
“They might shy away from it until they can deal with the conditions but most people like having that relaxed environment.
“No one wants to lose that.”
She said it was all about innovation, being a bit creative and recognising that people could still have a beautiful garden without using lots of water.
Manager of the Cranbourne South nursery Eddie Dowers said the garden had been conserving water for many years using tank and catchment water, but the idea was teaching water-saving methods to residents.
He said that more recently the garden had reduced its water consumption from 7000 litres to 1000 litres a year.
Tony Kelly, Yarra Valley Water managing director and spokesman for the Water Saver Garden Centre program, said that with storage levels at just 36.1 per cent, people needed to become accustomed to the dry climate and change their behaviour in the garden accordingly.
“We are in drought and have been for quite some time,” he said.
“We need to be realistic about gardens that really aren’t suited to our climate.
“I would suggest gardeners invest in drought-tolerant plants when creating new gardens or revamping existing ones.”
The Cranbourne Country Garden Centre is located at the corner of Cranbourne-Frankston Road and Pearcedale Road, Cranbourne South, phone:.
