September 2013 Garden News

What a horrible month September has been.

I was virtually unable to do any gardening due to my inflamed hip, talk about getting frustrated.

Then I decided to find out why my pond level was falling every day, and after removing some of the water I found that the old PVC liner had completely rotted and when I touched it the material just disintegrated.

This was something I really did not need.

This presented a real problem as when I originally built the pond I had tucked the liner under all the rocks sleepers and paver's.

There was no way I was going to completely remove all the rocks, sleepers and waterfall, so I had to find another way of repairing the pond.

I must admit that this caused me a few sleepless nights.

Fortunately there is a specialist pond shop close by and they recommended a new rubber liner stuck onto what was left of the old liner then stuck onto the rocks. The product they recommended was a Sikka marine adhesive sealant, well 10 tubes later at over $20 a tube I had the liner in the pond space and my fingers crossed.

The pond has now been refilled and the fish are back, so far all looks good.

We went through the hottest September on record with one small shower of rain; it is so dispiriting to see the garden dry out, and having to spend so much time hand watering.

Lucky our tanks have plenty of water.

We gave presentations to ‘Clairmont Garden Club’ and ‘Asply Orchid Society’, both were well received and we will be going back to both clubs.

I am very worried that one of my shade trees (Custard Apple) in the back is on its way out, it not looking very good and I have had to rig up some temporary shade for the under-story plants.
My Amorphophallus collection is coming along with over 54 different variety's so far collected including 'Titanum'.

I am starting to feel a bit better, hate being unwell.

Our son Scott won GOLD for Australia in the World Disabled Water Ski Championships held in Milan, we are very proud of him.