February 2007 garden news

February Garden news

What a great way to start the month Rain for two days, not a lot. It means we do not have to water for a few days, and it’s nice to see the plants looking so well, no matter how much we water, the plants never look as good as when it has rained.
The neighbours are sub dividing and when I arrived home there was a truck taking all the soil away, so like an idiot I asked for about six metres to be dumped over the fence. It was not as good as I thought it was, full of clay, rock and roots. It was a very tough job getting the soil into the new garden. There’s about a metre or so left and I just cannot face it, so I have called in Chad with the Dingo to clear it away. We have partly planted the new garden. Finally went out early Saturday morning in our local creek cast netting for prawns, caught about 6 kilos, it was a welcome break away from the garden. Once everything was cleaned I went to the landscaping yard and bought some brickies loam and some very nice flat moss covered rocks. I then cemented and pointed the rocks and laid a few loose ones to create a natural look. I then filled the pond with a mix of tank and town water, treated with ‘Phoslok’ and a pond conditioner. On Sunday went to see Franquois at Capalaba and bought 10 water lilies. I let him choose some ones that will flower for the ‘Open Garden’ in November. The pond looks great and I am very happy with the end product. All that is left is some planting and the addition of fish into the pond. At last some good solid rain over a few days, hopefully this will finally reach the subsoil, just cannot remember when the subsoil was last damp. Unfortunately the rain quickly disappeared (may of been an illusion) and we will have to start watering soon. It is now the last week of the month and all my new Water Lilies look like they are dying, had the Ph checked and that was all OK, so I have no idea what is wrong, next step is to change the water. Fish are doing well so perhaps it’s not the water.

January Garden news 2007

I have a very sore shoulder at the moment; some small movements cause a stabbing pain down my arm. It’s funny because I can still do most jobs, dig holes, shovel soil ect but when I try and do little things like lift a pot or wash my back in the shower the pain starts. Hopefully with some cortisone and massage I can get back on track.
I have started on the lily pond, I was going to make the new garden an island with two branching pathways, my son had a look and persuaded me that it would look better as an addition to the existing garden, so that’s the way I am going to go. I was very proud of him coming up with this idea.The ‘Dingo’ is coming this week the dig the hole for me, and then I start on the pavers, rocks and soil, then of course the choice of suitable plants. I think I will have the large yellow ‘Blanchetiana’ Bromeliads with Red Sensation, Red Fountain Cordylines, colour is really important in our garden. So far we are three weeks into January with high temperatures and absolutely no sign of rain. It’s so bloody frustrating. Basically we are only just keeping our plants alive; nothing is what you could call thriving. What a great garden we could have if we only had good soil and unlimited water. Having a garden like ours is a real test of character. The mini excavator arrived on Australia Day and Chad had the grass out and the hole dug in a little over an hour. The ground was as dry as a bone; I could never have dug this hole. As it was the temp was 35c with about 80% humidity and I was silly enough to cement the paving strip and place rocks and point. At the end of the weekend I am exhausted.