Down South in Spring

twenty-eight parrot a photo by margoc on Flickr.

Spring in the Pemberton region is simply stunning! I did a few walks to the Gloucester Tree while there and the birds are more than interested in us visitors! This twenty-eight was obviously looking for a bit of brekky.

The wild flowers and creepers are out in full colour - stunning! Check out the pics on my Flickr site for more!

October Update

Excuse me but where is October going??? We've had a busy month - some of it in the garden and the remainder dealing with life generally I suppose!

We scored some half wine barrels from our dear friend Phil and now have a lovely Eureka lemon and a Tahitian Lime - both doing well. A third barrel will support one of our Ficus trees and provide some much needed shade in the Summer heat.



We've planted another lot of dwarf beans after our success with the first lot (still going if getting a little woody!), and the purple king beans have lovely purple flowers heralding the impendng arrival of purple beans! The garlic are drying out and due to be pulled up very shortly.



A question mark over the carrots and beetroot at present - slowed down in their growth and seem to be affected by the little bit of heat we've had so far, especially the beetroot - will keep an eye on these and check the water is getting to them...

Tomatoes are flowering very well (see pic above) and the passionfruit vines are on a race to see which one will make it to the roofline first! The strawberries in the hanging baskets have lots of flowers and some green fruit already - will top them up with some seasol solution.



We have done a heap of pottting as well - some natives and annuals for colour and coverage. It helps in bringing some colour to the back patio which is concrete (and hot in summer!).

Finally, the grapevine is fast covering the new white frame and Simon added a swing to entice the kids to the sandpit space a little more. Hoping to get enough coverage as the weather warms up. Next big job is to put up the lattice along the boundary and get some covering vines going to futher provide some summer relief (you'll see the old lattice behind the grapevine in the photo below...)!



All ticking along nicely :o)

Happy gardening!

Visual plants and ancient trees

We recently had a verge-side "bring out your dead" day whereby residents drop all and sundry on the footpath to be collected by the council for recycling or dumping (imagine old fridges, tree cuttings, items from yesteryear - that sort of thing). Leading up to the pick-up day itself, neighbours (and visitors) can be watched crawling along the street looking intently at the piles for that little (or big) treasure! It confirms the old adage "one person's trash is another person's treasure!"

I'll admit to some kerb crawling (said tongue-in-cheek!) myself and picked up some big pots and the top of a wheelbarrow to use as a succulent garden. I like the effect!



I've always been a fan of the succulent family for their ability to survive on very little attention only to grace you with a lovely show of delicate flowers! Here I've planted some Aloe (has a flower stem that grows from the centre of the plant up to about 50cm with a red poker-like flower); a red jade tree (at least I think it is); and Aeoniums, together with some yellow African Daisies (also hardy). I had some small zygocactus pieces that had struck out roots so popped them in as well (see in foreground of photos).

With Summer just around the corner, this little garden should be settled in enough to cope with the heat... ...but we will see!

A side note: Simon's aunty gave us a Ginkgo tree - these are simply lovely trees and from what I've read (as I know little about them) they are quite ancient and grow quite large to about 50 metres. Long thought of as a sought-after medicinal plant in Chinese and Japanese cultures, it has many healing properties. We'll be keeping ours in a pot and will admire its delicate fan-like foliage which turns bright yellow in Autumn.



Happy gardening!

Spring gardening: some extras

A lovely day today to tidy up the garden and get some more vegies in - love the cycle of growing!
Popped in some more dwarf snappy beans - they are so productive for such little plants, I'm totally sold on them!



Also sowed some coriander, parsley, bok choy and chives, all to minimise the growth of (and turned in) the seedlings coming up from the compost (that one wasn't a fully 'hot composted' load then was it?).

Dosed up the potted plants and seedlings of beetroot, carrot and swiss chard with a weak seasol solution. Pulled a couple of garlic too as they are beginning to go dry and yellow - not as big as I'd hoped but had planted team around the brocolli and caulies so perhaps didn't get the feed they needed.



Spring is the best time of the year! Happy gardening!

Sustainable House Day 2011

Part of Sustainable September includes Sustainable House Day. We visited an open house on Sunday morning, a renovation (retaining the small, street-facing original double brick home) using passive solar and universal design principles throughout. It was really helpful to talk with the owner and hear their experiences on the ins and outs of designing and building a home using green principles.

Here are my take away thoughts:

• Get a number of quotes from architects and builders before making a final decision.
• Have a good ongoing relationship with your architect (they can also help when talking with the builders, especially if issues arise).
• Be prepared to compromise if necessary for practicality sake (it's incredibly expensive to take a purist's view on sustainable design and building!) and be wary of "green washing".
• Be available regularly at least to stay in touch with progress, especially if there are suggested design changes.
• Engage builders who are knowledgable in sustainable building practices, materials and approaches (including minimising on-site rubbish and disruption where possible).
• Be realistic (and well prepared) about budget and timeframes!
• Think beyond the initial build/renovation (i.e. future proofing and ongoing maintenance needs, etc).
• Be prepared for a relatively stressful time throughout. :o)

And the garden? Don't leave it til the end, build it into the design and get stuck in! :o)

Happy gardening!