SERIES 20 | Episode 37
Tucked away in the heart of Adelaide city centre is 'Christie Walk,' an urban housing development that's home to about forty people. Sophie says, "There's a really strong sense of community here and the gardens are an integral part of that. They're designed specifically to draw people out of their houses to enjoy the view or to get stuck into some gardening."
The idea for the development began in the early 1990s when a group of green minded locals pooled their money and bought a 'T'- shaped block about 2000 square metres in size.
Paul Downton was the architect. He says, "This is a very small site but the gardens run all the way through, onto the roofs and up the walls, and I think that's the way cities should be. And when they're like that, the high density that people are so scared of suddenly becomes acceptable because you're actually living in a walled garden."
The development includes four townhouses, nineteen apartments and four stand alone cottages. Every piece of available outdoor space has been used for gardens. They can be clearly seen from any of the buildings and there are seats dotted throughout the property.
The houses don't have fences between them and most gardens are tended communally. When people first moved in they brought plants from their old gardens and the freedom to plant anything still remains, making for a very interesting garden.
'Christie Walk' resident, Effie Best, put a lot of time into the communal gardens. She says, "It's meant to be a normal community, not a community of nutty gardeners...though there a few about!"
Some of the walkway areas are quite shady and Effie says there is a bit of trial and error working out what'll grow. A plant she's quite delighted with is the Teucrium 'Silver n Sapphires' which is flowering very well in a shady spot. Two climbers which are growing strongly are a native Clematis and a Kennedia rubicunda.
All the plants in the garden are functional and everything is integrated. Deciduous vines grow over the buildings to help with passive heating and cooling and the apartment block is topped with a roof garden to help insulate the top floor.
Sophie's amazed that the gardeners have even managed to grow trees on the roof. Effie explains that all the roof garden plants have shallow root systems. "On summer evenings, it's wonderful," she says. "Even at this time of year we'll come up at about five o'clock and sit around with a glass of wine and enjoy looking over the city - it's delightful."
Almost every resident has been involved in some way with the planting or maintenance of the gardens and, because it's a joint effort, the gardens will always reflect the community that lives here.
Paul Downton says, "It's actually worked better than I thought it would. It is richer and more diverse, and there's liveliness to it all which I might have hoped for but it's much better than I imagined."
Sophie says, "'Christie's Walk' proves that mixed density living doesn't have to be at the expense of the social and environmental benefits of gardens. And this is one place where you'll definitely get to know your neighbours." She asks Paul if 'Christie Walk' is the future of urban living.
"Yes I think so," replies Paul. "It is possible to live in more compact ways that are attractive and where people can get together comfortably. It's all part of this equation for creating what we talk about as sustainability. And in many ways it goes back to the traditional idea of the town and village."