WDHS Hospital Gardens

Wonderful Spring Rain gets the Grass Growing

2009-09-30T00:51:00.005-05:00

Hello All. Isn't the garden looking great this spring? Not only that, but the water laying about the paddocks and flooding the creeks and rivers is also a long awaited gift. We measured 94ml for August and with September almost over, it too looks much better than this time last year.

All this rain has helped my recent plantings at the Francis Hewitt Centre enormously. I ended up using a mixture of hardy exotic and native shrubs again including; Rosemary, Rock Rose, Hebe, Diosma, Hakea, Grevillea, a couple of interesting Banksia varieties and some self-sown Wattles. I can't wait to see it all transform in a few years!

The rest of my time has been taken up with maintenance as usual. I picked a recent wet day to dart around with some fertilizer and feed all the roses and a couple of other shrubs. That always raises eyebrows for a few days, but it is worth it. I've also been into a few hedges, starting with the Pittosporums around the edge of the Birches and finishing with the mixed hedge along Tyres Street at the Francis Hewitt Centre, before the trimmers went all wrong and needed mechanical attention.

I also had to spray weeds everywhere too, finishing with the paddock adjacent to the new ambulance station. Unfortunately it rained soon after (I'm often luckier than that), so I re-sprayed it a bit later. Once the builders are out, I can have the area levelled properly and it can all be slashed like the other paddock.

Finally I pulled out the poppies at the Birches and replaced them with Petunias for the summer (even though they were still soldiering on strongly.) In the other small plot, I planted a mixture of cherry like tomatoes for the residents to grow on when the time comes.

At home, nothing has changed much, though my cabbages are thinking about heartening up and the Dutch Cream potatoes are well up. I've planted some basil and Grosse Lisse tomato seeds as well, which have just emerged, so I can't wait to plant them out.

Mowing, mulching and more!

2009-08-27T01:38:00.002-05:00

Hello again bloggers! Hasn’t the rain been good? July recorded 63.5ml here, not quite getting to the 69ml of last year. But with August at 66ml so far, we’ve already passed last year’s total of 55mL and with a few days to go and the chance of more rain predicted, nice!

Since the last blog, the lawns out the font that were planted with leftover soil from the front garden bed, have bounced into life and Mick has cut them once already. It looks great.
I finally managed to finish the rose pruning too, only just ahead of their regrowth. Two weeks later and they are all full of spring promise. My next move with the garden in general, is to fertilize everything to give it all a good change to thrive.

With Mick away a bit lately on other errand, I’ve employed the use of the mowers, cutting all the grass. I was quite surprised at how much it had thickened up and was growing. It all start with the English type grasses than once the ground warms a little, the Kikuyu kicks in and then you know what grass is!

I’ve finally had a crack at the gardens over at the Frances Hewett Community Centre / Dental Clinic area. With Peter having had loads of mulch from the tip spread, we went about spreading some soft fall pine mulch around the more public areas, to make it all look good. Some of the older areas needed some attention too, post works (some ground levelling, rose shifting etc), and so they were neatened up as well so that everything blended in and looked the same. All I now need to do is plant it out. Fun time!

Back at the base, the Kenny boys laid a temporary car park around the big ash tree on the lawn behind physio, so I’ve had to level some rough edges up there and sow some lawn seed as well. Once it emerges, it should all look a lot better. The path edges leading to the Farmers Centre had the same treatment.

There’s not much happening at home in the vegie garden yet but the broad beans are still growing and I think the Dutch Creme spuds are poking through. Can’t wait to try them!

Maintaining our winter garden.

2009-07-22T01:38:00.006-05:00

Hello again. It's been a bit cold on the hands lately yes? And a little wet as well with May delivering 56 1/2 millimetres of rain, up 8ml on last year, and June with 64 1/2, up 27ml on last years total of 37 1/2. Good news. Over half way through July and we're up to 38ml, though it might be a bit much to match last years 69mls for that month but you never know.

On the ground, I've been busy with a couple of projects. I've just finished turning the front lawn into a garden bed. Unfortunately with the dense shade of the trees there and the odd lazy trespasser, very little grass grew and so it was sensible to cover it in mulch and plant it out to shrubs which will handle those conditions. So with shrubs such as camellias, clivias, plectranthus and a few correas, I'm Hoping for success. It does look decidedly better and Ive had a few positive comments in passing which can only be good. As a result of that job, I had heaps of topsoil to use somewhere, which brings me to my next present project. As a result of the new car park, there's a couple of lawns that need rejuvenating, so that soil, though full of Kikuyu roots will the do job nicely.

Once that's over with, I really need to continue with the pruning. There's the usual roses and the odd fruit tree and I thought I'd do other hedges, overgrown shrubs etc on the way around. It can take time once you factor in the lot. Its all good fun though, for me that is! Ive got some quite good friends whom regard gardens as hell with secateurs. They prefer concrete.

Finally, at some stage soon I'll need to focus some attention on the new F.H.C.C. / dental clinic area. It's quite a large canvas to work on though I have a few ideas for it. By the time I get there, most of the mulch should be down and a boundary fence should be up and I really only to plant. I look forward to doing that job.

At home, I'm still eating carrots and parsnips and the broad beans and peas have taken off. I recently purchased a packet of "Dutch Cream" seedling potatoes to try out, so I need to get them in soon. The red cabbages are experiencing mixed success with some larger than others. You win some and you lose some in this game!

Winter plantings

2009-06-01T23:46:00.004-05:00

Hi all. Well what a great time to be working in and admiring our gardens. Autumn leading into Winter is my favourite time of all. You have a stunning array of deciduous foliage from all manners of trees and shrubs as well as the distinctive aroma of a couple of classic old shrubs; Daphne, Winter Sweet and Osmanthus, for example. Of course we expect to see some rain at this time too and last month afforded us 39 mls. All told, up 15 on April last year. Nearing the end of May and we've already exceeded last May's total of 48 mls by 5 mls.

On the ground, the grass continues to grow and the leaves continue to fall. All of the Ash trees, our large Pin Oak at the front of the hospital and the Weeping Elm have finished and we're now cleaning up after the English Oaks, the English Elms and the Liquid Ambers. That should take us into mid June before that chore is over. These all end up on our larger garden beds as mulch where it breaks down into compost.

It's also a good time of year to plant a few things. I've put a couple of silky oaks (Grevillea Robusta) on the bank at the rear of the hospital where a couple of old natives had blown out, so I can't wait for the day when their branches sit proud with the rest of the foliage and produce that stunning golden yellow shock of colour in Summer.

Other plants include some smaller Grevilleas, Eremophilas, Callistemans, Banksias and a favourite of mine, the Pincussion Hakea. In the main courtyard, I've planted a few pots of Anthropodium here and there which should, like the Clivia, handle both the shade and the dry. Also, I found I was able to divide those I had bought, so 6 or 7 plants turned into 24 or 25. By Summer, all these plants should have established root systems in order to tackle the dry.

Another area I look forward to getting my grubby hands on is the Frances Hewett Community Centre. As a result of recent renovations, it appears I have quite a sizable canvas to work on. I've also decided to fill the front lawn up with shrubs as well. As the main entrance to the hospital it looks rather second hand as grass struggles to grow so I might as well change tact. Keep you informed on those two projects later.

At home, I'm still grazing on carrots, parsnips and pumpkins while recently planting broad beans, red cabbage, some lettuce from a generous friend with abundant extras and peas, something I don't normally plant but adored by a neighbour, so why not?!
Ciao

Green Patches

2009-04-27T19:14:00.002-05:00

Welcome again bloggers. How's your green patches looking? The lawns around here have all bloomed back to life since the rain of last month and while we haven't seen anything of note since then, the meteorological so sayers are predicting a nice drop, around 20ml or so by weekends end. Cutting grass for the last couple of days while Mick is away has shown me how dry things are again however, so this drip will be quite welcome.

I ended up cutting back that big, sick looking birch so now I'm hoping it can bounce back. I believe they're quite shallow rooted which is half their problem. I see many unwell birchs in Hamilton as I move around but for every couple of crook ones, you see one that seems not to be affected. We have a weeping birch here that grows in quite an exposed lawn and yet seems exceptionally healthy. I suspect its foliage shelters its root zone from the sun, keeping it cool and affording it a greater chance of survival.

Another job I've started was to cut out the old hydrangeas near McKellar house. I pulled 2 out but it as difficult work so I've decided to leave the 3rd in and poison it as it shoots up. Shouldn't be difficult. I'll check out the nursery for some plants to go in there, so long as they're drought tolerant. That should spare us having to water that bed again. I quite enjoy the thought of planting natives for the future. There are some interesting and stunning varieties of banksia, gum, wattle and bottle brush etc that rival the old types. Having said that, I won't give up planting tough exotic plants either. The camellias at the doctors clinic for instance have just rocketed ahead and in fact are budding up to flower.

I've also just been around the entire place with the poison sprayer as well. That last rain set off a new round of seedlings and helped the kikuyu off so it means work.

On the home front, the vege garden is looking quite lean. I've cut into a couple of pumpkins which were nice and I've picked and pickled all the beetroot. The carrots and parsnips are still being grazed on and the basil is hanging in still, just! The tomatoes are all gone but the capsicums are only just ripening. There's apples galore and I made a dozen jars of quince jelly on the weekend too...yum!

Rain

2009-03-24T16:13:00.002-05:00

hello again all. Well we got the rain! With only a few days left of this month and a slight chance of a bit more, we've already recorded about 70mm. It took about 2 weeks and all the couch, kikuyu and buffalo was green again and thousands of seeds had germinated, most likely clover.

Of course, the lawn mowers have been recommissioned and the Gater has been laid to rest. Our tank received a healthy boost of fresh water as well. Its been healthy all round. I'm just about to go and trim back all the tree ferns as they have re shot since the rain, but still their old foliage hangs burnt and sad beneath them.

I finally finished the courtyard only minutes before our huge dump of rain. I couldn't have timed it better. Once established, the clivias should pretty much thrive on their own in the shade with little need for attention apart from the odd summer watering, perhaps. The next change I want to make is to remove a couple of hydrangeas from near McKellar house and replace them with hardier shrubs to cut down on watering. Its a recurring theme but with a lack of water and tough restrictions, the choices are limited.

Other jobs at the moment include a lot of trimming back after the Spring/Summer growth. The pittosporum hedges are looking like they need the clippers again, some lavenders at the Birches have finished flowering and need a trim and I've just cut back along some walls around the Ed Centre so the ants can't get into the building as easily. We've also got another perilously sick birch tree at the rear of the Birches building that I'll have to trim right down low as all the outer branches have died right back. It was a healthy tree over ten years ago but the trauma of the demolition of the nurses home, the building of the Birches and the subsequent drought have taken a toll. I'm not sure how well or even if it will recover. A hard prune should help sort it out. Its a pity the Birches wasn't called the Beechs as they are a lot hardier tree and seem to be slowly taking over around the place!

No rain!

2009-02-26T22:20:00.002-05:00

Hello Bloggers

Well its been 2 months now since we saw rain last which would have to be some sort of record. Punishment for having nearly 100ml in December perhaps? Looking at Queensland and parts of New South Wales, we can take heart that it hasn't forgotten how to rain, its just forgotten how to here! I'm an optimist; it will come again.

Needless to say, lawn mowing activities around here have all but ceased. There's practically no life left in most of the lawns about the place and the patches of kikuyu and couch that are hanging on beg the question how? I have couch, kikuyu and buffalo at home and its surprising how well they're doing with no water, especially where they're offered some shade. They're the only practical lawns to bother with in my book. There's still the odd dandelian or plantain flowering which also presents a reason to cut.

As a result of this, Mick has been busy trimming all of our roses back and the spent agapanthus flowers as well. Its a worry even the agapanthus plants have never looked so weather beaten and impoverished as this year. I have no doubt however, that they'll survive.

Water wise, we just keep the stuff up to them as they need it. The azaleas out the front of the hospital and the ferns at the front of the Birches are the two main priorities and concerns. Most of the rest of the place is doing quite well considering. I'm most impressed with the new camellias at the doctors clinic (which replaced the hydrangeas). I water them once a week when we're allowed with town water and they're rocketing ahead. The day will come when I don't have to bother with them. The few that we have here that are older have required nothing to date, even in this dry spell, which is quite pleasing to know.

As far as the courtyard project, well its progressing slowly. I only have to dig in the new fern sand with the soil already there, relay the old spray system, then I can plant the rest of the Clivias and mulch the lot. It should look great and be a lot more hardy than the azaleas ever were.

Hot

2009-02-04T23:55:00.003-05:00

Hi there all. Hot isn't it! I for one am well and truly over it. To have the odd 40C day is bad enough let alone a weeks worth of 43. Needless to say, we've been watering a lot and even still at these temps, a lot of usually hardy things have had leaves burnt off. December recorded 98mm of rain giving us a total of 488.5 for the year. As for this year, January has offered us nothing at all.

As I've already said, watering is the priority at he moment. Things have been kept alive pretty well on the whole through a few shrubs have had a lot of leaves badly burnt. They should recuperate. Our reasonably well established Ginkgo (about a metre and a half high) has lost most of its leaves, but I saw its much older mate do the same thing a few years ago and it refoliated again, only dump again naturally in Autumn.

The new rule is that I'm not bothering with plants that can't tolerate dry conditions. this means that new garden beds are planted with hardy native or exotic perennials. for example, in planting out the mobility garden area, I used miniature agapanthus, dwarf golden diosmas, abelia, lavender and Nepeta (all exotics) while also using thryptomene alongside the existing Geraldton wax plants (both natives). There should be no fear of any of these plants perishing easily with a little luck.

At the Birches the petunias are still faring quite well, but the sweet peas were replaced with portulaca which seem to love the heats and as an annual are quite hardy. I would water the portulaca at least half as often as the petunias.

In the main courtyard, I've begun replacing the azaleas under our Chinese Elms with clivias, a hardy perennial which should require very little water, yet thrive in the shade the trees offer and once a year, produce lovely orange flowers. Its a work in progress.

At home, I've had mixed success with the planting of beetroot, with about only half emerging though these few are holding up well. Going well are the parsnips, capsicums and pumpkins and I'm now harvesting tomatoes, turnips, carrots, zucchini, strawberries and basil.

No rain...

2008-11-25T16:41:00.003-05:00

Welcome bloggers. And droughtish it is! We only registered 10ml for October, and so far only 15ml for November. Unfortunately we've had thunderstorm weather without the water. Unlucky though, as there seemed to be numbers recorded everywhere around us. Lets hope something changes soon.

Needless to say, we've had to water quite a bit here and there. Mick and I have been coming in a little earlier to take advantage of the restriction times which gives us a total of 3 hours a week in which to use town water. This will soon not be enough and we'll have to engage the use of the gater more. Any water collected over the winter in our tank has now been exhausted and we're waiting on our first truck full to arrive. So far things have fared quite well between the garden beds and the odd new plant that went in this year. The only needy beds are those small flower beds at the Birches and while the sweet peas have finished, they grew enormously and flowered prolifically. The petunias are now in full bloom and look fantastic. Its easy enough to keep these beds alive when the rest of the place is quite hardy.

On another front, the foundation of the mobility garden is almost complete and it'll be up to me to add the finishing touches garden wise. At this stage, there will be a strip of garden bed that will have sensory things planted in it, (lavender, rosemary, thyme etc), a lawn area that will be used as part of the exercise yard and a small garden bed which will help mask a small awkward land slope. There is already a young tree there and I envisage that it will all look quite presentable down the track.

Maintenance wise, the iris have all but finished flowering and the roses are winding up their spring flush as well, which prompted me to trim things up a little, just to keep the place looking somewhat dapper. At home, I've got some fantastic red cabbages almost ready for the kitchen, broad beans which I'm picking and zucchinis which are ready to produce. The tomatoes are really taking on now and I've managed to get the carrots and turnips up though the turnips are taking their time. I also put in 6 butternut pumpkins and some strawberries which should taste great fresh.

2008-10-29T16:29:00.002-05:00

Hello again bloggers. Well I don't know about you, but if feels droughty to me! Overcast days with no rain or very little at most. In the dying throes of October and only 8ml so far with nothing much forecast. I certainly hope something changes before summer.

As a result, we've already had the gator out to water a few things. Our top dressed lawns are sand dunes unless we bed them down with a bit of water. I've every faith in the kikuyu coming through and covering it up quite soon but till then we wet it mainly so it can be cut with out too much dust. While our seedlings need water, the azaleas need it too.

On another front, the long dry as ensured the demise of one of our birch trees. It had 3 trunks and I assume three trees were planted together in order to take advantage of their silver trunks down the track. Unfortunately, it has been showing signs of stress for a couple of years and I assumed it would die. On falling it, I noticed that there was a significant rot in all three trunks. Fortunately there is a larger common ash in that areas a swell as a claret ash, another, much healthier birch and a young magnolia tree. I also planted a young golden ash near the now extinct tree this year in anticipation and it has shot away quite well. Its one that I hit with gutter guard and mulched so that it will handle the summer.

All the roses and iris are doing their thing and must only be a week or so away from a full spring flush. While there are a the ubiquitous aphids, they tend to not upset things on the whole, so I let the lady-birds eat them until the summer burns them away. This year, however, there was n infestation of young caterpillars on some hybrid teas in front of the Birches building. Closer inspection revealed that while they were massed on the golden diosmas under the roses, it was the roses that they ate, defoliating whole bushes. I may have lost one or two! I have been using a pyrethrum based spray to get rid of them.

Homeward, young broad bean pods are developing and the red cabbages are starting to heart up while the zucchinis, tomatoes and basil have taken off. The punt on keeping the basil alive has paid of fortunately.

Spring has sprung!

2008-09-30T22:39:00.002-05:00

G'day again bloggers. Well Spring has sprung in earnest! Even though there wasn't a lot of rain for September, only 38ml (about the same as last year), the grass has already taken off and all the wonderful botanic things that happen at this time of year are happening. The roses are well on the way to flowering, the iris are either starting to or thinking about it while most Magnolias are pushing any remaining flowers off to make way for new leaves.

Our new courtyard behind McKellar House is finished too. The lawn mower strip was laid and lawn was sown down. In the end I put a fruit tree, a Peacherine in the centre of the lawn. As it stands, the grass is about ready for its first cut which should make the whole area look settled in. I noticed growth on a couple of the shrubs too, and the Berberis are in leave, not that one can tell as the new growth is camouflaged by the pine bark.

Around the place, I have been poisoning as well. Its the usual spring flush of weeds and ash seedlings emerging at every opportunity. Top dressing the lawns is another task that has been wanting in the last few years, so we began that as well. This involves identifying lawns where the soil level has sunk to the point they have become uneven or lower than the surrounding paths or lawn mower strips. This can be caused by vehicular or pedestrian traffic on them or natural settling of the soils. We use fern sand as the top up soil as it spreads easily and new lawns can be established quickly in it. Also, as Kikuyu is our lawn of choice around here, I find it spreads easily in the new loose fern sand.

Seedling wise, the sweet peas I planted in the raised garden bed at the Birches seem to love their spot as they have taken over the whole bed, clamoured up the ornamental windmill and spilled out over the whole bed onto the surrounding path. They're just starting to flower. Last week I put a few petunias in the other Birches flower bed and look forward to their colour and fragrance in a few weeks.

At home, the broad beans are flowering and the red cabbages are huge and on the verge of forming hearts. I've since planted tomatoes, zucchinis and basil seedlings, though it could be a bit early for the basil. Worth it though in the hope of some early pesto.

Cheers

Craig

Photo: Magnolia "Phillip Tregunna"

How's the garden growing?

2008-09-07T22:47:00.002-05:00

Hello again blog world. How's your garden going? Things seem well this end. Just a few quick figures; June rainfall was 49ml last year but only managed 37.5ml this year while July came through with 69ml compared to 71.5ml last year. The paddocks and dams around the place seem wet and full so a good wet spring would almost remind us of the old days.

Well I managed to get the small courtyard area behind McKellar House done, putting in the concrete edging, sowing the lawn down and finishing by planting a peacharine in the centre. A good average sized tree with blossom followed by something to eat. It looks good in there at the moment. Once the lawn grows and spring kicks in, it'll look even better.

Its also the right time to start feeding a few things. The roses have well and truly shot and a lot of other deciduous plants have begun budding up. I've just been around with the organic extra fertilizer, stinking the place out, but of course everybody loves the end result.

I've finished shifting and planting any deciduous plants I had in mind for the year too. The young weeping elm from near the district nurses office was shifted to the front of the Birches (where some young birch trees had given up keeping pace with the drought). I also shifted a lovely burgundy leafed maple to the Birches as well from near the day centre and planted a golden ash in front of physiotherapy. Once planted I put a largish circle of pine mulch around each tree girt by gutter guard which I pinned into place which should help keep their roots both damp and cool come summer. Once established, this can easily be removed. Numerous other small shrubs were put around to fill in empty spaces as well.

Finally, I cut back the ferns near the medical records area and built the area up with fern sand so hopefully they all have a new lease on life. Keep an eye out for the pretty little orchids stuck into the trunk of the tree ferns as they're due to flower soon.

At home, the broad beans are about a foot high and the red cabbages are fair booming through, the sprouts are a little slow. The carrots and parsnips are a bit past it but they've been worth it.

Green thumbs to all - Craig

2008-06-15T23:39:00.001-05:00

G'day bloggers. Well the rain seems to be hold up for now. April recorded 24.5ml compared to 53ml last year and May achieved 48.5ml compared to 75ml last year. Lets hope winter comes through for us. So between the grass and the leaves and various other jobs, our hands are full.

Mick has been kept busy with the grass as it continues to grow as if its Spring! No sign of slowing down or going dormant just yet while the weather remains fine.

I decided to rip out the old hydrangeas along the Dr's clinic and replace them with camellias. While the hydys were impressive, they had lost some condition as the drought bit and they required a lot of time and effort just to water and keep them alive. Once the camellias are established, they should require little to no watering and yet provide an evergreen wall of deep green foliage that produces the most amazing flowers each year. They are rarely affected by pests either which is a real bonus. I was fortunate enough to be able to pick out 10 different varieties as the stock had just landed off the truck.

Other activities of the planting kind involved shifting a mulberry from the F.H.C.C. to the Birches (as it wasn't doing well) and replaced it with a camellia Dr Clifford Parks, an enormous dinner plate sized double red flower which should do better near the oaks over there while hopefully the mulberry will take off in its new exposed position. I also planted some Berberis at the rear of McKellar house, near the maintenance offices. This is an area I have been hoping to develop as I find spare bits of time here and there. To date, the garden bed has been rotary hoed and pine bark put in and just last week I managed to set the bluestone pitches into place and grout up between them. All I need to do now is lay a concrete lawn edge along the stones, plant out the lawn and the garden bed and put a small tree in the lawn. Can't wait!

At home, I've been eating delicious carrots and parsnips and planting broad beans, brussel sprouts and red cabbage - yum! (Although admitting you like brussel spouts could land you in some sort of an institution...)

Good news and bad news

2008-04-15T17:35:00.002-05:00

G'day bloggers. Well there's good news and there's bad news. Good news being that it has rained to the tune of about an inch and a half or more. The bad news is that we now have to work as the plants grow, the grass grows and the weeds grow! Its all good fun though as any avid gardener will tell you!

March recorded 31ml in the end, up 12ml from 19 for the same time last year. It meant that we could finally stop buying water and actually watering. Most of the Kikuyu lawns have responded quickly by putting on growth while the warm weather remains but only until winter when it will settle into dormancy. The annual grasses (and weeds) are all at the seedling stage, vying for position on the lawns by the millions. At least things look green again.

The RMO residence has now been handed over and I'm using the ride on to cut the lawn after a couple of cuts by hand. It to looks good. I look forward to watching the young plants develop over there. Hopefully when I catch up with the lawns, (Mick is on a months leave), I can ply the poison sprayer. By then I'll have lots of young seed weeds to kill on fence lines, in garden beds etc.

It is also Autumn and the earlier trees, the Birch's, Ash's and Elms are all colouring up and beginning to shed. So far I can just mulch them in with the ride on but soon I'll have to rake and cart as they come down much heavier. The leaves tend to annoy a lot of people and you tend to hear the same stories each year about "how messy they are"; though in reality, they tend to be less of an inconvenience than, for instance, a large gum. While the deciduous trees do lose all their leaves in Autumn, as well as perhaps some seed pods, acorns etc, just prior that's it till next year. Bare all winter, new leaves in Spring that stay all Summer till the following Autumn, when they go again. A gum, however, tends to shed leaves all year round to varying degrees. And not only leaves, but sticks, bud caps/flowers and bark. I'm told that a gum sill shed twice its total foliage in a year. Twice the mess! Still they're all worth the effort if you ask me.

Cheers

Craig

Photo: Osmanthus Fragrans. Simple evergreen shrub like perhaps a port wine magnolia but with a stunning citrus come jasmine like fragrance.

2008-03-26T16:14:00.002-05:00

Hello again bloggers. Well its been 17 days since it rained last and unfortunately that trend is set to continue. The next week is we're expecting 35s and 37s. Needless to say the Gator is in overdrive as we nurse things through the dry. Since we last spoke, there has been the matter of the RMO's new residence to attend. Peter got it to the stage where all I needed to do was sow a patch of lawn and plant out things in the garden beds. All earth works and mulching was in place. The lawn seed is on and coming up as we speak, though a little patchy. Garden wise, I've chosen to use mixed natives across the front of the building including Grevilleas, emu bushes, waxflowers, banksias, correas, Geraldton Wax, Swan river pea and a few dark leafed Aganis. Across the front, I've used medium growing green and red variety of kangaroo paw and in another square bed between the two residences I have put a couple of Silver Princess gums in. I've seen them around town with their beautiful weeping branches and silver stems. I've decided to girt most of these beds with the ubiquitous miniature agapanthus I have over there in abundance. They seem to be my signature plant! They divide easily and can take any conditions thrown at them. Finally, I've put a variegated yukka in a small spot near the entrance. All up, the garden should be quite hardy as it matures yet maintains aesthetic appeal.

Other than that, its water, water, water. There's no real alternative in these conditions.

At home, there's still tomatoes coming on though the bushes are looking a little shabby. The basil is looking good and the carrots and parsnips are looking great. Never had parsnips like them before actually. The zuchinnis are still annoying, the capsicums are starting to produce now that the potatoes have died right down, and the beetroot is all in jars.

Here's hoping for a change in the weather and some Autumn rain. Maybe it'll be wet for Easter!

2008-02-24T22:09:00.002-05:00

Hello all. Well it looks like Queensland got all the rain and we didn't! January delivered 28ml (compared to 138 last year) and so far this month, only 2.5ml has been recorded. And the trend looks set to continue.

Needless to say, we've been watering as much as we can lately. The azaleas, penstemons and hydrangeas are our most needy plants and it shows when they miss out. Once again, the roses are probably our best value for money plants with wonderful blooms despite not being watered once. There aer, however, many tough plants about the place now days between the natives and the drought tolerant exotics such as rosemary, diosma and the Viburnums among others.

Other than watering, we've been busy catching up with mulching about the place. Its great stuff; making an area look good, keeping moisture in and hiding a multitude of sins. We use the attractive (but expensive) stuff from the garden centre for the most public areas such as the hospital entrance etc, while relying on the cheap stuff from the tip to cover those not so public beds. A good idea if you have a large area to do is to use the cheap stuff for the bulk of the area then only use the attractive stuff on the very top where it's seen.

There's a bit of tree trimming to do too. A lot of the trees about the place are hanging low so we need to cut them up as well as knocking out the dead branches that we can get with the pole saw. By the time that's done, we'll need to cut off all the spent agapanthus flowers and stalks. By the time we get around them there'd be a ute load if not 2. Thay are a particularly hardy plant that is an extremely reliable and attractive flowerer, though I do believe they come with responsibilities. One must stop the seeds from spreading, so off with their heads. They're green for a little while after the blooms drop off so its not hard to get them.

Vegie wise, I'm currently eating zucchinis till I look like them, tomatoes, capsicum, basil, potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Its been a good year!

Green lawns over Christmas

2008-01-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

Welcome bloggers. And yes, there were green lawns over Christmas. A nice change, though since then, practically no rain has fallen. December recorded 59.5ml here which isn't a bad effort. there maybe, however, a few thunder storms brewing in the next few days, and it looks like it today, so here's hopping. The workload has been relentless, however, which keeps us going.

Not surprisingly, the Gator has been out lately, trying to keep the dry at bay. Of course, all ferns, azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, helleborus and penstemons are looking for water. I fed the azaleas/rhodys as well lately to keep their condition up, though I think that the bore water is something they survive on, not thrive on. The tomatoes in the Birches seem to be doing well too. Once again, the roses about the place, on the whole, seem to be impervious to the drought. With the exception of the new ones out the front, there seems to be no stopping the established from continuing to grow and flower, despite the dry.

Other than watering a lot, we've been busy cutting back things. I've been trimming the shrubs off the outside walls around the Birches building in order to keep the ants from getting in as they seem accustomed to do, and we both got stuck into clearing the garden around a hospital owned house after its tenant vacated. With the lawns hardly growing (save for the odd dandelion flower) Mick has been busy at another garden bed which had slowly encroached in the carpark around it. It was good to get a few things cleaned up around the place. We also resumed mulching the main courtyard again, finishing it off.

Yesterday I teamed up with Smithy, our plumber, to run a line of poly pipe into the Birches courtyard so we can water that areas by hose instead of filling drums. Hooray!!

On the home front, I've had zucchinis coming out my ears, while the basil romps away and the tomatoes begin fruiting. The plums aren't quite ready to pick though I've already made some Apricot jam with what I got this year from the tree. It's going to be a saucy, jammy, chutneyey type of weekend I fear!

PS. The photo is of one of the camelias that was heavily pruned - great to see the new growth!

2008-01-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

And despite the year winding up, work in the garden keeps on keeping on. Our rains continue falling, with November's total amounting to 117ml and December's, so far, being over 25ml. Its raining right now in fact (21/12). This has kept the lawns going (despite a slight dying back just recently), which keeps Mick on the mowers of course. I dare say, there'll be green lawns this Christmas.

All this rain saves me from having to water as much too. Many plants around here have been able to get through till now on this natural rainfall though a few Azaleas, Hydrangeas and Penstemons need help in between times.

Unfortunately with the rain comes the weeds. Fortunately Mick was able to poison for a few days which greatly assisted me. He also pruned back a few roses about the place which made a start on that job, and I continued on with them thereafter.

It has been however, the main courtyard that has taken up all the time recently. Last time I wrote, I was lopping limbs off the Chinese Elms there. I did intend to take them all down as high as I could reach with the pole saw but it was decided that we might be better just to trim the problematic branches off (those against the building or damaged) that leaves some for shade in the summer. One tree ended up totally lopped off anyway because of all the damaged limbs it harboured. Another tree required a larger garden bed to be established under it as the original one was too small, resulting in a lot of uneven paving over time. To keep up with the theme in there, I planted white Azalea magnificas in it. The timing was ideal; we had 14ml of rain that afternoon! I decided that, as this new bed required fresh mulch, I may as well cover the rest of the courtyard as it was all a bit needy - I'm in the process of doing that now.

At home the vegies are great. The red cabbages were a success and I'll be taking the last one up to mums this Christmas. The zucchinis won't stop producing (naturally), the basil is very healthy and I had good strikes of beans, beetroot, carrot and amazingly parsnips. I have a mulberry tree that is full of berries and last night I bandicooted a plastic bag full of potatoes for Christmas. Its all looking good.

Talk soon.

Craig

PS - The photo on this blog is of one of the Chinese Elms that was pruned in December.

Rain, rain and more rain!

2007-12-03T00:09:00.000-05:00

Hi there all.

And while the work keeps piling up in front of us, the rain keeps on coming, creating more work. The final result for us in October was 38ml. The cruncher came, however, as all of us know, at the start of November with our recording of around 100ml (4 inches in the old scale) and a storm to boot! Besides the usual few branches and sticks down everywhere, an old Virgilia growing over near our intern doctors residence gave way and demolished a chain mesh fence as well. There was quite a clean up effort required there for us. (Any chance to use to chainsaw!)

For Mick, the grass keeps on growing. No sooner does it rain, than we have a spell of warmer weather and everything takes off again. Eventually, it should die off. Till then, he just keeps on going around, keeping it as neat as possible. It's now into the second half of the month, and we've just had yet another 7ml, enough to keep things going for another fortnight at least!

On another front, I've managed to get a few hedges cut of recent. Both the box and the privot hedges have been completed. It was obvious that we'd had more rain this year by the amount of debris that came off the privots compared to last year. Our old hedge trimmers finally gave up the ghost after about 10 years of loyal service as well. It was a dream to use a new set with sharp blades and no sign of metal fatigue.

We've finally made it into the courtyard as well. With the purchase of a new pole chainsaw, I can go about lopping the limbs off the Chinese Elms there. It takes very little time to actually cut the trees but forever to cut up the branches and cart them via barrows out through the hospital corridors to the ute and off to the tip.

Finally, at home, I've been eating broccoli till I look like it! The florets were huge this year and there were plenty of side florets to follow later. I eventually took them out along with the broad beans (after picking the pods) and mulched them up (with the lawn mower) and put the debris back on the garden beds. Since then, I've planted more carrots, some parsnips, beetroot and beans. My tomatoes are doing well, as are the potatoes, capsicums and zucchini. The red cabbages are due to be picked and I have devoted half of one bed to basil this year. I make so much pesto in summer, it just seemed to make sense!

Cheers, Craig.

2007-10-29T18:28:00.000-05:00

G'day there blog-on-ers! I have to say, its a good time to be a Gardener, if not a bit busy. With everything growing, the workload "ups' at this time of year.

Mick has his work cut out on the lawns. With rain still managing to happen and the increase in soil temperature, most grass types are moving fast. Finish one round just to start again! We've also just recently plugged some lawns with chunks of Kikuyu which, down the track, should help us in not needing to water quite as much! We did this around the Birches in the past few years and those lawns are almost fully hardy, resisting week infestations and needing little water which is quite helpful in this time of water restrictions.

I seem to have plenty on also between watering indoor plants and recently planted shrubs by hand, and other shrub trimming duties. Most of the indoor shrubs are of the hardier variety now days as they are easier to look after yet tend to look better than some poor struggling high maintenance thing. Monsteras and Philodendrons look great with very little effort. This doesn't mean that they don't die however!

We're on the verge of cutting back our lovely Chinese Elms in the Handbury courtyard. While they are gracefully shading the whole area, they are now encroaching on some of the surrounding buildings, causing problems there. They can come back 2/3rds or so and I'm sure they'll bounce back with vigour. They've never had trouble growing fast in there; in fact so fast in the beginning they kept falling apart. That problem seems to have eased as they have aged.

Most of the hedges about the place are in need of a trim as well. All the Box hedges need it before they get our of hand and the Privot hedges are almost in flower which causes terrible hay fever. Hope I can get to them in time, but things are looking doubtful.

And finally, while there hasn't been a lot of rain this month, its settling in as I write this. Lets hope there's some thing worth writing about. About 23ml so far for October.

Cheers

Craig

It's Spring!

2007-10-01T19:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome Bloggers. Well it's Spring and things have sprung into life.

All the roses are into it, indeed, some are flowering. Many larger deciduous trees have come into leaf and the azaleas and rhododendrons out the front are looking like Japanese post cards. A lot of bulbs are winding up, though the bluebells are out now. I've always like how healthy flag iris look at this time of year, just prior to flowering.

The rain still manages to come too. Not as much as we need to make up for past losses, but August recorded 57.5mm, 20 more than last year. September looks to near equal last years score at this stage. Unfortunately, we're still watering by hand and it looks as though that will be the pattern this summer; similar to last.

We have a couple of shrubs to cut back soon as well. A couple of Camellias near the maintenance office are looking a bit old and I think will benefit from a chop, as does the big old red flowering gum over at the Francis Hewitt Community Centre which has a lot more dead growth in it compared to other years. All these plants have new fresh growth down lower which should grow back. The combination of little water and old age have probably caused their lack of condition. Unfortunately, the two young Dawn Redwoods in front of the Chalet have died, so they'll have to come out. We're lucky not to have had many losses at all.

Finally, at home, the vege garden is looking healthy. The red cabbages are quite large and just starting to form heads and the broccoli, also big plants, are just beginning to form young florets. The broad beans are flowering and fruiting and the carrots are just there; to be picked whenever one gets big enough. I've recently put in potatoes, tomato seedlings and basil seed. Can't wait for summer!

Rain

2007-08-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

How good is this rain? As of late, we've had 49ml in June, (12ml last year), 7.5ml in July (with 56ml last year) and 44ml so far this month with only 32 and a half all toll last year. And its raining now as I write.

Last time I wrote, I was cleaning up the various shrubs about the place. Well having finished that, I hooked into the roses and hydrangeas, finishing them a week ago. I also managed to prune some flesh of one of my fingers towards the end so my laissez-aller attitude towards 'gloves' has changed! Anyway, the roses and hydys all looked great and not a moment too soon as I noticed new growth issuing forth. Of course, I felt as though I should start feeding things if Spring was this close, which is what I did. Armed with a few bags of Dynamic Lifter with blood and bone and a notice in the newsletter of the impending smell, I hit the place over in a day. I would like to issue an apology to Sue Brumby at this point for my part in preparing the FHCC for their 20 year celebration. The rain didn't come soon enough!

The general maintenance has been ticking along nicely with Mick confidently in charge of the lawns, keeping them edges and mown. We've had to weed out a few more Capeweeds than usual this year, and as a result of the drought and water restrictions, flatweeds seem to be generally more abundant all up. I'll have to address that issue soon I guess.

The picture? Its a citrus fruit tree called Buddhas hand or Fingered Citron (Citrus Medica).

Cheers

Craig

Welcome rain

2007-07-02T18:57:00.000-05:00

Welcome once again all you bloggers! And as I write, the sound of rain pelts down on our tin roof and it looks as though daylight has no chance of getting here today. That's good news for the garden though!
Every day or two, we're receiving the odd millimetre or seven, and it looks as though our drought is breaking. It's almost embarrassing to be watering indoor plants with drums of water, but still somewhat necessary in the larger scheme of things.

Work wise, I managed to find a couple of finer days in which to poison weeds, the seeds of which have built up in the last few months of hot weather and now have their chance to grow. From small garden areas to fence lines around paddocks, it’s all taking off.
Otherwise, we've been continuing to prune back our shrubs and trees about the place. It doesn't take long to fill the ute with debris either. Once I've got the general shrubs into order, I’ll take on the roses.
Cheers, Craig

Winter

2007-06-13T00:11:00.000-05:00

Hi all. Winter; I love it! The Daphne’s are starting to be smelt and all the leaves have fallen except for the last of the Liquidambar and English Oaks. The beds are fat with leaves and things look healthy in light of the recent rains.
May recorded 75 millilitres compared to last years total of 38. Things are quite damp. This has done wonders for the lawns which, as there had still been some degree of warmth around, had grown well. The last week of cold, wet weather has changed all that though and I'd imagine things will slow down shortly.

As well as being busy with the lawns, we've been trimming up many shrubs of excess growth, branches hanging over carparks etc. Its heartening to see shrubs that were planted a few years ago reach a stage where they need cutting back for whatever reason; they add size to the gardens overall appearance. Once the roses and hydrangeas lose more leaves, they will be dealt with too.

Its also time to plant many things. Replacement roses or other deciduous plants can go in now and I always like to find a spot for a Daphne or three; as they tend to need replacing after a few years.
Our work here is never done!

Cheers,
Craig.

Autumn

2007-05-10T00:56:00.000-05:00

Its well and truly Autumn now. With the cool days and the cooler nights, the trees are in various stages of colour or leaf shed. You can sense Winter's on its way. I've noticed the Daphne's are puckering up ready to bloom in a month or so, as are the Hardenbergias and Winter sweets. The Snowball bush (Viburnum) is also showing up quite pinkish red (as it does), and underneath their stunning Autumn foliage the fruits of the Persimmon are large and orange. They're a great specimen shrub. I've also noticed that the Osmantus Fragrans is flowering again, emitting its incredible scent.

We've had the odd few millimetres of follow up rain, which as set the grass off again, and between the perennial grass moving and the thousand's of new seeds sprouting, Mick is flat out again. The place looks so much better with fresh mown green grass.

At home, I've been picking green beans and turnips for a couple of weeks now and the carrots won't be far off. The broad beans are just up and it looks as though that new tank I put in back in January has been worth it.

Cheers
Craig