Lemon Tree Troubles

I’m still failing with my lemon tree. It looks like it’s being eaten but I spray it regularly. I planted it out in the garden a few months ago. It was in a pot but the soil was going mouldy and ants decided to call it their home. So I planted it in the same position that the pot was. It grows new leaves but then the leaves curl up and some have gone silvery. Has it got some sort of fungus?? What’s going on? I’ve struggled with this tree for 3 years now. Will it ever get better?? 

RHCP

Last year my red “hot” chilli peppers tasted like capsicum. The odd one had a slight hint of spice but I pretty much just used them for their colour in my cooking. I thought I’d give chillies another go this year – I really want to make hot chilli sauce! When I saw some flashes of red in my chilli plant I picked one and put the whole thing in my mouth. It absolutely blew my head off! Probably should have started with a little nibble in hindsight. But I’m so happy! I didn’t do anything differently. Must’ve just chosen a better plant. Last years were called “fiery red chillies” and this years are “red hot chillies”. Don’t know what the scientific difference in the two are but red hot chillies win hands down! Keep a look out for my upcoming sauce! 

Palmetto’s First Haircut

I mowed our palmetto instant turf for the first time. Look how awesome it looks! Who knew I’d be this obsessed with lawn? It’s so spongy and soft and lush. And green! I love it! 

Question: other than spending hours cutting the edges with secateurs, what’s the best way to neaten up the edges around the shed and garden beds?

And you can’t possibly have a post about the backyard without a photo of Lloyd. I thought I’d sit back and admire our lawn for a bit on a recliner chair that my sister bought me. Lloyd decided the extra height was just what he needed to get the best vantage point for his fly catching. No flies died. 

Hen Seeds

My sister obviously knows me very well and organised for my girlfriends to bring me gifts of seeds and bulbs for my hens day. Look at them all! 

I’ve planted a few packets out and am now the proud grower of sunflower seedlings! 🌞

Burnt Patches

Our lawn is going great guns. It’s lush and soft and happy. Except for a few little burnt circles like this. I’m wondering if they’re a burny combination of Lloyd’s wee spots and the hot sun. Been trying to water a couple of times a day to wash away the dog wee. Don’t know what else it might be..?  

The Lawn And The Weeds

Our Palmetto lawn has spruced up nicely and is looking much less dead. It’s firmly attached itself now. We’ve still got it fenced off from Lloyd but he’s allowed on the lawn when we’re there so we can start disciplining him when his little paws accidentally scratch the surface in what would likely accidentally turn into a digging frenzy if left without intervention. Accidentally of course. 

While Lloyd and I were watering the lawn (which involves everyone getting very wet cos there’s nothing better than water coming out of a hose when you’re a puppy) I noticed that heaps of weeds are growing in the lawn. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen the end two in our garden before either. So annoying! But it does keep me entertained while watering – looking closely for more weeds. 

It’s been a month today since Adam laid the lawn so it’ll be time to start fertilising soon. The lawn guy said to start fertilising after a month but all the fertiliser packets I’ve read say to wait at least 6 weeks. I reckon I’ll give it another few weeks. For now I’m just going to keep hand picking the weeds out but will look into weed and feed products if the weeds get the better of me (which they tend to). Who knew there was so much to learn about lawn!? 

Update on the Sickies

After many posts in the past asking for advice on my sick plants I thought I’d update you on their progress. 

Magda last summer:

Magda now:

Middy last summer:

Middy now:

These two didn’t get burnt in the recent heat we had so hopefully their mature enough to survive this summer without damp cloths draped on them. 

Robyn Gordon last week:

Robyn Gordon today:

Edit

New growth! Still early days obviously! 

Maggie last year:

Maggie now:

Getting there! I hope there’s a happy news story to come out of our new lawn which is looking a little dead :?. I hind sight, laying it the day before a 35°c sunny day might not have been the best idea. I’ve been giving it a whole lot of love and water so fingers crossed! 

Note: the attractive fence is so Lloyd stays off the grass for a few weeks. 
Really bad patch near the path:

Everyone cross your fingers that water and love will bring it to life! 

Palmetto

Lawn! 

It’s going to transform our backyard! 

Stay tuned for final product! So excited! 

Puppy Proof Vegie Boxes Round 2

This is what Lloyd thought of round 1:

So ugly chicken wire it is. Hopefully it’s not forever.. 

I may be able to improve this. The way the corners sit means I had to cut off the edges. I could get around this with more stakes but they cost $7 each. Getting a bit pricey to make an ugly fence! At least I finally have some vegies growing again! Here I have Cherry Tomatoes and Black Russian Tomatoes. I also planted more herbs. 

And a Habanero Chilli plant. 

I’ve grown chillies before and they weren’t spicey. I blamed the Melbourne climate. But we have friends 20 minutes away who have grown various hot chillies and made them into the most awesome hot sauce. So I’m trying my luck with a couple of different types of chillies this season. Bring on some home made hot sauce! 

My Garden Muscles Are Alive!

Ah, my muscles ache, there’s dirt under my nails and my hands are hanging out for a decent lather of moisturiser. It feels so long since I had this feeling and I’ve missed it. My uni course is officially over! Results came out yesterday and I passed with distinction (76.25 average). Not amazing but I’m pretty happy with that given how busy I was first semester and how much I hated Deakin University in second semester (another story). I’ve put my books away and can’t wait for the extra $1.40/hour I will receive as a result of my new qualification. #nursebuysasuperyacht

So with that behind me and my super yacht fund set up I can concentrate on the turning our disgraceful backyard into something beautiful. The hubby ordered some Palmetto turf to arrive on Friday. It’s meant to be hardy, self repairing, soft, low maintenance and stay green over winter – what more could you want! So I had to turn our well trampled and dry dirt pit into something ready for some lovely grass to sink it’s roots in. Believe it or not this soil was brought in just for this occasion in February so it’s actually really nice soil – just looks (and kind of feels) like concrete in this picture. 

Several people will tell you that I’m really bad at digging. I’ve had to be rescued in the past when deadlines are involved. I try really hard and get really sweaty and sore but I don’t make much of an impression. It took so much work to get the soil looking like this! 

I’d been digging for 3 hours and hadn’t even reached the Maggie’s garden bed from the back fence. Adam came home from work and had a quick dig before asking me what my technique was “cos it’s really easy”. I hated him then but also had hope that he could knock the rest over quickly! He did the edges for me and made some more progress around Maggie’s garden bed before it got dark. 

It did get easier – there was barely any topsoil near the back fence so I was digging mostly clay. Still took half the day to finish though! I don’t get it. I can shovel loose dirt from the front of the house to the back of the house no worries – had plenty of practice at it too! Just today I shovelled 1/2 a metre of nice soil for the vegie boxes and garden beds and I even got a thumbs up from someone waiting at the roundabout in their car. I just can’t dig to save myself! Even with Lloyd’s help – which I devastatingly had to say no to cos digging is not allowed. This was very confusing. “Mummy can dig, why can’t I?” Lots of fast laps were required. #puppyparenting

Speaking of Lloyd, I badly underestimated him in my first attempt to puppy proof the vegie boxes. I thought it would be good to use a fence to stop him but I didn’t want something too high that would make it hard to work in the vegie box and shade the plants. I saw this cute garden edge in Bunnings – actually, it’s not cute, it’s plastic and horrible but at least it’s not chicken wire. I thought the points of the pickets would scare Lloyd off attempting to jump without impaling him if he did attempt. He does get scared of things (like concrete wombats and Labrador puppies) but he’s not scared of potential pain. He’s a cattle dog. He doesn’t feel pain. Perhaps I should just buy a Labrador statue to guard the vegie boxes! 

Not sure what my next puppy proof attempt will be. A higher fence that covers the corners? Might have to mull it over with my engineer husband.