Relocatable Home in Lorikeet Lane

''Bit of a challenge you've got there'', the elderly neighbour said. ''It's been neglected for a few years. What do you have in mind?'' I replied'' I'm going to redo the garden and harmonise its natural Chi energies, you know, use Feng Shui". He looked perplexed and probably thought his new neighbour isn't all there. I wasn't going to get into a dialogue with him on the merits of harmonious Chi gardening and explain how to ''Chi up'' a place for feelings of harmony and well being. The neighbour would definitely know his neighbour was a bit barmy. But to me, I'm going to introduce beneficial Chi energies for my personal well being and create a place of interest and vitality. What did I have in mind?

The site is a just a position of sharp angles, rectangular garden beds and straight pathways. The garden beds contain many overgrown and woody shrubs and compliment bare walls of garden sheds and the stark fibro cladding of the neighbours relocatable. No privacy for me to sit upon the back veranda and take in the picturesque views of a creek and golf course. Too add to my misery there is too much shade from overhanging Eucalyptus trees and a harsh image from blue metal spread where there should be lawn and to me the garden presented a neglected image. Presently a place of unfriendly elements and is unorganised and disjointed. There's no rhythm or flow about the garden and no place for beneficial Chi to enter and accumulate.

A compass reading suggested the relocatable faced NNE and ideal for capturing winter sun, but the rear veranda faces dense bushland and is heavily shaded from the early morning sun. My external living areas would be ideal places to spend summer months but too dull and cold in winter. The neighbourhood homes were also constructed about twenty years ago and now contain a pleasant mixture of gardens and styles suiting the needs and backgrounds of residents. These gardens are generally healthy and providing plenty of colour and diversity. Soils near my relocatable are sandy loam and slightly acidic suggesting the site was built up above the adjoining Melaleuca swamps.

My first objective was to screen the neighbours and a localised Lilly Pilly (Syzygium luehmannii) was introduced. Fast growing and regularly pruned to about 3mts rewarded with pink flushes of new growth regularly throughout the year. These would encapsulate my home and garden, completely screen neighbours and channel Chi from the front to back and in turn capture (the borrowed scenery) of the golf course and creek. The second task is to remove existing pathways and garden beds and replace them with ''a garden on the curve'' i.e. curves along all pathways, lawn areas and garden beds. All curves gentle in nature to slow the eye and encourage the garden user to take in what's happening around them.

The visual focus of the garden can be guided through the location of soft leaved, shade tolerant Buffalo turf laid onto a prepared bed commencing at the road edge winding to a pavilion location at the rear, varying in width from 3.5 metres to just over 1 metre and channelling the eye through the varying widths to maintain interest and diversity. Because the lawn strip weeps around corners and garden beds, one is led on a mystery tour of the garden discovering the pavilion and entry to the relocatable. The turf controls light and space and focuses the eye of the visitor to the features aligning its edges.

The lawn directs access and 450mm square concrete pavers are set into the turf to strengthen the curved appeal I'm seeking. The pavers weep from the road verge alongside the relocatable, around to the entry porch and pavilion location.

To complete this basic transformation, I reaped havoc on the existing plants and subsequently relocated or removed many. I didn't have the heart to lay bare the site but integrated new plants alongside older ones ensuring the outcome considered my vision for each garden, creating a style to suit my stage in life (seeking a tropical, lively place of diversity, mystery and complexity). I'll take out some existing shrubs once the newer introductions take shape.

I wanted water in there somewhere and decided the appropriate place was beside the steps leading onto the relocatable. A 600mm concave terracotta bowl would be ideal but cost and availability was beyond me so I settled on an Indonesian Lava stone basin large enough for a water feature and a potted lily. I'll set the feature in a bed of pebble with some Mondo grass and a couple of Lomandra Tamika grasses to complement and hide the wall abutting against the veranda, maybe a small figurine to compliment and the sound of water through a submersible pump spilling to reach my veranda chair.

I want to harness my four aids for beneficial Chi accumulation and these are necessary introductions for any garden. Health (all plants healthy), clutter (clean lines of vision and uses), right plant (find and locate plants that conform to the idealised vision for the area) and finally symbolism (to me expressions of our self through ornaments and features to give the site diversity and a personal imprint). The four aids to Chi strengthen Yang and introduce the five elements of Fire and Metal to the garden and give the place added life and vitality.

I suggest the golf course is my borrowed scene and this feature is a readymade focus to the garden and doesn't cost any money! Inadvertently the golf course offers the garden another dimension and becomes a place to guide the eye across the creek and in return the golf course Chi is directed back into the garden, a ''hole in one'' for me. Besides, the golf course vista is enhanced further from the chair on the veranda and standing over the kitchen sink.

Entry to the garden from the roadway is the point of arrival and separation from the outside world. I have grouped screening plants to hide the opposite relocatable and swept the lawn and parking area around a curved entry to hide the garden proper from the roadway. A couple of Balinese images set into gardens on either side of the entry act to deter negative spirit energies.

What I have basically done through the makeover is recognise and remove sha (negative or inauspicious Chi), balanced the Yang influences with infusions of Yin and transformed the garden to a more Yin place bolstering Yang through the symbolism and varied shapes and colours of plants used in the makeover. My obsession with lack of direct sunlight (overpowering Eucalyptus trees and its sha influence) is controlled by the varied use of colour and shapes of plants and figurines. The treatments recognise abnormalities relating to the sites impact on my senses (vision, sound, smell and sound while tempering localised climatic conditions upon my skin).

Cultivating natural Chi energies are my basic goal and they reward me with harmonious interaction, seclusion and a place of interest and vitality. Number 1, Lorikeet Lane to me will become a place of happiness, security and well being and a very cost effective and sustainable outcome.

*Please read this article on my website page for detailed images of this gardening project transformation*