Mowing a meadow(or in this case a paddock)
What we are trying to do here is literally make a garden out of a paddock. A quite run down paddock at that. I am not sure of the actual dimensions of the garden, I think it is about two acres. Only a few trees, the garden along the veranda, some fruit trees and a small patch of lawn were in the original garden.
Our vision is that there will not be much lawn or grassed areas, just lots of trees, shrubs and ground covers. As well as being beautiful we hope all this will cool the house a bit in summer, shelter us from the wind and provide a habitat for birds, lizards etc. The reality at the moment is that although everything is growing really well becasue of the rain, the weeds are growing faster. The garden has had three months of neglect, one when I was in england to see the girls, one when I got home and was really busy and Peter was building and most recently while Peter has been ill. The current task is to reclaim all our trees and shrubs from the Patersons Curse and Cape Weed that have taken over. The Patersons curse is now fence high in the paddocks and not far behind in the garden. So for the last week I have been spending hours every day on the mower . Most of the weeds are too heavy for the ride on so it has meant pushing my trusty mower, which does a great job, but is hard work and sometimes digging the weeds out with a fork. I am almost done, I reckon i will finish today. The results are spectacular and you can now see most parts of the garden. Then i plan to mow for about an hour each day to keep it all under control! I'll be able to do a lot of it with the ride on. As soon as Peter is well enough to put the slasher on the tractor we will start on the paddocks. Our old dog Angus got lost in the Patersons Curse the other day,
Contrast between the garden and the paddock, if you look carefully you can see the horses in the paddock!
Back Corner view
From the back gate
The front section reclaimed
View from the rose gardens
The old stove, now a garden scultpure
Our vision is that there will not be much lawn or grassed areas, just lots of trees, shrubs and ground covers. As well as being beautiful we hope all this will cool the house a bit in summer, shelter us from the wind and provide a habitat for birds, lizards etc. The reality at the moment is that although everything is growing really well becasue of the rain, the weeds are growing faster. The garden has had three months of neglect, one when I was in england to see the girls, one when I got home and was really busy and Peter was building and most recently while Peter has been ill. The current task is to reclaim all our trees and shrubs from the Patersons Curse and Cape Weed that have taken over. The Patersons curse is now fence high in the paddocks and not far behind in the garden. So for the last week I have been spending hours every day on the mower . Most of the weeds are too heavy for the ride on so it has meant pushing my trusty mower, which does a great job, but is hard work and sometimes digging the weeds out with a fork. I am almost done, I reckon i will finish today. The results are spectacular and you can now see most parts of the garden. Then i plan to mow for about an hour each day to keep it all under control! I'll be able to do a lot of it with the ride on. As soon as Peter is well enough to put the slasher on the tractor we will start on the paddocks. Our old dog Angus got lost in the Patersons Curse the other day,
Contrast between the garden and the paddock, if you look carefully you can see the horses in the paddock!
Back Corner view
From the back gate
The front section reclaimed
View from the rose gardens
The old stove, now a garden scultpure
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