19 July 2021

Running dry in Erindale

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As it finally rained today I received an email saying The Garden in Erindale is closing down, due, of course, to the drought. And I was wondering what the RiotACTers are doing with their gardens (or dirt patch where the lawn used to be)?

And while we’re on the topic, can I start up a fiery debate as to where Canberra’s best nursery is. Do you prefer the ‘rural’ atmosphere of Piallago (with the often sighted airport behind), those small suburban nurseries, or the quality of big w and bunnings?

READ ALSO The best nurseries in Canberra

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do you think that the unrealistically low prices and abnormal choice of products continued?

In which case the market will *eventually* do what it does best, and that is to reach a new equilibrium.

I didn’t say it’d happen overnight.

emd: Yes, this is true. I know of a small business that closed down after being targeted by a large chain. The chain store specifically stocked lines they didn’t normally carry in order to directly compete with the smaller shop and used their other stores to subsidise their prices until the smaller shop went out of business. Once the competition was gone, do you think that the unrealistically low prices and abnormal choice of products continued? ha!

I went to Erindale today: most stock gone.

and if anyone just happens to be in Adelaide… Beach Road hardware at Christies Beach: great range, friendly people and free home delivery….

Good to hear Nemo.

I think people are starting to turn away from Bunnings. Their service is appalling – how much advice can you obtain from a 15 yo working after school.

My family own a small Mitre 10 store in Adelaide, their customer base is rapidly growing despite having a Bunnings megastore 100m up the road.

I love the look of the zen garden, but guaranteed my kids would destroy it. Actually, I wonder if they could be taught to do the raking?

Sammy:
The finite resources of the market are directed toward those businesses that are most efficiently able to use said resources.
Until one business becomes so dominant of the market that they can effectively do as they please. Microsoft, the Woolies/Coles duopoly, AWB… and Bunnings.

If you try to grow a plantless Zen garden, it’s guaranteed that weeds will invade it!

I think we should all do zen gardens – nice and calming, and no watering required. Just heaps of raking if you’re next to a frequently walked zone!

It was a good shop, though I used it not as much as those who care about gardening. I fear it will not be the last business to go under with water restrictions.

Makes a mockery of the whole competition process

Actually, this is how a market operates.

The finite resources of the market are directed toward those businesses that are most efficiently able to use said resources.

Bugger. I made a principled point of going to Erindale (which is always so relaxing and ambient, with more interesting plants) and avoiding Bunnings. I think Bunnings are contributing to lots of small businesses going under, such as lighting shops, auto places, nurseries, paint shops. They’ve already killed off most hardware competition. Makes a mockery of the whole competition process. In the end the big fish swallow up the little fish. I hope they don’t buy Coles.

I planted about 20 natives shrubs in late Winter-early Spring last year, watered them once a week by watering can, and except for two which died, they have all done really well.

Will chuck a few more in the ground over Winter and see how they go.

I think using the drought as an excuse for shutting up shop is a bit dodgy. Must have been a pretty borderline business to be closing that easily. Most other garden centres have done alright through the drought as more people are buying natives or other drought tolerant plants.

I buy most of my plants at Bunnings or from the plant man who sells at the ANU Union Court on Thursdays.

I don’t buy garden stuff often (especially as it seems crazy to plant stuff in a drought), but I like Pialligo. Pick the right time to go, and you can also get cheap horse manure to fertilise your new plantings, and some organic apples to replenish your energy after.

Same as el, we never planted a lawn per say, we just let the natural grasses grow and regular mowing seemed to discourage weeds. So we’ve never watered it – it dies off in droughts but greens up quickly when rain arrives. We also planted our free allocation of plants from the nursery and chose natives for the same reason. We very rarely have resorted to watering them when their leaves began to curl and even then just enough to keep them going until the rains came.

The funny thing is houses around us paid for expensive canturf or that spray-on stuff and all look worse than ours at the moment – both in greeness and patchiness. Native grass rocks!

Yep, I think we collectively need to get rid of our European gardens and get used to plants and ground covers that are native.

it was a good shop too. i bought all my kitchen herbs there.

Absolutely nothing. Much the same as before the drought. I haven’t watered once and don’t plan on starting any time soon. The garden still looks much the same as when we moved in (except there’s actually _more_ lawn now).

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