AILDM goes to the Blue Mountains...
a visit to the garden and house of AILDM President, Arthur Lathouris.....sustainable living in action. WHEN: 10 October 2009 from 10.00am
WHERE: Arthur and Rosemary's Garden, Wentworth Falls. (Details provided after Registration)
COST: $30.00 - including morning tea, tour and lunch.
This event is limited to AILDM members and supporters and their family and friends (two-legged only). Registration for this event is essential. Numbers are limited.
SUSTAINABLE LIVING - HOUSE AND GARDEN
Arthur and Rosemary live in Wentworth Falls in the upper Blue Mountains, 100km from Sydney. The one acre property is a combination of ornamental and productive gardens. If you're looking for a pretty, picture-perfect display garden or a rare plant collector's garden then keep on driving through to the Leura Garden Festival, which is also on the same weekend.
Arthur and Rosemary are attempting to live as sustainably as possible but if you're expecting to see a couple of grey haired hippies living in a cave and eating moss, don't bother travelling all that way either. They hope to show you that having a small ecological footprint is possible whilst enjoying a modern, comfortable lifestyle. By building a low impact, mud-brick, passive solar house facing north, equipping it with a solar hot-water system and installing solar PV panels, life can be very pleasant while taking very little energy from the national grid.
In the garden, Arthur and Rosemary use tank water for all garden watering. Mulching, healthy soil and plant selection are all an important part of low water usage in this environment.
An extensive vegetable garden provides much of their food most of the year, with surplus produce stored and preserved for later consumption. Growing vegetables and fruits to suit the climate is an integral reason for their success.
Arthur uses the garden to experiment with plants to test their hardiness in a cool, frosty climate as well as trialling various plant combinations. Rain can be unpredictable, (even though averaging 1300mm per annum), so plants have to be tough enough to survive with little extra water. The growing environment is complicated by sandy, bushland soil with shallow underlying rock and the ever-hungry presence of large pine trees, so common, in the upper mountains. Arthur and Rosemary love a wide variety of plants, both native and exotic, but maintain a link with endemic vegetation at the rear of the property.
The garden was designed by Arthur 12 years ago and has changed as the children (two boys) grew up and no longer needed grass for games. There is a strong formal structure reinforced by a variety of hedges but the overall feel of the garden is soft and relaxed.
Morning Tea will be served on arrival. A light lunch will be provided at the completion of the guided tour of the house and gardens.
The Leura Festival is also on at the same time with a number of scheduled events and gardens open.
Leura Gardens Festival Events
There will be a lot of traffic on the day which is the main reason we're opening in the morning. Try to get away early as the Great Western Highway upgrade is causing major delays to weekend traffic. There is also a train to Wentworth Falls. We will arrange transport from the station for those who let us know. Train times and maps will be available leading up to the day. We'll even disclose a secret route to avoid some of the worst traffic bottlenecks.