July is for - breaking down the barriers

It's winter, and for me that means woolly beanie and gloves on the way to work in the morning, and wrapping up on the lounge in a blanket at night. Hopefully at least one of the cats will join me as a living hot water bottle. The real struggle for me comes when I have a day off - though it sounds exciting or relaxing, or both, often it isn't either. The house is just too cold during the day. I'm all for getting out in the garden to warm up, after taking the dog for a brisk walk (often with a bacon and egg roll stop) and maybe painting the walls for a while. But there's really only so much tea you can drink, and so many warm things to do.
The main issue is the house design, as there is only one window on the northern side (where all the sun is at this time of year). We are hoping to add another window in the bedroom  when time and budget allow, but for this season we have simply made better use of the one window we have.
Without boring you with the details of our strange house layout, let me just say that the living room is far too small and entirely the wrong shape, and along it runs an equally unusable and oddly shaped 'bedroom'. I'm sure you COULD fit a bed in there and my neighbour tells me that many years ago two young brothers shared it (a lesson in making do, if ever I needed one).

 

 

After taking a climb on the ladder into the roof, we confirmed that the wall separating these two 'rooms' wasn't loadbearing, and took to it with the nearest tools.

 

 My hammer hardly made a dent, and we discovered that it was composed of 2 layers, with thick gyprock covering horsehair plaster at the top, and plywood on the bottom half. Progress was slower than we expected, but the light that began streaming into the dingy living room was wonderful. Now at the centre of our house is a large, lightfilled room. 

Let there be light!

  Unfortunately, the walls and ceiling of the two rooms don't quite match up, so there is more work to be done disguising the join or at least making it presentable.

 

 

But we don't care. At the moment it's just nice to sit in a sunny room, have a read and a cup of tea. By summer we will hang some curtains to keep it cool, but that can wait. Before then there are floorboards to sand and polish and walls to paint. At least now our precious sunshine isn't wasted on that funny little side room, and we have a lounge room that can actually fit our lounge in it. How luxurious!

And here is a sneak peek of what we have planned for next Winter:

January is for... out with the old, in with the new!

Now is a great time to celebrate the achievements of the last year, finish off old jobs, start some new jobs and make some new plans!

Back in September's post, I mentioned that the old ugly carport was being removed ( http://hunterharvest.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/september-is-for-celebrating-in-style.html ). We managed this month to finally finish up the new 'carport garden', with the last poles coming out, and the last plants going in. Before planting, we built up the centre beds with good quality soil from the landscape yard to help with drainage and to improve the compacted soil that was the floor of the carport.

The removal of the carport left quite a big opening at the back fence, which is now a large space facing into our neighbours' yard. Thankfully, we know a thing or two about living screens, and planted some fast-growing large shrubs that will give us some privacy (eventually) and provide a nice green background. This area is also designed to be bird attracting, and so the plants were carefully chosen for their habitat and food value. Think nectar-rich flowers, dense or prickly foliage, tasty seeds or flowers to attract insects. To maximise this, there is a lot of variety and little repetition, except for the clumps of groundcovers. To avoid looking too 'hodge-podge' there is a colour scheme of purples and whites, with a couple of pinks, blues and yellows here and there and some interesting foliage for year-round interest. The mix is all native plants, and consists mostly of Grevilleas, Melaleucas, Banksias, Acacias and Callistemon, with plenty of little surprises thrown in. We are hoping to build a pergola and BBQ area on the concrete slab, so I've planted some edible natives like midyim berries, ruby saltbush, muntries and mint bush along that edge for easy access.

Prostanthera cryptandroides (mintbush)

In the back corner we have marked a spot for a garden seat (there's a special one at a local nursery that we're putting money in a jar for) and the middle section of the beds are all low-growing shrubs and groundcovers, 1-1.5 m high so that we can sit in the chair and look over the garden towards the house and pool.

There is also a stepping stone path to the seat made from sandstone offcuts and some home-made mosaic pavers. I love mosaic and have mostly made pots in the past, but the pavers are great fun and not so time-consuming!

A nice thick layer of forest mulch will keep the weeds down and the soil moist, so eventually I won't need to water it much, if at all.

They are already looking better every day and the butterflies have started to visit the little native daisies, I'm so excited to see it all grow and watch the birds playing around instead of the neighbours and their dogs... they will probably appreciate it too!

I have a few favourites among the plants that I'd like to introduce:

Homoranthus decumbens

 

This gorgeous blue-green shrub grows horizontally and forms little cream flowers along the branches like icing on a cake. The colour is fantastic, and insects love the flowers when they come out in spring.

 

Acacia cultriformis

 

 This quirky wattle forms a dense shrub with these interesting wing-shaped phyllodes. The prickly foliage will help to shelter wrens and finches that may want to nest there when the garden is more established.

 

Melaleuca nesophila

A large shrub with fluffy flowers that start out bright purple and fade to almost white, so that there are a number of different shades at one time. I wrote an article about these as part of my internship, you can see it here:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2012/melaleuca-nesophila.html
Obviously I still have a soft spot for them!


This week Matt also managed to pull up the mashy-pea-green carpet in the lounge room, the surprise layer of lino underneath, and the funky layer of 1955 newspaper underneath that. Some of the ads and stories are so funny, I might have to make a collage to hang on the wall for a bit of vintage style and a nod to the house's history.

Eventually we will sand and polish the boards, but for now I'm just happy for the old carpet to be gone. There is only one small patch remaining, we are slowly making progress!

If anyone is interested in a comprehensive list of what's in the garden, knock yourself out:
Acacia amblygona
Acacia cultriformis
Actinotus helianthi
Austromyrtis dulcis
Banksia integrifolia
Banksia spinulosa 'Honeypots'
Brachycome multifida Blue, White and Break 'o' day
Bursaria spinosa
Callistemon 'Wilderness White'
Calothamnus granitica
Enchylaena tomemtosa
Eucalyptus caesia
Eucalypus macrocarpa
Grevillea 'Fruit Box'
Grevillea rosmarinifolia 'Lutea'
Grevillea 'Pink Surprise'
Guichenotia macrantha
Hakea sericea
Hardenbergia violacea
Homoranthus decumbens
Kennedia nigricans
Kunzea pomifera
Leptospermum 'Lipstick'
Leptospermum sp.
Melaleuca decussata
Melaleuca nesophila
Melaleuca thymifolia
Myoporum parvifolium
Poa labillardieri
Prostanthera cryptandroides
Thryptomene saxicola
Verticordia plumosa
Wahlenbergia gloriosa
Westringia 'Smokie'

 

 

 

September is for... celebrating in style!

Guess what?! This month we celebrated our home-owner-versary! I'm so excited about this little milestone, and thought it must be time to recap and take stock of some improvements we've made to the house and garden. I'd also like to take the opportunity to start posting a 'photo of the week' because sometimes I just can't wait to show you what's happening, and they will be short and 'snappy' I promise! There will still be a monthly update for those who love a good story.

So here are my top 5 'before and after' transformations, 2 of which are still in progress, and you will be getting an exclusive sneak peek!

1. The hallway/spare bedroom:
A work in progress, but a fantastic result already. Originally the house had 2 living areas, but only 1 decent bedroom (I don't count the 'study' as a bedroom as it wouldn't fit much more than a bed and desk in it!). We decided to put up a wall to separate off the front room and turn it into a usable spare bedroom. This also gives us a nice hallway area to draw people toward the lounge room and kitchen.

 












2.The driveway garden/veggie beds:
Recycling the old fence panels has been great fun, using them as supports for our vegetables along the driveway fence. Tomatoes, eggplants, peas and beans have all grown up them, with room for a row of greens, herbs or root veg in front. We now have these running right from the front fence, with some dwarf citrus and apple trees between each. You will have to use your imagination a bit for the veggie beds, as I've just planted my summer seeds and they haven't done much yet!

 
3. Down with the carport:
Even though we are on a good sized block, much of it is unusable for garden space due to the layout. The garage is at the back, requiring a long driveway, and the pool is directly behind the house. We decided the garage and driveway provide enough parking space, and the carport was just collecting 'stuff' that we didn't need anyway. Full story to come when the project is finished! 

4. The pool area:
Removing the awful old fencing was quite a job, but it made such a massive difference. The yard is now open and full of light, and the garden has made it a lovely place to lounge about or sit and read.

5. The front garden:
The aim here was to dress up the 'face' of the house to increase street appeal, so the big dark fence was first to go. A mixture of softening flowers, native plants and roses make the house feel loved, and 2 deciduous fruit trees where planted in the lawn to shade the western bedroom windows in summer, and let in some sun in winter.

It's been a big year, and hopefully next year will see house and garden get even better. Stay tuned for updates on the carport/new garden and spare room!

April is for...living life on the edge!

Ahhhh Autumn... you cheeky devil! I thought we had plenty of time before the chill set in, but it has snuck up on me once again. As has May... I hope you'll forgive me for the late post, but April was action-packed, and so busy I almost forgot to tell you about it. This month I had to travel down to Albury (on the NSW/Vic border) for a week of uni field work, and I seem to have brought the cool air back with me.. sorry about that folks! It was worth it though, we spent a few days in the forest counting and measuring seedlings in the forest and learning about how Eucalyptus and Callitris (Cypress Pine) trees respond to fire. It was so interesting and made me think differently about the importance of fire in Australia. But also being a bit of a nerd, part of me likes visiting a new town just to see what plants grow there! Even the street plantings were different, lovely red Berberis, lots of grasses, and a stunning Angophora with little spikes on its gumnuts. (I think it was Angophora costata but will take any other suggestions?)



In any case, I came home with a gorgeous little Eucalyptus lansdowneana "Purple Patch" to plant in the yard. It's a small tree with a semi-weeping habit and purple-pink flowers, and should be stunning in a few years' time.

We have also been working on getting the side garden edged, along the driveway on the shady southern side of the house. Shade can be a bit tricky to plant, but I like the challenge. It helps me narrow down the endless list of plants I'd like to put there, for one! I have planted a few things along there since we moved, but during summer our dog Olive liked to sit there to escape the heat. There are some survivors of her demolition work, and these include a portwine Magnolia, a Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, a lovely little native Correa alba, half a Daphne and half a white Japonica Camellia. I am choosing to see these as 'half full', and not 'half empty'... there is always hope! Under these are scattered a few hydrangeas, aquilegias, hostas and hellebores. Right at the back end I have planted a Davidson's plum, a native rainforest tree with delicious fruit that I will probably have to share with the birds. All that remains is turning it into a real garden bed, by putting in some edging. We managed to get some recycled koppers logs from a friend and dug them in, screwed to a few stakes to hold them in place. A bit of mulch finished it off nicely, and now it looks much more civilised.

I will add a few more plants when I have more time to go nursery-hopping, I'm on the lookout for some japanese windflowers as they are looking so stunning at work right now. I usually can't leave a nursery empty handed, so I would rather wait until I can search out some real treasures to fill it out with.

                                 Japanese Windflowers in April bloom nearby

We also decided to put a garden edge on the outside of the pool fence, to help with mowing and keep the grass out of the garden beds inside. I had hoped to dig out the grass but it is far too happy where it is! I will have to give it a spray and come back when I have more time, to pull it out.

Meanwhile, inside Matt has been steaming off wallpaper like a madman, and stripping paint off skirting boards with a heat gun. The house looks better already, without the stained and peeling wallpaper (which a clever Aunt dated to about 1974). There have been a few surprise cracks and gaps beneath the wallpaper, but these should be easy enough to fix up and give a fresh coat of paint. It's all happening!