Challenging Clean-Up and Pergola Garden Progress

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It’s been a bit of a stinker outside today. Temps. reached 32 deg C in the middle of the day and the sun was fierce. My gardening efforts began very early and stopped around 10.30 am.

Yesterday, I began a massive clean up of the rocky driveway garden beds which continued today. It will take another day or so to finish.

The enormous Duranta shrubs had been extensively trimmed back already (from about 3 m to around 1 m) and the Golden Cane Palms had been thinned out (all the smaller trunks had been cut out).

However, there was still loads of leaf litter and tons of weeds that were difficult to pull out of the concrete-like dirt. That pile of weeds got much bigger! Then there were about twenty more huge piles as I worked my way down the long driveway.

Once the clean-out is over, it will be time to think about re-planting in a few spots. There’s been loads of losses over the years as these garden beds are challenging environments for many plants.

The newly planted pergola garden area is doing okay so far and all the plants seem to have settled in well. I’m still adding final touches … little rocks here and there … and a few smaller plants.

The ferns, impatiens and coleus have settled into their new spots quite nicely.

The begonias are happy in their corner.

I’m hoping the lovely native violet, Viola hederacea, will spread and cover most of the empty spaces. It’s such a pretty groundcover. I have grown it before but it was completely swamped during one of our very heavy wet season. This time however, I think the drainage in the pergola garden is better and it should survive.

There were just a few garden friends around today – the Eastern Stony Creek frog (Litoria lesueuri), a male Common Eggfly butterfly (Hypolimnas bolina), and a Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) enjoying a rather large grasshopper for lunch!!

That’s a Stony Creek Frog (Litoria lesueuri) squished into the corner of the verandah. The body colour of these frogs can vary from grey to fawn to dark coppery brown.

The egg-shaped patches on the male’s wings give this butterfly its name – Eggfly.

Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) enjoying lunch.

• 30 Sep, 2024
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