Garden Mojo

As the title suggests, we got our gardening mojo on recently and were finally able to put some plants in the backyard!!

Let me remind you of the blandness BP (before plants)

We were given some free Clivias from 'B's' Mum recently to provide a bit of ground cover which you can see below.  They've not overly liked being dug out of their previous home and transported to ours but hopefully they'll come good.  This pic also shows the 'frame' for a screen we have since put in...

Here are the Dracaena's we planted back in October.  Only difference in this before pic is a bit of mulch.

And here's the garden bed in front of the Family Room BP

Which in itself was a major improvement on what it had been for quite a while....

After visiting our favourite plant nursery as well as Engall's Nursery (which was equally fantastic if you're specifically looking for citrus plants), we came home and positioned the plants how we thought they'd look best

The fantastic guy at Engall's helped us choose 2 mandarin varieties and an orange tree which all bare fruit at different times, one after another.  They grow between 2 - 4 metres which is perfect.  We already have a Dwarf Lemon, Dwarf Lime and Kaffir Lime Tree in pots which is why we've chosen how we have.

Along the back fence we chose 5 Little Gem Magnolia's as our feature trees.  We love the look of them and growing between 2 - 4 metres suits us perfectly.

For the ground cover we chose Lilirope Muscari. I think it contrasts perfectly.

Along the Family Room we chose Daphne's.  These will grow 1m high & 1m wide which will be perfect for this spot.  Daphne's love pots with good drainage and potting mix *apparently* so underneath the weed mat are 6 plastic tubs with lots of drainage holes drilled in and they're filled with nutrient rich soil.

And here's everything planted...

Cannot wait to smell the Daphne once it flowers! D.I.V.I.N.E.

Okay, so still a little on the bland side but it's so much better with a bit of extra greenery.  We can't wait till it all looks more established and also when we get some garden lighting.

'B' has also finished the screen behind the sculpture.  We did a screen here for 2 reasons. 1) To help create a separate space between Alfresco and back garden and 2) To make the sculpture stand out a little more.  Later we'll get some nice lighting to shine onto the sculpture and also another to shine onto the BBQ.

You can also see we've put some bamboo screening up.  Couple of things... we need more to cover the top of the colorbond fence and we also need to secure it a little better.  It's looking a little wonky after the recent weather.  We plan to continue the screening down the side of the house but not on other fences.

We added some of our favourite Rhoeo's as a border in the Alfresco too...

Lastly, we bought a few pots of Jasmine to put outside our Lounge Room window to have something nice to look at instead of a fence.  Yet to be planted.

So, between the Magnolia's, Daphne's, Jasmine and future herb wall we should have a really fragrant garden :)

We are in the middle of working on some more projects too so I'll share those soon.

Happy gardening / building / decorating etc etc!

Fabulous freebies

Yay for generous friends who are moving house and giving away their lovely plants (yay to generosity, not to moving)!  Thank you Angela & Eddie!

We are the very lucky recipients of these 8 year old miniature lime and lemon trees as well a frangipani tree and some gorgeous orchids!

Here they are in their new temporary homes, bearing fruit and all...

Thanks again guys and we'll be sure to take great care of them!

Thank you to 'B' too for fetching & potting them x

Lawnmowers

We currently have a petrol mower (aka temperamental beast).  It's big, it's smelly and it starts only when it wants to.

It's made us think, is it really the best option for our 100 square metres of soon-to-be lawn?

Our options...

Reel Mower / Green Mower / Old fashioned mower

Are we mad for considering one for the new place?  Feels like stepping back in time!  However, with only a smallish area of grass out the back to cut perhaps it's one of the best options.

Let's see...

• Light weight - check
• Cheap - check
• Easy to store - check
• Unlikely to break down - check
• Good for the environment - check
• Quiet - check

Here's a review and a bit more info on them here and here.

Electric Mowers

Hmmm, electric mowers.  Conjures up images of running over cords and getting electrocuted to me but "B" has been chatting to some of his workmates and several of them think this is where mowing is at!  Interested me enough to look into them a little more.

The picture above is of a cordless Bosch electric mower and got some pretty awesome reviews here.  Pretty exxy (although I'm sure you can get cheaper ones but I do love Bosch) and some of the benefits are:

Pros

• Light weight (about 60% equivalent weight of a petrol mower)
• No fumes
• No temperamental start up
• Great finish to the lawn
• Quieter than petrol mowers
• Low operating and maintenance costs

Cons

• About 1 hour battery time (would suit us though, 30 minutes tops for our soon to be back yard)
• Expensive (about $700 for this one)

 4 Stroke Petrol Mower

It's only fair we look into the pros & cons of a 4 stroke petrol mower as a comparison to the above...

Pros

• Perfect for a really large lawn
• Gets through long grass
• Great finish to lawn
• Can be reasonably cheap

Cons

• Have to store fuel
• Loud
• Smelly (fumes)
• More maintenance issues

Obviously there's a load more different types from ride on mowers, roller mowers (for perfect-bowling-green-looking grass) to self-mulching mowers but I think we'll be choosing between a Reel and an Electric Mower.

What type of mower do you have?  Do you love it?  What do you recommend?

More on Vertical Gardens

Exactly one week after my post on vertical gardens, Better Homes & Gardens did a television episode on how to make them!  What were the chances?

I thought I'd share their short video on how to simply make your own if you missed it.

Fruit Salad Trees

Have you heard about Fruit Salad Trees?  These trees are a great idea for smaller back yards if you want to grow some of your own fruit but not look like you have a market garden going on!

There are 4 different types of trees available:

1. Stonefruit - peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots and peachcots (combination of a peach / apricot)
2. Citrus - summer & winter oranges, mandarins, lemons, limes, grapefruits, tangelos & pomelos
3. Multi-Applies
4. Multi-Nashi fruit

They can be grown in pots and you can choose what number of grafts you want on your tree.  For only $25 per graft, it's pretty affordable.  I wouldn't mind the top 3 trees mentioned above.

For us, it will be all about maximising the space we have available, as mentioned in my earlier post on vertical gardens.

Vertical Gardens

We're going to have a reasonable sized backyard but not huge by any stretch (gotta love the small blocks and exorbitant land prices in Sydney).  We want to use every square inch of space outside possible just like we have on the inside.

I came across a picture of a vertical herb garden in a magazine aaaages ago and have wanted one ever since.  So next to our Alfresco and outside our Dining Room we plan to have a gorgeous wall of herbs. Mmmm I can smell it now!

Not only functional but it will look and smell gorgeous through our dining room windows or while sitting outside.  I'm quite excited by this little project!

And here are some examples, starting with one of my favourites!

This one below actually has vegetables, strawberries & herbs growing in it!

 

And here's a couple of really cheap ideas to maximise a hidden spot.  Side of a shed perhaps? 

 

Not just limited to herbs or greenery.  What about flowers?

And here are some great links if you're interested in setting a vertical garden up for yourself...

Eden Now
Ezine Article
How To Build A Vertical Garden