Joy to be outside
It was such a joy yesterday, to be in the garden after all those wet days. I had watched, from the kitchen doors, my bougainvillea plant, go from being unruly to positively out of control. I could swear it was growing several centimetres a day. It hadn’t really done too much until I gave it its first big prune and since then it has taken off. That was the first job and two wheel-barrows full of clippings later, the plant is looking tidy again. I spent the morning weeding, forfeiting my walk and writing, and although I was in the shade for most of this, I enjoyed my time outside immensely. I was also able to dig in some broken bricks that have sat waiting for me to create a tidy garden edge, and I am sure my neighbour appreciates his view, now that that part of the garden is tidied and weeded and the bricks are in the ground, rather than being scattered amongst the weeds.
My plan is to weed first, then fertilise, then cover with some kind of mulch. Having a tow bar again, means we can use the trailer. It was frustrating without one, seeing things such as rotting hay or sea grass advertised on the noticeboard, but unable to pick any up.
My efforts yesterday cleared about an eighth of the garden.
On Wednesday, we took the last of the tea tree to the dump. I mulched a fair bit, but then got sick, so the rest had lain on the ground. Some of that would have made good mulch but we decided it was easier to take the remaining branches away. We had already filled five bags up for firewood for the wood burner, which should see us right for a year or two.
Stephen mowed the lawns yesterday while I weeded. There is nothing like a freshly mown lawn. With rain again this morning, I am sure the grass will be back to how it was, pretty quickly, but things certainly looked good yesterday.
I have had several attempts at growing peach, nectarine and tamarillo trees. The first two have seemed to have acquired some kind of disease, even with copper spray, while the tamarillos succumbed to the heavy winds. What does seem to grow well in these conditions, are things like crab apple, cape gooseberry and fejoa plants. The citrus is slow growing, but finally, this year, appear to be gaining some ground. I came across plenty of the cape gooseberry seedlings yesterday while weeding and have transplanted them to a better spot. I didn’t want my herbs overshadowed again by these, so it will be interesting to see if they survive. I have tried to grow blueberries in the past too, but these plants died as well.
As I sat in my chair after my morning’s work, there was a lovely energy. All the plants looked so healthy and it finally feels like they have established themselves. There is a nice barrier forming around the section, the wall helping a great deal to shelter the plants on that side. I am wondering whether things like the blueberries may stand a chance now. I am sure it was a combination of the winds and draught that destroyed them. It would certainly be nice to have a few more food plants around.
Oh, I finally got around to planting the cabbage trees too. I did that on Tuesday.
A combination of better weather and better health is certainly uplifting.