For the last few weeks I’ve been struggling to get anything done in the yard (I won’t call it a garden cause right now its far from pretty) and been feeling a real need to tidy it up and prepare it for winter. You know. Cut things back, pull up deal annuals, deadhead… etc etc.
And mow. We’ve had odd weather lately: cold, wet, windy. Then sunny and gorgeous. So the lawn (or the weeds I call lawn) has been growing like crazy, then its too wet to mow… Then Wayne lets the horses into the yard to eat the grass and they trim back things I don’t actually want trimmed and poop all over the place…
Well, we finally had a couple of sunny dry days in a row and I was able to get stuff done.
I know, you’re fascinated. My life is so exciting.
I only managed to weed and mulch two tiny garden beds. The pretty daisy bush above was a nice round shape till one of the horses ate the middle out of it…
Believe it or not, there’s a narrow garden bed in there, just below the wall. The alysum has spread out of it and totally covered the little footpath. Its pretty though so all I did there was cut back the dead lupins.
I finally managed to cut down and remove the two banksia roses I had climbing the trellis above. Yes, I love pale yellow banksia roses, but only if they actually flower! Those bushes have been in that spot since pretty much the year we bought this place and they grew and grew and grew but never flowered. Ever. I’d get one sprig with a few tiny buds. What they did do, though, was get a powdery mildew-ey tpe of disease on the leaves every single year. I decided they needed to go. Well, to be moved. I’ve taken cuttings. Fingers crossed. The cut back plant/roots need to be dug up next. I don’t know how they’d take to being moved, but if they make it great. If not, hopefully a couple of the cuttings will take.
The trellis looks so naked without the banskias.
Meanwhile, one small area of the embankment is looking pretty with the two different shades of cosmos flowering.
And I love the autumn colours of the ornamental grape vine I put in a couple of years ago.
Unlike some parts of the world, we don’t have a lot of red autumn colours in Australia. Most native plants are evergreen, but here in Tasmania we have a lot of poplars that go golden in autumn like these on one of the walking tracks in New Norfolk.
The story goes that these poplars were brought over from England and first planted at a farm in the Derwent Valley, then were used as windbreaks by most farms growing hops in the area.
Other than playing with plants, I spent a little time finding a home for the bird cages I bought at the tip shop last week. I normally put plants in these but for now I just wanted to put them somewhere till spring. I’ve hung them on the side of the grooming room.
I managed to bash my middle finger with the hammer while doing it. The same poor finger I almost decapitated a couple of years ago. sigh…
The other thing we managed to do (we cause this was a two person job, not to mention a lot more people if they were available) was put this lovely big HEAVY post into the ground. Please note the little plant in the top of it. Theoretically that plant will grow and cover the post with flowers…
So, what’s with the post? Well… See that retaining wall? It was hit TWICE by customers dropping off or picking up dogs. The first time someone hit it it knocked the end of it out of wack. The second time it was hit the sleepers were knocked off the small post entirely.
And neither time did anyone say “Hey, I’m so sorry, I just ruined your retaining wall”
You know… I appreciate that people trust me to groom their dogs, but this is sort of beyond rude. I know a low retaining wall is hard to see over the back of a vehicle, but really? Why would you not say something?
Hence the huge post.
We might be going straight to hell for this, but the reasons are twofold:
- its harder to miss something that’s only a smidge shorter than me
- if someone hits this, they’ll know it… and it’ll give them something to remember it by!
Bwahaha!
(As I said, me, Wayne, hell…)
I have no idea what this thing was originally. We have two of them, both lying in our top paddock. They’re galvanised metal on the outside and filled with concrete except for the top area where I put the plant.
We’re talking SOLID. Not easily pushed over!
Ok. Now the plan is to paint it to make it stand out even more than it does so there’s no reason anyone would ever run into it. Red or red and white stripes comes to mind, but I’d like something more fun and imaginative. Ideas anyone?
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junk4joy 