The derelict garden bed on the side of the house needed a little attention. Some love and some tidying. Possibly a new retaining wall - but the budget didn't allow for that.
Before:
I have gone for the type of plants that the Brisbane City Council puts in the middle of the road - I figure they can survive me - lariopes and agapanthus. I left the weeds on the ground as a kind of green ground cover.... If you blur your eyes it almost looks grassy.
After:
I also updated my herbs in pots that all died in the 40 degree day we had a couple of weeks ago. I love having fresh herbs from the garden for cooking. I feel all Jamie Oliver. Plus when you buy herbs from the shops you get a massive bunch and often you only need a few leaves. Everything seems to grow well except coriander. Coriander and I have a weird growing relationship - I keep buying it to plant and it keeps going to seed and dying. It's like it is telling me 'you can have me in your garden but you can't own what I do'. Coriander is such a 14 year old girl herb.
Note the 'no-mats-over-concrete-old-style-trampoline'. It makes them jump in the middle of the mat and have good proprioceptive boundaries. At least that's what I tell myself..
The girls were also desperate to make a garden. They were also desperate to not have the chickens kick it everywhere. So I said they could make a fence from whatever was lying around under the house. I think they did a pretty good job! I am waiting to see if their pleading promises of watering the garden every day actually eventuate.
Gardening always makes me think spiritually. The pruning, the weeding, the growing, the watering. Let's hear it for dirty hands and the smell of the hose on freshly mown grass.
Plant coriander in autumn or early spring - it likes water and warmth but not excessive heat. When it's too hot it basically thinks that it had better seed before it dies from the heat, hence the bolting to seed.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...might try this. Although. I mostly want to eat coriander in salads in summer
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