DFB's Garden

[LG17]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Went mulch shopping today with my best client. You will often see their property in my garden pics, its a heritage listed corner block property that has a very large cottage style garden. Mulching is usually done via straw, which suits they style of the house and garden. imageimageimageimageCompressed bales of sugarcane don't go very far in this garden! Although I do love the smell and what it does to the soil as the material breaks down. And while bales of straw are available at multiple retail outlets in town, notably the local Mitre10 which is run in conjunction with a rural store..............RokWiz will know who I'm talking about. Thing is, when you live in a rural area, it's not what you know, its who you know. My client has been buying mulch-grade lucerne straw from the same old farmer for quite a while now. Not only is it superb for the garden, it also doesn't sprout weeds. Smells distinctively nice as well. I say "mulch-grade" in that these are older bales that have lost that cream colour and taken on a grey appearance. For mulching, this matters little. Price wise, I went and did a little online comparison. Basic straw bales are around $14 each, with prices working up to $26 bale for lucerne. At this particular grower, rye grass hay is $12 a bale, working up to $18 a bale for premium lucerne. For garden mulch lucerne, that comes in at $10 a bale. https://www.gaffys.com.au/product-page/garden-mulch Typically, my clients would go out with the trailer, but with it full of garden waste, I offered up my ute. It was also a nice outing for my client who is progressively going blind and recovering from a severe back injury. Can your dual cab toy do this?imageI now know that a single cab chassis Ranger will hold 10 bales of hay! Their special loader grabs onto 10 bales at a time, then drops them into the tray in one go. Upon return, the bales were unloaded and I wasted no time in getting it spread where required.

Geez Lucerne and hay is expensive down your way. I pay $12 a bale for top quality lucerne for the horse and no more than $5 for mulch hay. If I have to buy say, 2 dozen bales for the gardens it's usually just give me $50.

[Citroënbender]

Have pulled the trigger (pun intended) on a Dramm watering handpiece from Dural Irritation after recommendation here. $51 and a bit! I chose green, due to risk of someone fancying a purple or blue one and “rehoming” it.

Also on the bee front, lost all the new hives to hive beetle in the course of barely three weeks. Definitely going to spell the site, no point wasting hundreds of dollars on queens at $50 apiece. Need to work out a way to control the beetle comprehensively, there’s too much humus and moisture which is fostering their larval stages nicely.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Have pulled the trigger (pun intended) on a Dramm watering handpiece from Dural Irritation after recommendation here. $51 and a bit! I chose green, due to risk of someone fancying a purple or blue one and “rehoming” it.

Also on the bee front, lost all the new hives to hive beetle in the course of barely three weeks. Definitely going to spell the site, no point wasting hundreds of dollars on queens at $50 apiece. Need to work out a way to control the beetle comprehensively, there’s too much humus and moisture which is fostering their larval stages nicely.

Nice on regarding the Dramm wand.

My client has lost all of their hives now too. Such a shame.

[Citroënbender]

I’m sorry for your client’s loss, the mostly quiet “purposefulness” of bees around the garden and hives, is a gentle pleasure.

[Captain Stubing]

I put diatemaceous earth in hive beetle traps in my hive. I could probably line the base board with it as well. It gets in the hive beetle joints and wrecks them for life.

[Citroënbender]

Yes, I’m looking at basically broadcasting that stuff onto the ground within a few metres of the hive hardstand area. Had the translucent red plastic traps/gates, the Chux type duster cloths already - but no good against the legion of beetles.

[DFB FGXR6]

Ordered Tuesday evening, delivered Thursday morning..........................



No, not a bag of potatoes, instead 100 bulbs which will soon be planted into pots. It's been a number of years since I've planted bulbs, something I once did yearly. This started in my mid-teens sitting with my grandmother thumbing through the Tesselaar mail order catalog. We would then place an order together and split the postage, with a high focus on Tulips and Daffodils. Funnily, Tesselaar still send out mail order catalogs where you send a money order or cheque.............remember those. I however went with the convenience of online ordering.

And for those wondering, no its not pronounced Tesla like the car, rather Tess-sell-lar.

In the name of tradition, I ordered Tulips and Daffodils. With a limitless list of Tulip varieties, I decided to keep it simple and went with a mixture. I over ordered because I want to mass plant them in pots, in this situation having complimentary or matching tones doesn't matter, it's all about COLOUR! These mix packs are also cheaper, especially when on sale.

https://www.tesselaar.net.au/product...ulips-mega-mix



Just like Tulips, there is a huge selection of Daffodils available now, but I like the classic King Alfred variety for the size of bloom. Despite the lack of colour variation, when planted on mass you create a high impact display. Oh, and they were also on sale.

https://www.tesselaar.net.au/product...il-king-alfred



There is something so hopeful about planting bulbs, what look like dead onions get planted out and forgotten about for several months, before bursting into life and rewarding your patience with a spectacular bloom.

Fun Fact - Daffodils and Jonquils go under the genus Narcissus..................

"The botanical name for the daffodil is Narcissus, named after a young man known for his beauty in Greek mythology who was tricked into falling in love with his own reflection. The drooping flowers that characterise most daffodils are said to represent Narcissus bending over to catch his reflection in a pool of water."

Back when I was studying, plant name etymology was something I took an interest in. Often, Latin botanical names point clues to the characteristics of the plant itself, so becoming familiar with this side of horticulture helps with identification, indicates colour or explains how a plant grows.

For example, vulgaris means common, so when you see this listed as the second name it means the plant is widely grown or most prevalent in the wild. Thymus vulgaris = Common Thyme.

Plants with the second name paniculata refer to a cluster of branched induvial blooms, or a "panicle". For example, Murraya Paniculata, which references the clusters of highly perfumed white blooms. One of my favorite plants.

Or, Betula Pendula Alba, the second and third names reference the draping/weeping branch work (pendula) and the white trunk (alba).

This was my bible at the time -
https://www.amazon.com.au/Gardeners-.../dp/0486297152

[hawkgirl]

I know you said you're not big on fruit tree pruning, so I'll just add that you shouldn't prune your apricot trees in winter, as doing so can cause gummosis, which is very bad for the tree.
Prune in summer after you have eaten all the yummy globes of sunshine.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by hawkgirl

I know you said you're not big on fruit tree pruning, so I'll just add that you shouldn't prune your apricot trees in winter, as doing so can cause gummosis, which is very bad for the tree.
Prune in summer after you have eaten all the yummy globes of sunshine.

Correct.

The same applies to both fruiting and ornamental cherries, and most maples are best pruned during the growing season and not while dormant as they tend bleed.

[DFB FGXR6]

Had a good laugh at this today......................

There are two people in this world, those that have dug out agapathus and those that haven't....................

[anobserver]

Had a hack at the bouganvillea today. Heavy rains (including that cyclone) have sparked plenty of autumn growth.

I normally prune lightly this time of year. Our clay based soil dries out quickly, and i like to prune excess growth so the plants stay hydrated.

The new growth has lots of spikes, the older growth is easier to handle. Gloves are a must.

Everything is lush and green too, so nice to see this time of year.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by anobserver

Had a hack at the bouganvillea today. Heavy rains (including that cyclone) have sparked plenty of autumn growth.

I normally prune lightly this time of year. Our clay based soil dries out quickly, and i like to prune excess growth so the plants stay hydrated.

The new growth has lots of spikes, the older growth is easier to handle. Gloves are a must.

Everything is lush and green too, so nice to see this time of year.

Do you get flowers out of it?

I find if you keep tip pruning in an attempt control the plant, you don't really get much in the way of flowers, which is counter productive considering you put up with the spikes and rampant nature, but get no reward.

This was the last major hack job on the one I deal with....................







That's all from one plant. We sort of hacked it from down low and levered the whole lot onto the back of my truck in one go.

Within a week it was already fighting back..................

[anobserver]

Some decent spikes on that one.

Pink tips and small flowers, a lot.

If i dont trim it, it drops leaves and looks bare. I dont tip prune, more like branches and whole sections that encroach or overhang.

Sooner or later ill get sick of trimming and dig it out. Thats a recurrent thing.

[hawkgirl]

Spent the morning at the Collectors Plant Fair in Penrith, alas my hunt for a blue hakea continues.

In nsw at least the trend is for succulents and indoor plants. My brother recalls not being able to sell variegated monstera (working for Nock & Kirbys nursery in Dural) for love nor money, now a single plant is worth hundreds of $