Self care by growing a garden

[Former-Member]

Perhaps a third plant in the middle would make it less noticeable @Determined and unless symmetrical, things are usually more visually appealing in odd numbers.  If planting in rows I have been known to get the measuring tape out, plant each end first and use string line 😀

[Former-Member]

The autumn princess irises look lovely @Smc. Trust the new additions purchased yesterday thrive, I have never tried growing wombok - have you grown it before?

Mr Darcy finished weeding another bed - it is now ready for mulching.

[Smc]

@Determined, I'm looking at those plants and thinking that once they fill out, you wouldn't be able to tell they weren't precisely in place. If it was me, I'd be planting some annuals around them to fill up the pot for 3-4 months while the others get going.

Looks like it's a mini rose and a dahlia? The dahlia will spend half its life dormant but get reasonably big during the other half, so annual fill ins might be good anyway during its sleepy time.

[Smc]

@Former-Member, I've never had much success getting Dutch Irises to flower. No idea why. The ones I've had for years put up healthy green leaves each year but that's it. I've imporved their soil too this year, so here's hoping. Even with the soil improvement, I'll probably have to wait one more year, because this year's green growth will support the development of next year's flowers. 
I've grown Wombok previously with limited success. The slugs really like it, so do the earwigs, so it doesn't always survive long enough to form heads. It doesn't like root disturbance, and shoots up to seed at the slightest hint of neglect... fussy thing, but so tasty when it works.

[Former-Member]

I once grew some mini caulis that I was so pleased with until I noticed the mini slugs in them @Smc , some red cabbages were more successful. 

Perhaps some sulphate of potash for the irises?  A hedge of camellias that we put in is beautifully in flower at the moment for the first time and I credit this to giving it a couple of feeds of camellia fertilizer. 

[Determined]

Lol @Smc  That is darlings argument. We won't n notice once they have grown.

My point is always but it take zero effort to do it properly in the first place. 

Don't know if that is my engineering brain or carry over from previous life planting crops on a farm.  

[Smc]

@Determined, left to their own devices, plants aren't tidy anyway, but they are ordered. In bushland, a broad site survey will show species scattered fairly evenly, with species mix and spacing determined by their biology and their interactions with each other, unless something has happened to disrupt natural growth. 🙂

[Smc]

Sprekelia bulbs repotted today, with a snapdragon and a couple of dill plants sharing the pot. Another snapdragon and dill in another little pot. Job finished and watering done as the sun was setting. 😄

[Smc]

Levelled a very little patch of garden today (slighty bigger than a square foot :D) and put a whole lot of dried grassy weeds in the animal pens so they'd have extra warm bedding for the cold ights coming up.

From past experience, I reckon the guinea pigs and rabbits will have eaten most or all of it before the weekend's over, and the chooks will happily scratch it into fine chaffy bits.

[Smc]

Have spent most of today out in the garden, clearing overgrown honeysuckle and ivy away from a spot where I'd like to put more potted or otherwise contained plants. I've been chopping up the ivy etc. into short lengths and adding it to the path mulch, and scooping up the dry leaf litter underneath it to go into the chook pen. They're enjoying scratching for little bugs in it, and it'll compost down better once they broken it up, mixed it around and added "nitrogenous fertiliser".