The word on the street

On a street corner in Melbourne’s inner east is a beautiful pocket of habitat filled with Australian grasses and other hardy plants. Although it’s a council-owned street garden bed, the space is the creation of local resident Basil Natoli, whose hard work brought it to life.

For Basil Natoli, creating gardens is second nature. A special education teacher with a strong background in horticulture, Basil has worked with students of all abilities to develop thriving school gardens. He has been a key facilitator in the development of community gardens in and around Melbourne, including the first Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation program at the Collingwood Community College. With a vibrant career behind him, Basil’s horticultural achievements extend well beyond Australian gardens – most notably, he discovered a new species of Amorphophallus on Palawan Island in the Philippines.

When Basil heard of Yarra City Council’s street garden initiative, which involved community members creating and caring for gardens in council managed streetscapes, he jumped at the opportunity. With no clear plan, his street garden – on the corner of Bath and Turner Streets in Abbotsfield – started as a rescue mission. He noticed tiny seedlings emerging from beneath the base of the river red gum that died at the site during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Fearing they wouldn’t survive in their current position, he dug the seedlings out and potted them up. “I nurtured about 20 seedlings in pots for 12-18 months,” says Basil. Knowing they couldn’t stay in pots for much longer, Basil planted them out. “I tended to and protected those small river red seedlings, planting them in the vicinity of what is now the new garden. It was very physical work.”

To complement the river red gum seedlings, Basil selected Australian grasses along with hardy succulents and perennials such as pigface, red hot pokers, grevilleas, acacias and everlasting daisies. “I planted cuttings of a selection of plants that I thought would cope with the tough conditions and absence of irrigation,” he says.

Basil spent a lot of time removing the kikuyu grass from the site – an aggressive grower that’s declared an environmental weed in Victoria and other parts of Australia. “As I planted, I would bucket water across the road from my home,” he says. Despite the physical effort involved, Basil found solace in watching the space transform.

Basil was impressed by the support he received from the council. “Yarra City Council’s horticultural team were a wonderful support over the past few years, assisting with watering, mulching, providing new Australian plants and removing green waste as I worked through plant selection,” he says.

Through creating his street garden and watching it evolve, Basil witnessed firsthand how green spaces can bring communities together, with some local residents even offering to help care for the site. “Over the years neighbours have delighted in the beauty of the garden and now hold their annual neighbourhood gatherings on the grass next to the garden,” he says.

Supported by Yarra City Council’s horticulture team, Basil has created additional gardens in the community. “I have no plans to retire while I can still create a garden,” he says. “From little things big things grow!”

For those who live in the council area and want to get involved, Yarra City Council has revealed a six-month trial to extend the street gardens project. Now, participants will get access to free local native plants to plant up their chosen site, with the number of plants allocated on a case-by-case basis. New guidelines have also been outlined which provide guidance on plant selection and creating habitat while keeping the footpaths accessible for pedestrians. Go to the Yarra City Council website for more information.

Images by Basil Natoli and Yarra City Council