My First Bunnings Run For Winter

Today, I was out and about at Bunnings to get a large pot, a bag of stones and 3 bags of potting mix for my first project for Winter.

I'm repotting a pup from the main Large Leaf Jade that I've had growing in my yard for the past 15 years. I'm proud to say the smaller one I'm putting into its own 'Forever Pot' is going to look great! I can't wait for it to get its growth on, but this also means I'll have to move a few of the pots around to give the pot room along the fenceline. 

Anyway, the really big pot was only $16 and I'm thinking of going back to Bunnings and getting another one for the main Large Leaf Jade, as it looks straggly and the last time I backfilled it, it didn't seem to be all that happy after a few weeks. So, I do think it does need another, bigger, pot to really stretch its legs in. 

I'm potting up these two Jades so I have two big Jades to plant out at my next place I call home... then I have two large pots to use as herb pots around my garden. It's not a bad plan really, is it? 

Yep, everything I'm doing now is a precursor to the next few years of my life. The bigger pots will be used for little flowers or roses, or around the corners of my yard for individual, smaller plants - like smaller lime or lemon trees I can use around the place - and then, the next yard can be a mixture of planted and potted plants; simply because my next place of residence will be my forever home. I won't be moving from there. 

I only hope the next people who live in my place see the potential of the back yard like I did, and use it the same - or similar ways. Okay, the pots for the larger plants are getting bigger, but there are smaller plants which will be used later on in a few years. I'm only hoping I can put them in hanging baskets - but that's just something I have a vision of in my imagination. 

Or am I looking too far ahead with this? 

Oh well, we can all dream about the perfect garden, right? And this is why I love gardening... to get it right - eventually - no matter how long it takes me. So, how is your garden going? Have you had anything great happen?  

Logan City Council Sewage Drain Fun

My lawn has been turned into mud over the past mud... and I can't do anything about it.

The Logan City Council has sent guys here to pull up the round sewage lid and send a camera down there to look around, assess it, and then reline the whole thing - if needs be. It takes hours out of the day each time; well, the last time didn't, but that was just a check-up.

So, I've had to move my repotting month to next month because of this unscheduled invasion to my yard.

I don't mind - mainly because I'm a little short on cash right now. Also, I've had to replace the hose connections because somebody I let use the tap connection once a month ago broke them. So, I've had to wait this long until I had the money to get the right brand and spend a good amount of money on them.

Anyway, this weekend, I'm going to get in and repot a few of the plants around the garden. I have to buy some potting mix, and a couple of bigger pots to make it all work out. I was hoping to make this year a more productive year in the garden, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Until my next post, happy gardening.

Not Much Gardening Done

There hasn't been much to report because I haven't had much money to spend on the garden lately - also because the Logan City Council had to come in and reline the sewage lines too.

Not a pretty sight.

And they weren't all that dainty about my garden. The lawn is all muddy now, so it has to grow back; and seeing my yard doesn't get any sun in the Winter, that will take more time than usual. 

Anyway, I've had one bag of potting mix sitting near the back door and a collection of pots I scored from the Logan City Council for nothing to use around my yard waiting for me to do something with them. But with all this rain we've had - and that I've been off to art classes lately - I haven't had the time, energy or money to jump back into my garden. 

So, today, just when I was feeling my lowest - and the laryngitis I've had for the past few days has been at its worst - I noticed that one of the units down the way was getting a Frangipani pulled out of its front garden. 
Now, Franigpanis have a huge root system, and really shouldn't be planted in places where they can't spread out their roots. Unfortunately, this poor plant was starting to make problems for the building's foundations and had to come out. So, I asked the guy removing it if I could nab a few of the branches to use as cuttings and he said that I could 'go for it' that he was going to toss the whole thing anyway. 

Now, being a gardener, I would have transplanted that tree somewhere else - seeing it's about a decade old. But this guy was willing to waste a perfectly good tree. 

Well, I took my chosen branches away and potted them up. Don't they look wonderful? I think so. I can't wait to get them into the pots they deserve next Winter. Now... to save up the money to buy bigger pots for them.

I've also made a decision today that may tick off some people. I sometimes lend out things to the care taker or a neighour I trust here. Well, my care taker has broken my hose connection recently because he pushed it back onto the connector too hard and now I can't water my garden or wash my car. I'm not going to lend anything out to anyone anymore. Instead, I'm going to save up for a proper hose reel where it's attached properly with metal fittings and it can't be removed. I may even get it all changed into the back yard... I'll have to ask my landlord to see if they can help me with that. I'm just getting sick of things being broken around here and I have to foot the bill in replacing and fixing them. Until my next post, happy gardening.