Watching the garden grow......

I've spent a few  minutes today looking back over photos of the garden.  Even though I've been the one to put in the work, I sometimes forget how far the garden has come in 4 years. I think most gardeners are guilty of seeing what is to be done next, rather than taking pleasure in what they have achieved.  

When we moved in the garden style was very heavily skewed towards water saving and native plants. Given we had just been through years of drought, it was a sensible choice (if not very exciting). I couldn't wait to get my hands dirty and make my mark on the garden. 

The narrow bed beside the drive was screaming out for something more interesting. I'm not a fan of Agapanthus, so they were replanted out on the road side. The Potato Vine and Jasmine were already in place, and have continued to thicken up.  The tired natives were given a good hair cut. Those that survived have been incorporated into the new bed. 

I wanted to renovate the bed so that it would give good screening, but not block out the view. So I decided to go with  "Big Red" Lillypilly that will grow up to form a 2m screen. I've added a mix of  Kangaroo Paw that were on a throw out table at the local nursery, as a mid level planting. I've managed to hold onto most through the frosty weather. After all, they are a bit far away from their natural warm & dry environment.  My mum struck cuttings from the box hedge from her garden,  so I could add this as a lower story hedge. It will grow about knee high.

This bed hasn't been easy to work with. The soil (if you can call it that) is rock hard and basically a mix of rocks and really poor dirt. I've been heaping the sugar cane mulch, dynamic lifter and trace elements onto the bed to try and improve the soil. It's going to be an ongoing process I'm afraid. I can't wait to see what it looks like in another 4 years.

beside the drive summer 2010

Spring 2013