Monday:
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I started on our first proper garden bed. ( There's a temp one for some plants that will eventually be moved near it) the weather isn't exactly perfect for gardening but I've been itching to get started and finally the retaining wall guy finished the last section of wall at the front of the house. ( I think we should have one more block but never mind perhaps he can add that when we eventually bring him back to do the other side of the house. I planted 18 dwarf abelias along the edge of the retaining wall. I'm going to have to go and get another punnet of 6 as I ran out.

First I started by digging in some of the soil conditioner and garden mix into the builders sand pad and then added more as I dug each section for the plants themselves. I plan to grab some wood chips to mulch near each plant when I go to the nursery tomorrow to buy the extra punnet of abelias.

I still have to dig the rest of the soil conditioner into the rest of the bed. The bed is about 10 m long by 3m wide. Once its done i'll water in some molasses.

Tuesday:
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As you can see from the photo's this little bed is only the start of a huge garden production that will be a number of years in the making. Took a trip to the nursery today to find out they don't reopen until next week. Hopefully they will have more stock. I'm about half way through digging in the soil conditioner. It's a bit warm to finish atm and seeing as I'm not used to physical work I'm doing a small bit each day. I really need to dig it in further but this is just to make a start on the bed and then I'll use some more to increase the percentage of soil improved soil when I actually plant my roses and other plants.

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Just a couple of pictures of my lovely dietes and rhoeos to give Fu apoplexy. No flowers today although there were heaps y 2 days ago. and bound to be more tomorrow. The rhoeos are only there for the moment as I moved them from their original location when i was expecting the soil and limestock blocks to arrive and didn't want them crushed.
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Found this at the local Thrifty link hardware store and I quite like it. Any comment on them Fu?
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A rather mammoth task you've set yourself there kexkez!! Its going to look stunning once its all completed and everything has grown a bit

Wow that's a lot of sand, the improver makes it look like soil

kex, I strongly advise against the wood chips. Why? because green mulches will sustain the soil and start the process of returning organic nutrients and building soil health. Otherwise all that effort you are putting in and money into the soil will be wasted. It is so important to continue the cycle or material composting and slowly feeding the soil.

Wood chips, although when applyed 75-100mm thick are waterwise and keep in soil moisture, they don't return nutrients or carbon back to the soil. They don't continue to feed the soil

Ooh, I'm going to watch this thread with interest. Looks like a huge job. I'm glad we're not at that just-beginning stage but oh I wish we'd done the soil improving thing at the start!

...yep we filled the state with the stuff Do you want some?

well mulch net never have anything down this way so where am I going to get green mulch? Not a sweepng statement either. I asked a couple of keen gardeners and they also said the same thing.


what exactly is green mulch?

yes my idea was to add the chips thick around the abelias ( not teh stems though) to help keep them moist. Not around the rest of the plants.

Call around the local tree lopping mobs.
They will be happy to offload some of their green tree waste for a carton or two

It is called that because it is fresh and still green in most cases All those nutrients will be returned back to the soil and your plants. You will get a rich layer of humic soil begin to build and the local worm population will go nuts and that is a very big tick for your plants Just top it up every year 75-100mm thick. Winter is the best time to get it with the big cold fronts breaking trees

I'll give it a go ( trying tree loppers) but a work friend in Capel told me shes' been trying for a few years to get stuff and has had no luck. I don;t think there's much chance being out here. but I'll give it a go. Anything big enough gets sold off as wood for fires and the local mulch place gets hold of anything else that's going.

They charge for mulch and seem to have their own scales system for weighted amounts.

The row might not look straight but it is!

After finishing digging it it was finally time for the reward. When we decided to sell our last house i took cuttings from my favourite rose plant to a local rose nursery and they were able to graft the cuttings on to new root stock. I had to do this if I wanted this rose at the new house because no one was growing that particular rose in WA anymore. It's a Floribunda rose ( always thought it was a HT) , non scented and I guess because of this not very popular. Scarlet Queen Elizabeth.[ img ] More on the blog. Including pics of the rose.
See below.

The roses will look gorgeous

The black magic one is very similar to my fave... which i currently can't remember the name of... Sir Lincoln i think it is.. anyway, it has THE most gorgeous scent!!

And so lucky that they were able to graft your cuttings to create the new plants!! Amazing!! I never even realised that they could do that

Do you mean Mr. Lincoln? It's divine.

Yeah... that one i'm going to have some of those put into my new garden when the time comes

have to agree yes Mr Lincoln is lovely. I was thinking about it as one for the rose bed myself.

Just trying to decide if I should have a contrasting colour. Like a white or something light so that that all the reds don't get lost.

Ooh lovely! A contrasting colour would be nice...

You have lots to choose from, and even if it's not available locally, you can mail-order roses in winter. Have a browse through Swanes' 2010 catalogue: http://www.swanes.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=103&osCsid=9a0a6378506d8b18c893e12bf85640fa

good onya kex, gardening is quite fun, and rewarding, and of course it is always an ongoing project!

can't wait to see yours develop!

Nice job kexkez, sweating it out in the heat.

Like Lisanne said, wow thats a lot of sand, as much as my clay pisses me off at least you can fool yourself that it looks like soil. Can see why you bang on about the organic soil Fu.

That is a great service they did for you If they do that then you'd be confident it is on WA root stock as they should be. Fortuniana root stock is the choice for WA gardeners. Costs a few dollars more than the eastern states root stock roses sold in many garden centres but worth it and will live for a hundred years, not 3. The pots will always be marked as being fortuniana root stock suitable for WA conditions. Look for it when ever buying a rose

Yes Fu has to be that root stock here.

The Jarahdale bunch have a reputation of actually picking out good stock if you specifically ask for a rose. I've now asked for a "whisky mac", "black velvet", "black magic", "peace" and "Margaret Merri"l(Also sold in plant nurseries as Harkuly rose) am thinking about a 'pascali" as well. I read the margaret merril can have problems but I'll keep an eye on it.

I know they have the " black velvet" since that was my Nan's favourite and Mum got one from them for her. The "black magic" might be a roworths but i should know by early next week what others from those they can supply.

managed to pick up the last of the dwarf abelias from Boyanup yesterday. They had done the growing themselves. got a punnet and a half which was all they had left out the back.

AND>>>> TA DA we took a trip to another Nursery this time in Picton I'd heard of to see what it was like. Everything was very dry there but they had my Ned Kelly Grevillea that I've wanted to replace since we moved and had to leave one behind so a very successful day and I was very pleased.

Won't be planting any for a few days until the expected high temps come down again..