Gardening marathon

As those who pop in regularly may know, I've been working on a monumentous garden project for the last few months. It may only be a department of education house but I call it home. This means that the $1000 garden grant I procured was joyfully received.

For those of you who just aren't into gardening I understand why you'd want to skip the gazillion before and after shots I'm about to post.... it's not normally my thing either. But what better place to record my garden grow than here!!

For those who can spare the time please join me on my journey so far...

Last winter the place was looking pretty shabby. The garden beds were completely covered in sticky weed, sometimes up to mid thigh height. Initially the big motivator for dealing with the jungle was to make sure the garden was presentable for a very special friend's outdoor kitchen tea in Spring. While the garden was looking pretty shmick for the event, it was then that my mind started ticking over with ideas.















Once denuded of weeds, the side of the house was desolate. It didn't look overly attractive from our kitchen and dining room windows and we also needed a screen from the neighbors who walk down their side access path regularly. In other parts of the garden the existing plants were healthy but straggly for lack of a good prune. While they were far better after the once over, I was getting the bug.

So over several weeks I pottered around on the weekends sawing down tree limbs and pulling out shrubs, trying to work out what was actually worth keeping. Toward the end I was very pleased to have the help of Leroy the garden maintenance man and his team.... and my trusty Dad! Needless to say, there wasn't much left by the end.


Slotted in along the way Dad and I collected manure and compost to turn into the soil so it could brew in the months leading up to planting. If you have a look at my Dad's face you may get some idea of how he felt about this exercise.

One of the most enjoyable parts of my first gardening project was deciding what to put in. As I knew absolutely NOTHING to start with I did a lot of internet research. By the time my parents arrived for the Easter planing I'd come up with a selection of plants I thought would work together well here. With the help of a very helpful nursery owner the final mix was brought in.









So the final stages of transformation began ....

Looking up the driveway where the green waste had been piled, there is now a neat little row of Sysygium green box that will grow into a hedge as tall as the fence. When we tried to plant the white weeping cherry that was supposed to nestle here, we discovered an old underground concrete drain about a foot down. That dashed our hopes of planting any kind of tree (and explains why the origainal tree blew down). It was a bit of a disappointment at first, but I saved a lot of money going for the standard iceberg rose instead. I've been thinking of placing shorter versions of the rose either side of the 4 foot, and maybe dwarf agapanthus as a boarder. But there's no rush for that.

The beautiful tree in the side garden, which I discovered only has a few years left in it....

looks a bit more like this now...


The opposite corner of this area was the most difficult to know what to do with, seeing as it didn't look that bad to start with.










But by the time a few overgrown trees were taken out it was pretty obvious that what was left wouldn't work on its own. While the new look corner isn't quite as lush and green, nor as effective at covering the fence, given 5 years I'm sure the carefully placed conifers, standard lillipilli, nandina and orange blossom will look great. No doubt the surprise mandarin tree right in the corner will bear fruit now too, seeing as it's finally getting some light.


In the front garden the brick fence is even uglier. I'm hoping that with the individual garden beds removed and some additional conifers, standard lillipilly's and nandina's, it now has the potential to be more than an overgrown daisy bush and sticky weed playground.

To top it all off that horrible back door access footpath now has the beginnings of a lillipilly hedge and a little herb garden. Herbs that Esther and I will use very well I'm sure.















You may notice a few weeds already growing up among my fine looking herbs. It's an ongoing issue, as any gardener knows, but I'm thankful that I have finally discovered Round Up. In the 3 days since spraying, already the poison is working its magic.

There are a few finishing touches left to keep me occupied over the weekends to come, such as distributing the last of the mulch, top dressing the lawns and planting white and purple bulbs. But in reality, I'm sure it's just the beginning. No doubt the new garden shed that's being put in soon, and my brand spankin' new mower & edge trimmer, will be getting regular work outs.

And so ends the introductory installment of my first foray into the gardening world. I think quick updates every year or so will be all you have to endure in the future. In the meantime local readers can feel free to drop by any time with their gardening gloves in hand.

For a message to my sponsors....

No large project is ever a one woman show, so I'd like to thank...

Dad, for two trips to Mt Gambier to be my brawn - I couldn't have done it without you Dad. It was your 'bull at a gate' mentality that got us through! I'm sure any mammoth agapanthus would quake at the site of you.

Mum, for withholding her fear that I was taking on to much and sacrificing herself for the sake of my dreams - your aching overworked body was testament to your love for me Mum. I promise I'll never ask you to do anything like it again (but that doesn't include packing up my kitchen next time I move does it!?)

Rita, for her ideas and wise advice to wait til summer was over to plant - it probably saved me my sanity through those hot spells we had. By the way, your endless energy in maintaining such a huge and spectacular garden will always be an inspiration to me.

Simun, for the ****(manure) - what can I say, it was quality stuff!! You can tell that farmer friend of yours that I now understand why he likes to play with it.... I'll be back for more.

Matt, for so gracefully accepting that the tray on his ute is now permanently on a slope - it was actually Simun's **** (manure) that did it!!!

Tracey, for talking and weeding alongside me - your willingness to support me where the rubber hits the road will be remembered. You can count that as an IOU.

Esther & Christine, for their patience in listening to me yabber on about boring old gardening all the time and for not complaining when I trapesed dirt through the house - it's cool house mates like you that make doing the garden worthwhile in the first place. Wouldn't be half the home it is without you.

THE END (gee, credit writing is fun! *note to self... find excuses to write more of them)