This is starting to look as I had planned – much more structured and formal.
The privet has been an ongoing saga since I first arrived here. It was towering, leggy, unattractive and hardly an environmental asset – bound for a Council edict. The initial plan, after inspiration from locals who pointed out that it was once a well-ordered and regularly trimmed hedge, was to see if I could cut it back dramatically and get it to regrow neatly after maybe 40 years of neglect.
The privets in their prime.
After tackling a number of bushes with a branch saw over a year ago and getting great results, the rest of the hedge came down in July with the help of chainsaws. The old fence – high galvanised iron with hardwood posts – has a rustic charm of its own which I have now come to love, after originally plotting its downfall. I am now adding rambling roses behind the privets to add another layer of interest and take advantage of a sound structure.
Looking bare but much tidier in July.
Whilst the privet bases will be slightly “leggy” and the ground before it is a bit rough, I’ve edged it with timbers and backfilled with pine bark mulch, planted out with Kurume Azaleas, Helebores and Japanese Windflowers (Anenome x Hybrida). The privets are now all beginning to show signs of new growth and should thicken into a hedge over the next year. Planting of the edge border has begun in earnest, so this side of the garden is now taking on a far more formal appearance, which I was hoping for.
So far this is very raw, but I’m hoping over the next few years this will become a more structured part of the garden and add substantially more interest. I should be a major improvement given it was the biggest eyesore and so environmentally unfriendly.
A year on, I expect the photos to look vastly different.
The border with mulch now runs down the whole side of the fence. The provosts are just beginning to show signs of reshooting.The initial limited experiment of trimming earlier this year, well under control.
Blues are my favourite and this solid blue is close to perfect.
Last year I posted pictures of my Aquilegias – also called Columbines and rather charmingly, Grannies Bonnets. They are probably my favourite flower and are just coming into season.
A red Songbird – perfectly named.
The colours are so variable but always stunning. They also self seed, so multiplying plants can be a treat. I both allow seeds to scatter as well as collect them each year to spread early Spring. This year I’ve also taken the step of trying to sew some in trays to see if I get any results.
Anyway, here’s a selection of the earliest starters.
And a pastel dusky pink – the first Aquilegia to flower.A pale lemon.Totally different, a very deep purple Barlow.
It’s now less than two weeks before the Convent will be open to the public, which I anticipate will mainly be locals, returning Kandos expats and some tourists, for the Kandos Centenary Celebrations over the October long weekend.
All the plants are well and truly planted and beds weeded as well as possible, so now it’s up to Mother Nature and some housekeeping – watering (including fertiliser watering each week), mulching and last minute trimming, sweeping and raking.
Four weeks ago the garden was bare. At least now there’s lots of new growth. Last year the garden was open for the Kandos Garden Fair which was held a month later. At that point I was bemoaning that the roses had all but finished and the grass was barely green given the lack of rain. A little earlier this year and at least the grass is more presentable but there is barely a rose in sight. The Aquilegias and Indigofera Decor, last year’s stars, are not yet up to the flowering stage, although a few Aquilegia’s may just make an appearance. I’m feeling a little vulnerable in the flower department.
The visitors will probably be locals who popped in last year and they will notice a difference with plants being more established and the most dramatic change, with the lopped privet. Expat ex-locals hopefully will remember the last 30 odd years which were “low maintenance Convent gardens”. Anyway, I’ll have the photo albums our showing the old glory days of well tended formal gardens, the low maintenance period and the inherited status to take people through the gardening journey.
If nothing else, there are lots of plants to look at, even if not at their seasonal peak. Also the central bed is in good flower mode with the ranuncs and anenomes flowering and heaps of other things coming through. Blue bells are just starting although the daffodils and snowflakes are at their end. The freesias are still out but the dogs are doing their best to flatten them given that bed has become a favourite “chasey” spot. The veg beds also look productive with lots of crops at various stages from new seedlings to heavy crops of sugar snap and snow peas and towering stalks of broad beans.
No photos this time – I’ll hold off until the October long weekend festivities and hope the garden quickly progresses!
Ten out of ten for persistence. The broad beans sewed themselves back in their favourite spot.
Last year the broad beans were out of control. I wasn’t here enough to pick them in time and look after them properly. The towering plants fell over in the winds and I picked most of them a bit too late in the season – meaning I had lot of floury hard beans.
The best laid plans – I decided this year to plant them against walls and fences rather than in the raised garden bed, so they had support, however the beans had different ideas and self-seeded themselves back in their original bed. At least I have them securely staked and wired this year. A healthy crop is already underway.
This time I’m also picking them before they get too large and tough – such lovely beans, even if a little work is required – depodding, blanching and then removing their skins, but all so worth it. First meal was a simple orecchiette pasta with broad beans, ham and parmesan. Just perfect for a simple dinner using home-grown ingredients.
I also have a healthy crop of sugar snap and snow peas ready at present that will be lining up for salads and stir fries.
Just one of the pea plantings – sugar snaps, snow and regular . I stagger these as they are consumed with gusto. Many don’t make it inside!
A few weeks ago I was terrified that there would be no growth in my garden come the Centenary weekend when the Convent will be open to the public. A little rain, some wonderful sunny weather and maybe a bit of the TLC kicking in has made a huge difference.
Manchurian Pear – just over a year old. Nice to see the green growth.
Remembering that I only bought the place second quarter of last year and have only been here permanently since November, most of the garden is new and many plants have not flowered or even had leaves on before, so it’s hugely exciting to see plants come up, flower and leaf for the first time. Some of those that have already been in for a season are not disappointing and it’s astounding to see all the new growth.
One of two arching Mr Lincoln’s. Great new growth.
I already have some emerging stars. The Daphne Genkwa is stunning – just full lilac blooms and no green in sight. It will be finished before the garden is open, but I’m learning to enjoy the plants at their peak rather than wishing they would hold on for a few more weeks. I’m sure there will still be delights in the garden for the October long weekend celebrations.
In the meantime, much will be up to Mother Nature – I can only assist with watering, feeding, weeding and general cleaning up duties at this point.
Florence Mann – the sole rhododendronAlphone Anderson – part of a selection of older style large azaleasThe central bed constantly changes – ranunculus and anemones with lots of interesting things self-seeding including cornflowers and white cosmos
Just a regular prunus, however this was in such poor condition when I moved in that a number of neighbours encouraged me to have it removed with the other shrubs. So glad I gave it a few more years to turn around.
… and what a beautiful day it was.
It’s now so rewarding to be working in the garden as the results pay off visibly and quickly.
Two Manchurian Pears flank the front entry path. So pretty blossoming, but please now just grow!
Here’s a few glimpses of the garden responding to the new season of growth. Remember that all these plants are very new. Most plants are only a year or less old.
One of the azaleas – they seem to be doing so well but have only been planted throughout the year.
The Quince is gunning it – one of the ‘oldest’ plants, seeing its second spring.
A daffodil show. Nice to see you all coming up!
Madame Alfred Carriere – first with new buds and dong the right thing by reaching over the wall
I’ve just ordered a ‘Chicken Tractor’. Most of the locals who seem to know about chooks encouraged me to buy a mobile chook coop – they said it would harbour less pests and diseases and let me ‘free range’ the chooks by regularly moving the coop around my property. The other benefit is that instead of killing an area, I get to fertilise a large part of the property regularly.
With the dogs, I can’t let chooks have the run of the property, but at least they will always have fresh grass and ground to peck at. This tractor holds 6 – 8 chooks however I’m only planning on having 3 or 4 bantams.
A few years ago, the thought of my own chickens and fresh eggs was just a dream. I now can’t wait to add a few more residents to the Convent.
Asparagus is a strange plant. I remember the pretty fronds of Asparagus Ferns which looked so old fashioned when I was young. That’s really what asparagus is. The spears, if not picked when young, develop into ferny fronts. However the spears look so strange sticking out of the soil by themselves – so bare – and you just snap them off at ground level.
I have asparagus growing both in the raised garden bed and in the side extended colorbond fence bed. I’m sure it’s not supposed to have spears now, but I think trimming the old fronds and feeding and watering them has brought them to life. Anyway, it’s most welcome and each day I pick some spears and add them to the collection until I have enough for a food creation. There’s quite a healthy crop at the moment which needs attention most days.
Last night it was Asparagus Crepes – just a white sauce and a little parmesan added to the steamed fresh spears on paper thin crepes. Yum. The asparagus plants are just over a year old which is very young, so I have high hopes for the future. Once established, asparagus is supposed to crop for decades!
We are now in the countdown to Spring, which means a focus on the garden – quite a contrast to my first sleepy mid Winter in residence here in Kandos.
The last few weeks has since me increasing my time outside – weeding, clearing, pruning, feeding and mulching and, of course, planting. The Convent will be on show for the Centenary Celebrations over the long weekend in October and again for Cementa_15 in April. To ensure the garden makes an impact, I’ve been planting out existing beds and creating a few new or extended areas.
For anyone who saw the place last year, the startling difference will be the privet demolition – not sure if it will have started to strike shoots by October. The roses were also so new before. Hopefully they will now get a kick-along and be a little showy for the garden opening.
I kept seeds from last years’ flowers and am sewing these in the hope of some success. The garden work is substantially different from this time last year when it was hard graft digging and laying new garden beds and so much planting. This time around, there’s still some planting but to a greatly reduced degree and really mainly focussing on now filling in the “in-between” areas. However I wouldn’t underestimate the work in pruning, clearing up, mulching and feeding. I always wondered what people would buy the ginormous 10k buckets of rose food and now admit I’ve turned into one of those people. I think I’ve already used 6 bales of straw mulch – and I only use that on some of my garden beds. I’m also up to around 5 large bags of Eucy mulch and reminder for next year – at least 6 large bags of pine bark mulch for the back bed. There’s also probably half a dozen bags of Dynamic Lifter in the garden, much to the dogs’ delight!
Popcorn loves a good raised garden bed with friable soil!He’s also partial to pot toppling. This one had Fuchsia cuttings.
The dogs love being out in the garden with me and all have their different interests. Tango oversees hole digging, to the point that I can only put the shovel into a hole once and then have to move onto a new area. She’s making sure she doesn’t miss out on any of those tasty grubs! Roxy just plonks herself down where I’m working – not near, actually on. If there’s freshly turned turf, newly planted areas or newly mulched areas, she’s lying there. Popcorn is an expert at the kissing attack. If he sees me kneeling in the garden, you can bet he thinks I’m fair game for a set of sneaky slobbers. He’s also King of the Diggers and, as a big dog, can dig some mighty holes. Of course they all love Dynamic Lifter and act as Hoovers when it’s spread in the garden.
It’s so rewarding to see the plants start to come back to life. Some of the plants I’m yet to see any growth on as they were almost dormant when I planted them, so to watch them through a leafing and flowering period will be exciting – a little like your children’s milestones.
The Delft Blue Hyacinths are lovely but not quite as vibrant as last year.Erlicher Daffodils – the first of the daffodils and always reliable, with a lovely scent.
In the meantime, some of the bulbs are doing their thing – mainly the snowdrops, delft blue hyacinths and Erlicheer daffodils, with a few yellow daffodils beginning to sneak their way in.
Little Snowflakes – dependable and pretty, and the first bulb of the year.
This Blog is now becoming useful to me as a diary to see what the garden was up to last year and when I might expect to see plants in action. I’m hopeful there will be surprises and delights in store that hold on through to April next year.
White Mexican Sage looking a little worse for wear after the frostGeisha Girl also hasn’t enjoyed WinterThese delft blue Hyacinths will soon make their presence noticed in the garden
My first Winter in residence has seen pace slow down substantially. Whilst the cold weather was a little late in hitting, it ended up making its presence felt. I’ve noticed that in the country everything seems magnified. I’m not sure that’s because I now have time to notice small changes, that the changes are more extreme in the country or just that it’s all so new and fascinating to me.
The Rasberry is showing early shoots
Anyway, in Sydney I’d rarely notice changes overnight but here you can walk out one morning after a harsh frost and it looks like a blowtorch has scorched many of the plants. The garden has slowed down dramatically but there is also a beauty in the stark branches against a grey sky and a blazing wood fire on a cold night is hard to beat.
I’m hopeful the Lilacs will do well this year
At the end of July, the days are not quite so long, we have had some lovely sunnier weather (along with much-needed rain) and already the garden is showing signs of new life, which is so exciting for me given most of the plants are new.
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