I've been watching a dvd of City Gardening, about garden makeovers in Britain. Most of the people there have flat backyards attached to their house which is stuck right next to another house. Most people want a garden they can hang out in the evening after work with their mates. And have parties.
I'm feeling a inspired and now started making inroads of the stack of the Garden Design books my bible study host gave me. For my 'party garden' I considered my boring backyard would be livened up with a pink and purple corner. I am considering swapping my lemon tree with the jacaranda which will also screen the neighbours house, while the lemons will be closer to the deck and in easy picking distance. Then I will also have some pink flax in the background and pink manuka lining the edges as a screen. I will need to get rid of the swan plant as its leaning at a dangerous angle and looks a bit unsightly, and while it has butterflies, its really not shown off to best advantage. And I already have some in the front yard.
Then I will move the chinese toon also to the corner or side as it has gorgeous pink foliage. It is getting cramped in the bed it's currently in. For ground cover I may have the purply ajuga which is said to thrive in moist soil, if I manage to get rid of the creeping buttercup. So I need to go out to buy some pink flax I've had my eye on for some time. I can also move the yellow chinese lantern to the patio garden and put that by the fence.
Mum got her hands dirty and pulled out most of the ginger lily in the rock garden and I've replaced it with geraniums and lavender.
So I think maybe I get cracking tomorrow as the storm is over, we had hail, wind, rain, sun, so I think the soil is all freshly nitrogenated now. I have more doodia ferns by the birds nest fern, a baby agapanthus, some fennel, and a muelenbeckia to plant by the wire fence next to the kowhai.
At Woodside we were preparing the feijoa hedge. It's pretty muddy at the moment but our winter veges are growing well. This times its garlic, onions, cabbages, rocket, kale, beetroot and broccolis.
