A spring gardening weekend in northern Oz.

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Here in my northern corner of Oz it’s spring – but as we approach mid-spring the temperatures rise (today it was 31 degrees C at midday) and the sun’s rays are really starting to climb the UV scale – reached around 12 today which is classed as ‘extreme’. Humidity is also starting to climb – 60% today! In other words – it already feels like summer has begun!

Of course, it’s the middle of our long ‘dry’ season as well – there’s been no rain for 5 months now so my garden is dry!
This photo shows how dry the front yard is at this time of year:

The hot and dry conditions limits what can be done out in the larger garden beds around the property – they survive on their own for most of the year (with a bit of daily watering from the automated irrigation system). The grass simply dies off and waits for the rain at the end of the year!

However, there was one large garden bed that needed some tidying up – it’s the bed down the side of the hill driveway under some very tall gum trees. At the bottom of this photo you can just see the green roof of our top car-shed – that gives you some idea of the size of the gum trees in this bed.

We decided to get stuck into the tidying up before it gets much hotter. So that was the first job this weekend – with the windy conditions we’ve had for two months now there were lots of broken gum tree branches covering the bed as well as bark strips and piles of brown gum leaves. We also needed to get rid of some young coconut trees which had sprung up years ago … and the old hibiscus needed trimming!

Views after the clean-up:
From the bottom of the hill driveway:

A bit closer:

Further up in the midsection with the old hibiscus:

Looking down from the top of the hill driveway- those sticks you see are actually the trunks of my deciduous plumeria which are just starting to show new growth:

There were two tree ferns in that garden bed that finally gave up after years of very dry weather. I was hoping one of them would have survived after our record ‘wet’ at the beginning of the year – but that rain was not enough to raise the dead!

Here’s a view of the hill driveway looking up to the courtyard pergola and steps (just to the left of the photo) … after the clean-up!:

We then hosed off off the hill driveway:

and tidied up the top of the jasmine covered pergola on the other side of the hill driveway – (you can see the tall golden cane palms all around the pergola entrance) – lots of palm fronds had fallen on top of it and they don’t look that great as they decay!

Then we had to do some trimming back of the jasmine on one side of the pergola going down to the courtyard. You can see one section trimmed back – where the house is actually now visible – and one section still to go:

Hubbie and I had been away for a fortnight visiting our sons and grandchildren down in Brisbane … of course that meant we had to get somebody else to come and look after parts of the garden for a fortnight – that didn’t work out so well. Unfortunately some of my courtyard plants suffered – they certainly didn’t get enough water!

So next job – I had to cut back a few of the pot plants out in the courtyard – all the petunias, the torenias, and the New Guinea impatiens around the pond area that were in stress.

Then I had to trim back the verbena (which suffered terribly while I was away) and the pelargoniums and the nasturtiums.

Courtyard before I went away:

Courtyard today – it’s now a bit of a sad sight – but it will come back!:

I then moved onto the hanging dragon’s wing begonias in the greenhouse – they were getting leggy again as you can see:

Onto weeding the re-vamped beds outside the greenhouse:

Then I moved onto the new garden beds that were only finished a few weeks ago – did some weeding and feeding. I’m pleased with how well the new plants are all doing so far – still need lots more though!

The orange patch in the new garden beds is coming along nicely:

The sprekelia have started to bloom:

The bacopa is in full bloom:

The pelargonium peltatum ‘Lulu’ has taken off:

The polygala X dalmaisiana is blooming:

Gazanias in full bloom in the white patch:

The gomphrena leontopodioides also doing well:

As is the kalanchoe pumila:

Around the garden there’s signs of re-growth:
Caladiums are popping out after their dormant period:

So is the kaemferia elegans:

The jacaranda is beginning to flower:

The deciduous plumeria are once again showing new leaves:

There are also quite a few gums still flowering in the surrounding bushland.

Now some views of the surrounding bush after our dry autumn, winter and beginning of spring:

Now that the hot weather has starting setting in, gardening becomes more and more difficult – let’s hope everything makes it through the rest of spring and summer … until we see this sight once more!

4 Oct, 2009
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Antigone

Gosh you have been working hard!! Nice to see your courtyard again too! We are of course at the opposite end of the gardening calendar to you and everything is dying back as our days get shorter and the temperature gets cooler. We've had a fabulous month in September in the south west of England though, a real Indian Summer. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your hard work, look forward to more photos. The final view shot is stunning.

4 Oct, 2009

A spring gardening weekend in northern Oz.

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