Lemon-scented gums

From little things, big things grow. I planted 3, one for each offspring.

How many years 'til they look like this?



Grevillea olivacea

Our very first planting, back in April, was eight Grevillea olivacea (olive grevilleas). The weekend after the front fence was built we were out there digging, watering, fertilising, adding worm castings and mulching to give these little plants their best chance to become big shrubs (4m x 3m) that will form an informal hedge along the fence. A hedge to offer some privacy from the road and to soften the street impact of our somewhat striking facade!

Planting in early April meant the annual weeds were yet to rear their ugly heads and we blithely mulched directly onto the bare ground we had cleared around each plant. Fast forward a month or two and the grevilleas could not even be seen they were so swamped by oxalis.

 So I scraped mulch back, added layers of newspaper and remulched until all was tidy once more.

Status report: settled in well, new growth visible on all eight plants, newspaper working and rabbits so far leaving them alone. Hooray!

Preparing to espalier

We are planning to espalier apples and pears using the KNNN method advocated by Bob Magnus of Woodbridge trees in Tasmania. It looks too good to be true. Hoping it is! Main reasons for going this way instead of stand alone trees is to fit more varieties in the space available (15 in a space that would take 3 full grown trees), to make them easier to pick and to make them easier to net. Should be fun.

The task this weekend was to concrete in support posts at the ends of each of three rows. They are 2400mm treated pine of 75-100mm diameter. We are going to use star pickets along the rows. We're pushing a bit of a deadline on this as the first wire (K for knee height) needs to be in before we plant the bare-root trees in July.

Putting in some grunt with the post-hole digger (and setting a good example for my girls)

Posts stayed and leveled

A spot of rapid-set concrete, which did in fact set rapidly.

Not going anywhere soon!

One step forward, three more things added to the list

The pool fence was finished* this week. We've been waiting quite a while for this one. Saving money by not doing the fence whilst spending money on a temporary one. Hmmm. It is 2/3 unfancy aluminium upon which will be grown a green backdrop of chinese star jasmine and 1/3 fancy schmancy glass panels for the corner facing the house.

Great to tick a major job off the list made when we moved in. pool fence. See.

However, not so great that immediately several more jobs are whacked on to the list, or that would be one of the lists currently in circulation:

lay turf

plant star jasmine

build timber screen for pool equipment

plant shade trees along fence

At least they're mostly Spring jobs. Which is lucky because our attention, energy and time is somewhat focused on the emerging Orchard right now.

*gate not yet complete because, you know, someone measured something incorrectly and the glass didn't fit and the replacement is at least four working days away yada yada yada.



Kid's playground

Somewhere to play while Mum digs holes for fruit trees and Dad digs drainage ditches for the unintended swimming pools that have appeared under each deck after all that rain we are having (43mm in 24 hours last week after 40+ mm the week before. Astounding.) Kids helped by spreading some mulch and offering verbal encouragement along the lines of 'When are you building the cubby? Why isn't it finished yet? Come oooooooonnnnnnn! How long is it going to taaaaaaaake? But happiness all round at the end with a destination all of their own and a pretty speccie set of goal posts.

A lot of things to cross off our 'kid-friendly' list. Next for them will be preparing for a dog. Our focus has moved to the afore-mentioned swimming pools we didn't order and pay for...plus readying for orchard planting...and...and...

12mm before 9am

We have a rain gauge. It is Exciting. We are Proper rural folk now.

Heavy shower overnight? Just check the gauge for precision. Rained all day? Wow, 18mm since 9am and it's still raining. Add that to the 12mm before 9am (9am being our logical empty and reset time) and it makes over 30mm since yesterday. Imagine. Fancy. We love these conversations. Add in a good rain radar app and a surprising amount of time can be occupied. Add in an iPad and what do we have? Rainfall spreadsheet. Bliss.

I've dug a hole or twenty

'Dad, I've dug a hole'.

 I love The Castle and that joke just never gets old for me. Not on the first hole, or the fourth hole or even after the 28th hole including 9 I filled in again after deciding the apricots, peaches and nectarines were going to be too close together (another story for another post). Hole digging went something like this...
Cut out about 1m diameter of turf
Wrestle turf off and stack next to hole for reburying at the bottom
Dig out soil so hole is about 40cm deep
Lean on spade to admire my work
Think to myself 'Dad, I've dug a hole'
Chuckle

There's 9 holes to go plus a raspberry patch and blueberry bed and I really don't think I'll tire of it.