The creative use of common areas in body corporate complexes can be one way to build a greater sense of community amongst residents.

Common Ground Property Services recently had the pleasure to be involved in replacing an ornamental garden bed with a herb garden at a body corporate property in Brisbane.

In addition to the health benefits of having access to fresh herbs, the garden has also given residents a greater chance to interact with their neighbours as they collect ingredients for their dinner. Residents have added their own personal touches to the garden, such as planting out their own herbs and making their own plant labels. It has also been a relatively low-maintenance project due to the fact that Common Ground irrigated and mulched the garden.

For any body corporates considering putting in a herb garden, please see the following points for some guidelines you may like to consider.

1. Build a base – select good hardy herbs that are unlikely to fail such as rosemary, parsley, basil and oregano. Also be sure to choose herbs that will suit your region and the location of the garden bed (ie, full sun or part shade).

2. What’s popular? – ask residents what they are likely to use in their meals. People are less likely to take an active interest in a herb garden if it is full of herbs they don’t like or have never seen before.

3. Yield is important – make a small space work hard for you by choosing high yielding plants to complement the key herbs. Examples of high yielding hardy plants are garlic chives, chilli, pak choi and cherry tomatoes.

4. Variety is the spice of life – select a variety of different leaf shapes, flavours, colours and sizes. Not only will this improve the appearance of your herb garden, but interplanting different herbs may also help to confuse insect pests that are keen to dine out on your plants.

I would strongly recommend all body corporate complexes consider setting up a small low-maintenance herb garden. It is good for everyone’s health and is a fun and easy way to bring residents together.