The Australian Art of “Pottering in the Garden”

Sun, sea, sand, glorious clear blue skies, beaches, barbecues, beers, beautiful weather, swimming pools, fun, it’s what Australia is all about!

But not this weekend.

Without wanting to sound like a whingeing Pom, I am about to sound like a whingeing Pom. Living in a subtropical climate has many benefits, a few of which I have listed above.

But one of the downsides of living in a subtropical climate is the speed with which weeds appear.

Do you remember my post entitled normal life returns to Australia? That’s when you met my lawnmower. Today you can meet a few more of my gardening friends like whippersnipper and blower.

snip n blow

snip n blow

It all started when I saw this……

Before...

Before...

So I had to go in and rip it all out and create a pile like this…..

Pile 1 of 6

Pile 1 of 6

….and leave it at the front of my house, (with the other 5 sprinkled around various locations) waiting for Dirty Harry to come and collect it. Now my temporary jungle is all gone and it’s all nice and clear like this……

...and after

...and after

And all that is left for me to do is to use these….

fork n barrow

fork n barrow

….to transport all of this….

woodchip pile

woodchip pile

….back round to the place I cleared up a little earlier……

...and after

Picture reproduced again to save you scrolling up

….and spread it around nice and evenly with a rake so that it looks beautiful, is nice and soft to walk on and no weeds can ever grow here again, ever, ever, ever.

If I am pining for anything in England, it is probably my tiny little lawnmower, which I think was clockwork, and my little garden shears, which between them took care of all of my gardening needs with about one hour of light work once a month.

A lot of people as they get older seem to take to gardening. Well, not me. Gardening gives me the ache, literary. The older I get the more I hate it! Perhaps I’m young at heart? (And perhaps not.)

Or perhaps I need more tools. The average Aussie gardener seems to have a petrol chainsaw, a petrol hedge trimmer, a 4×4 complete with towbar and trailer with caged sides to pile the rubbish into, a sit on mower and a bigger whippersnipper and blower than I have.

Told you! Whingeing Pom.

Anyway, despite the grass being very long, despite there being jungle like growth, despite the weeds being 5 foot high, despite it being the height of summer, despite me living in western suburbs AKA snake central of Brisbane and despite the recent warnings that snakes are on the move around here……..

I still didn’t see a snake!

Sorry.

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{ 4 comments… add one }
  • Aviram December 15, 2009, 12:08 am |

    Oh no…! No concrete please..don’t ruin the garden…!

    • BobinOz December 15, 2009, 6:12 pm |

      Don’t worry, the garden stays. We got to think about the dog.

  • Aviram December 11, 2009, 8:24 pm |

    “:A lot of people as they get older seem to take to gardening. Well, not me. Gardening gives me the ache, literary. The older I get the more I hate it! Perhaps I’m young at heart? (And perhaps not.)”

    ROFL..

    In Bombay, to have a house with a garden…and I mean a garden where one can do gardening, you need to be amongst the 100 richest men in the city :)!! We manage with a few plants and creepers in our balcony..and also boast about being fond of ‘gardening’! The first time that I visited my brother’s house in Toledo, USA…I understood what a garden was meant to be..

    • BobinOz December 14, 2009, 6:16 pm |

      Yes, I’m one of the richest 100 men in my street…… well this side of it…. possibly…… anyway…..

      Nothing wrong with window boxes, nice and easy to manage. I may even concrete my garden over and buy a few, that’d make life easier. Aviram, you’re giving me ideas……

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