Lenzie’s practical garden one with nature

Lenzie Duffy has become self-sufficient after curating a vegetable garden and backyard orchard efficient enough to provide food all year round.

Lenzie said at the very first inspection he had visualised the garden in his soon-to-be Avenell Heights property.

The bare block allowed for the correct preparation and three years later the garden is now in full swing, with something always ready to harvest.

Being the eldest of six siblings, Lenzie said he started gardening at seven years of age as his responsibility was to feed the family.

“I learnt how to be very efficient, I also learnt the best way of growing things, the right angles and simply by practical application,” Lenzie said.

“I plant everything north south because you get maximum sun and better production.

“It's all part of the environment and if you set up the ecosystem right, all of these things work.”

Lenzie said everything you saw in the garden was recycled and what was thrown away by others now hosted a special place in his garden.

“When I first moved in, I used an excavator to dig 20 inches deep and found all the rubbish people had buried along with 200 bricks that I reused for the garden beds out the front,” he said. 

There are 64 trees that call Lenzie’s orchard home, with a range of international varieties.

“I've got a variety of from Peru, I've got one from South Africa and Indonesia,” he said.

“I've got fruit you won't be able to buy in the shop.”

To be able to grow such a diverse range of trees Lenzie said you must first create the right conditions.

“I changed the pH of the soil from 4.4 to 7.2, this gets all the pests out of their comfort zone,” he said.

“The soil here was .05 of organic matter, the soil is now up close to 20 per cent, I don’t need a digging fork to dig in my soil, that’s the difference.

“That holds the moisture and converts to all the nutrients your plants require, I don’t use fertilizer.”

The Bundaberg green thumb said everything in his garden was dual purpose as you’ve got to work with nature to get the best use out of it.

“All the walkways are waterways,” Lenzie said.

“The runoff from the neighbour’s yard continues down the waterways and waters the trees.”

“Companion planting is key, I plant flowers amongst the edible crops for the bees,

“I’ve got native bees here for pollinators.”

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