A wickingly happy story

LOCAL MAN Josh van Helsdingen has a hobby of building and installing wicking beds.

For readers unfamiliar with what a wicking bed is, imagine a giant ‘self watering pot’ in the form of a garden bed.

This waterwise garden innovation uses 50 per cent less water than traditional irrigation as there is less evaporation compared to top watered methods.

The basic idea is a garden bed designed to draw water up from a reservoir below – so ‘wicking’ up through the soil to the roots.

Hearing that the community group Toodyay Locals Care was planning to install a community garden behind their premises at 20 Fiennes Street, Mr van Helsdingen gave group founder Roz Davidson a call and offered to donate one of his wicking beds.

The offer was accepted and on March 2 he duly delivered a wicking bed to TLC.

Not only was the waterwise garden bed delivered – it was fully installed with all the additional kit to ensure a healthy growth of vegetables.

Ms Davidson said that the community would benefit from the wicking bed – the first of three.