APRIL 2011 – PRACTICALLY PERFECT AUTUMN WEATHER.

Mid autumn – and a wonderful time for sitting in the garden.

At last, a brief respite from all the lush growth that’s been happening during the wet summer and beginning of autumn. There’s been no need for constant work in the garden so we’ve been able to sit in the sun, and relax with friends and family - in between mowing the grass, that is. Geoff, has still had to get on that ride-on mower every week because, unlike most summers, there’s been no time when it’s even looked like browning off. It just keeps on glowing wonderfully green and growing wonderfully high!



Evening shadows after a perfect autumn day.

Pony Poo - $1 a bag! A distinct advantage of living in the country is the availability of good, cheap fertiliser. I find a couple of bags of horse or pony manure are quite enough to help nourish my garden over the winter. Having bought two big bags for $1 each, the contents is now sitting in a couple of plastic bins, soaking in water, all ready to decant onto the asparagus bed and any other vegetable beds as they become vacant.

The asparagus ferns need to brown off and die down before I’ll cut them, then I’ll cover the whole bed with pony poo, compost and then a layer of pea or sugar cane straw. It’s a voracious feeder and it produces such a heap of luscious spears every September to December, that I don’t mind the little bit of work it takes at the end of autumn.

A new Seed-bed set-up.
Last year I managed to germinate lots of different Australian native seeds in a very makeshift and ad hoc way. This year I’m getting organised with trays of seed pots and giving each tray its own little hot house. I’ve set them up an old BBQ trolley from which Geoff has removed all the heavy bits like burners, etc. Now, with a minimum of effort, I can place the whole table of seeds in any sheltered, sunny or shady spot I want to.

The centre tray was $7 and came with its own cover. I bought the others for $4 for four
at a 'Cheap Shop' and made a cover with wire frame and plastic. It's all working very well so far.

Very convenient and I’ve already been astonished at the results of planting seeds from the X. bracteatum in my home-made hothouse. They germinated in 6 days and haven’t stopped growing.

This is the home-made hot-house cover.

And this is what happened in ten days!

Perhaps they’re a bit early. If so, it’s a pretty safe bet that I can get another lot up and on their way if I need to.
I’ve also put in seeds from the Running Postman and am striking bits from X. viscosum (Sticky everlastings) and Chrysocephelum apiculatum.(Common everlastings). There are also four pieces of cardboard impregnated with seeds of the Swan River Daisy (Brachyscome ibiridifolia) which I put in at the same time. They came attached to some wine from Banrock Estate Winery; it’ll be interesting to see if they do actually grow. No sign of any germination yet.

Self-sown plants.
In various parts of my garden which are covered in mulch and left virtually alone, it’s very encouraging to find various plants popping up that have self-sown. In the biggest Bush Garden area there are a couple of Tea Trees, a Kunzea, and a couple of different wattles. Down in the Bog Garden at the end of the block, there is a very healthy Melaleuca (from the three bushes nearby) and I’ve just discovered three tiny Tea Trees of a kind I don’t yet recognise. There’s also a Blackwood Wattle and a Dogtooth Wattle growing very happily, both of which appeared a couple of years ago.

This is a very healthy Kunzea self-sown from a bush nearby.

The end of the Sunflower Circle
By the middle of April, the sunflowers had grown to their full height, had flowered beautifully for the bees and butterflies, and were beginning to drop their petals. Two small grandsons – Jack 6 ½ and Marley nearly 6 – came up to visit and enjoy the country for a couple of days. They marvelled at the circle, played inside it, admired the height of the plants, and had a good time shaking the tiny dying flowers all over themselves and each other. Then (with our blessing) they spent a very happy couple of hours demolishing the lot! They dragged the plants towards themselves and, as the stem cracked, went crashing to the ground covered in sunflower leaves and laughing hysterically. Luckily the ground was soft so they didn’t damage themselves too much. Then they broke the stems up (if they were thin enough) and dragged them to the green-waste bin. The thick ones they dragged to a pile ready for the tip. It certainly kept them entertained and saved their grandparents a lot of hard work.

Jack and Marley inside the circle.

By the second day they were getting so much enjoyment out of the garden, they decided to cart mulch down in the wheelbarrow and spread it over the centre of the circle – ready for next year.

You'd harldy know it had been there! But I'll keep the spot free of grass
for next year's Sunflower Circle.

Next jobs?
I’ve taken most of my last year’s pots and put the plants out into the garden: a couple of Kangaroo Apples, a Viminaria that I thought was dying but recovered enough to plant out, and a couple of Goodenias that also looked a bit sick and seem to be surviving, so now I’m ready to start again. There’s a cluster of self-sown Pussy Tails that I intend to try to thin out a bit and I hope I’ll be able to get them growing in another couple of spots around the garden. I’ve collected seeds from anything that I think will grow and am going to put my new seed pots to good use – that will happen in the next month or so. I’ll be transplanting some of the X. bracteatum from the seed pots before too long and, of course, there’s the ongoing problem of the too-healthy Dichondra. Any spare time and energy I have will probably be spent removing some of that – firstly away from smothering my good plants and eventually, trying to eliminate it from various areas.


I really didn't think the Dichondra would be such a vigorous grower.
It will have to be VERY firmly treated to stop it killing everything!

 Picasa album: There are lots of pictures of this month’s activities here, so feel free to browse all my pictures and make a comment on any. I'd be happy to hear from you.
Next month I'll be able to report on how (or if) my new seed beds are working.