Self care by growing a garden

[Former-Member]

You might be able to find some suitable containers for your succulents at the op shop @Shaz51.

Love leaf litter @Smc  @Adge  have my eye on some smaller ornamental pears to replace the noxious plants that are being removed. 

[Shaz51]

will have a look my @Former-Member 

[Former-Member]

I have started doing a garden journal for the new home.

[Shaz51]

Lovely @Former-Member  xxxx 

[Smc]

@Adge, our soil here is clay loam, but not really fertile. "Goldfields" soil. Black reactive clay in the valleys, yellow-red clay up the top of the hills. But the good thing is, the same leaf mould that helps sandy soil hold moisture and nutrients improves the texture and drainage of clay, and the humic acid unlocks the minerals in it. 😄 It's a long term job improving the soil, but nearly 20 years down the track, I'm getting the hang of what works here, and starting to see a difference.

[Adge]

Yep, organic matter is good stuff @Smc Both for clay & sandy soils.

It's all grey sand here, actually "water repellent".

Until you improve the soil here with lots of compost etc - the water just pools, & runs off the sand.

Adge

[Smc]

I believe the term is "hydrophobic" @Adge? I've found that sometimes parts of ours goes that way if it gets very dry.

[Former-Member]

Got in a short weeding session today but nearly filled the green bin with prunings from a branch that had been caught in a tree from a previous tidy up.

[Smc]

Fed the chooks and guinea pigs some more of our weeds today. Excavated out the crummy soil from a spot where I want to grow a pear tree, and added lots of good soil and manure/bedding to the site. The tree's one I got bare rooted from a mail order nursery, but I'm a bit concerned. The trunk below the graft looks alive, but above the graft it looks dried out, possibly dead? Will be watching it hopefully to see if it proves me wrong. Hope so.

[Former-Member]

Needed some thyme for a recipe today. 1st stop garden centre,  mission successful, a nice bushy specimen purchased.  

Plant will be added to potted collection after its hair cut 😀.