Those Pesky Possums!

This morning, after not wanting to get out of my nice cosy bed and yet I finally did, I pulled back the curtain to my back door and found that my Frangipani had been uprooted by the possums around my area. Yep, they had swung on it and it couldn't take the weight! I did have a stake next to it, but it wasn't enough to keep it upright.

So, I rushed out there and fixed it up, filling up the pot more with potting mix to the very top, pushing it down hard so it was okay... but it still tipped.

I had to make this work better! So, I raced around to the sheds, found my gardening gloves and pushed the big, long gardening stakes I had next to the hot water heater into it the pot - around the plant itself - used 2 pairs of stockings I was going to take back to Big W as ties and stabilised it better. Now, it's a waiting game to see how it stands up to the possums again. I hope it goes well. I'm sure with the stakes in around it, it should work out well. 

Then, later this morning, after washing my car, I found that my Large Leaf Jade was preparing to flower this Winter! What a great surprise! After around five years, this plant has enough buds on it to flower more than it ever has! I'll put up photos of on Facebook and here as well. Until my next post, happy gardening. 

A Busy Weekend

This week has been one busy day after another... and this weekend will be no different. I'm upgrading one of the plants in my backyard into the massive green pot I bought last week tomorrow.

Today I went out to do a number of things, but namely I needed to buy 3 bags of potting mix, 2 bags of stones (for good drainage) and 3 little feet for the bottom of the pot. This all cost me around $60 - but it's well worth it.

As you can see from the photo I've linked to Pinterest, I'm using Searles potting mix. It's a midrange mix which costs a little under $10 but has a lot of nutrients which is good for a plant being transferred into a new pot. I'm also helping the plant I'm repotting into a larger pot - the Frangipani - by putting river stones into the bottom of the pot to add not only weight to the pot but drainage as well. I have done this to a few pots around my garden and the plants have been very happy for the past 6 years or so... and they're very difficult to move (but that's so they don't get stolen).

Just like I did a few years ago, I'm fixing up the garden little by little; and it'll be finished by the end of July. So, what are you all doing with your gardens at the moment around the world? Until my next post, enjoy your gardens.

This Week

I'm looking at this week with optimism. This week, I might be repotting my Frangipani and looking at putting away more money for the new pots for out the front. And I'll also be hoping to buy some more potting mix for other plants I with to repot over the cold months.

I'm also looking around for some larger plants for the garden - this means I'll be buying another huge pot or two before July comes around to cater for their size. 

I've been wanting to have a shrub/tree from the Fig family in the garden an hope to get myself a few Yucca's as well to fill out the side of the garden where it's a little bare. Of course this will take time; and I don't mind waiting for it to make it work. Otherwise, my garden is always changing every few weeks and months. Until my next post, happy gardening. 

Preparations for Winter

I do love preparing for Winter in my garden. It's the one time of year when everything goes dormant and I can really get in and work on improving my little bit of dirt.

But it's not the doing up of the garden that gives me the most satisfaction, it's the gathering of the gardening gear, pots and potting mix that does. I know that sounds really strange, but making sure I have everything just right beforehand is the perfectionist in me coming out. The one thing I really hate is planning a full day at home to get in and do the gardening and find that I have to go out to the gardening store for one tiny item or other... it just puts a kink in the whole idea of getting in and doing it all in one hit.

Sometimes, when I do get in there and start on the garden, I find that there's too much to do and I happily let it go into the next day. This is fun and is something which is wonderful to use up a weekend or part of my week. 

More recently, I bought a huge pot from Bunnings which my Frangipani is going to live in for the next few years (unless I move into a more permanent place and I'll plant it into the ground and use the pot for something else). It cost me $80 and I'm darned proud of this lovely addition to my garden... now, just to get it what it needs to keep my plant happy. That's usually a couple of bags of river stones (not huge ones, and not gravel), 3 feet for the bottom (so ants don't live in it) and plenty of potting mix. 

Speaking of which, I'll be getting 2 bags a fortnight until the time comes that I'll be able to work on the garden in July... I know that sounds like some time away, but really it's not. Before long, that time will fly by and that middle weekend in July will be here! Until my next post, enjoy your wonderful gardens! 

Rain

Today, it's raining. And there's times I love rain, and times I'm not too fond of it - okay, okay, I hate it. But then, the rain can be so beneficial for your garden - especially when you've been watering it by hand lately.

The water from the council isn't that great - seeing it's filled with chemicals and your plants need nitrogen and other things Humans really can't handle from Mother Nature; and a few things that we do need and the skies can't give us.

So, when it rains for a few days, getting all your potted plants (even the ones from inside your house) outside for those few dull days, is a good idea as they would benefit from the rain.

I have shade garden area which flourishes over the time it rains; and when it doesn't, well, the plants are hardy enough to go without water for a while and still grow on what they have. But I still water them once a week.

The rain is still lovely though for more than one reason: I just love the darn stuff. It makes my lawn green, cleans the dust from the air and cools our nights down... also the sound of rain on the roof at night is the most lovely noise around to help people sleep.