How does my garden grow?

Firstly, thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. I loved what you said, and have taken all your good wishes and hugs into my heart. I am sorry I ran out of oomph to reply to each; I am learning to just accept limits to my time and energy.

I am doing okay. Terry is becoming more comfortable in his new home in residential care, and I am working out what I want my life to be like.

As you can imagine my garden has been a refuge from the constant turmoil of the last six month.

One big change was getting a new side fence. The old one was very old, very wobbly and I worried in windy weather that it would blow over. The neighbour was a very unpleasant man who we didn’t speak to. It was easier to pretend the fence was okay, and be thankful it stayed upright.

Then the neighbour sold up and moved (yay!!). The new neighbour said “Let’s get a new fence” and went on to say “I will organise it”. Thank you Tom! Not long after we had a new fence. And I had a chance to tidy up a very neglected area along the fence line.

The main issue was the Alstroemeria psittacina. It’s a pretty thing, especially the foliage, and the bees love the flower, but it is so invasive, wanting to take over the garden. It grows from tubers which are dense and very difficult to dig out, especially around the roots of the maple tree.

I dug up what I could, then smothered the area with newspaper, cardboard and thick layers of chunky mulch. It has worked. There have been some tenacious stems pushing up between the cracks of the cardboard, but they are easily pulled out.

I worked on this over time, as Terry was back in hospital in December. One small area at a time, what ever I could manage.

Instead of an eye sore I have an area that I can access and enjoy looking at.

And a wonderful new fence!

The rest of the back garden is doing okay. Laying down more mulch a couple of years ago was the right thing to do. The mulch in the photo below has suppressed the oxalis for about a year now.

I planted out this garden bed last year

and now it is flourishing. The statice, Limonium, has powered over summer. Something else the bees love.

There are lots of things to do, inside and outside the house. I am learning not to stress about these things, not to get overwhelmed by the tasks. Instead to do what I can, when I can, when I know it is the right time to do each task. If it doesn’t get done, then that’s okay. I am doing the best I can, and that is all I can ask of myself.

---

I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which I live and garden – the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People of the Kulin Nation, their spirits, ancestors, elders and community members past and present. The land always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.