Who else likes gardening?

[ecomama]

Hi everyone

I hope you're staying well today.

Who else likes gardening? I would love to connect with people here who are happy to share their gardening adventures.

For me I know that gardening helped heal my soul during tough times. I hope it will again.
Then with other things going on, it became a jungle.
I'm part way into rediscovering it again and doing A LOT of hard yakka atm, when I am motivated.

I have new dreams and ideas to put into the many bare places, as I remove thickets of lantana etc. This will all be on a tight budget and I'm ok with that.

I want to create a peaceful place where I can be.
I would like to grow food again (tell 'er she's dreamin' atm lol).
I would like to re-establish my worm farms and compost heaps.
Autumn is such a beautiful time of the year in the garden.

I'm 'alone' in my gardening journey and would love to share and hear about other's gardening antics. Hopefully we can troubleshoot any issues in our gardens and talk about any healing we're feeling too. There's a lot of knowledge we can share. I hope this thread can brighten your day!

Love Ecomama

Please

[JacintaMarie]

Hi, I like gardening, my roses are looking wonderful, I have so many blooms, also too my front garden is looking do pretty, I can go out & think how wonderful it is. The rain and the fertilizer & mulch can do wonders.

[Matchy69]

Hi Tay I love succulents and their is such a huge variety if them.Growing up my aunty is use to have heaps of different ones that use to fascinate me. I use to love visiting her and seeing what new ones she had.

[Matchy69]

Hi Em my Nectarine is now in full bloom and looks magnificent. It has lost about half it's leaves now.

[ecomama]

Hi Airies!

Thanks for explaining that to me / us.... I've never heard of that but it makes perfect sense! Probably why my Tahitian lime seems quite stunted in it's growth. I planted it about 10y ago with my son and it has special family significance for us having Tahitian heritage... It was also extremely neglected and IDK how long it was completely covered in lantana (😣) but when I cut the lantana back and saw it had survived I was in AWE of the darling thing.
Tbh with the brutal Summer we had last time, the lantana probably SAVED it.

I cam home late tonight and the 3 big pots on my front porch have been completely emptied out by Brush Turkeys.... grrr. I have to get out there VERY early tomorrow and clean it all up before delivery men come at 8am to with new furniture.

I was GOING to plant some coriander seeds and alyssum seeds in those pots. I even have big wire trellises up in each of them but if the turkeys WANT something then, with their huge claws, they get in.

I think they were angry with mama today lol, I usually throw alot of scraps out there for them and my chickens. Just not today. I do love them... we've even named a couple who choose to sleep with our chickens. Our neighbourhood has encroached on their available bushland so I can't really get too angry with them. Lol.

Still with ALL these pets & children lol and the possums demanding food each night esp during Autumn and Winter AND the Brush Turkeys and lorikeets and King Parrots - it's quite the jungle at our house lol!

I've concluded the only way to protect foods I really want is to construct cages from steel reinforcement grid sheets... tied together with cable ties, with a "gate" of sorts. It's a palaver lol.

Love your citrus growing in pots vision. Well done you!
EM

[ecomama]

Hi Mark!

Nice to hear from you as always.

Your nectarine is kind of on par with mine I think. Weird year for them though, strange leaf falling timing and even stranger blossom timing for us here. IDK what's going on with our climate...

I hope you get a great crop. I'll go down and pick bucket loads BEFORE they are ripe... then leave the rest up on the top half for the fruit bats that swoop in overnight and take the lot. And peaches and whatever else they can find.

I love succulents too...
EM

[ecomama]

Hi Tay!

Great to have you on board the most significant GREEN ship lol.

Awww congratulations, Arrow sounds so sweet! Yes he may love some company.... succulents are such quiet and gentle plants. They don't fuss lol.

Have you seen the INCREDIBLE succulent masterpieces on Pinterest?
OMG wide flattish pots with a variety of succulents in them. Better than an oil painting lol.

When I was given SO MANY pots last year I had no idea what to do with them all. I gave some away ofcourse.
I kept some wide flat pots. At some stage I aim to block the drainage holes with silicone and plant a variety of succulents in them for my very hot balcony.

I can't bear to buy them lol! They are SO easy to propagate by snapping off a 'branch' and plopping it in soil.
I have 3 people who've offered them to me but they're quite snowed under with overwhelming life changes atm.
I'll leave it for now and just work on propagating the ones I already have.

Have fun with your green babies!
EM

[ecomama]

Hi JacintaMarie!

Welcome to the gardening thread!

I AM SO envious of rose gardens! The ONLY thing I successfully do with roses besides smelling and admiring them is effectively killing them.

Maybe if I ever retire lol then I MIGHT try again...

Well done you for being so successful with roses!

Absolutely our gardens can bring us so much joy! They can also bring us hope for the future of what's to come... they can be so delightfully surprising.

I love the vision of your front garden!
EM

[Tay100]

Hi Matchy69- it's always great seeing what other people have growing and marvelling at their creations- especially if it's someone older and we admire them, hmmm?

Hiya JacintaMarie, glad to hear your roses give you so much joy and that admiring them gives you a little space to reflect, that's so wholesome!

Hey ecomama, I love the phrase "green babies," that's too cute. I know they are easy to multiply yourself but I think I'm not sure if I should wait until things settle down for me. But this means I will joyfully dive into the Pininterest hole you suggested too hahaa

[Matchy69]

My aunty is still with us and is 75y.o and still has an amazing garden.It has constantly changed over the last 50 years.Her and my mum both had amazing gardens and I spent a lot of time in nurseries with both of them as a kid.

[ecomama]

Hi Tay, it's so lovely to read your posts, so joyful.

OFCOURSE they're our green babies lol! My boyfriend has his own green babies in "our" apartment in Seattle and omg you would not believe the set up he's designing for them.... I cannot believe it. He's an engineer and has to travel alot so it's elaborate and creative (and a bit crazy lol). Whatever makes him happy.

Do you know if there's a Community Garden near you?
We have quite a few near us and they are open 24/7 for people to take whatever they want, any time they want to too. I grow plants in our gardens at work that has FINALLY caught the bug with other people I work with and it's pretty exciting to see.
The community gardens may be growing succulents... you might be okay having a jaunt through one or two just to see. Take your secateurs lol.
It brings SO MUCH JOY and happiness for the people who laboured to set them up, to see people ALSO catching the green baby bug lol.

Yah Pinterest will make you go crazy with ideas lol.... it's weird how it happens but it's like once you see an idea and get super passionate about it... you see resources everywhere. The things I picked up on the side of the road a couple of weeks ago are magnificent. HUGE pots and Grecian style pots and Asian styled pot stands... they have nice new homes now lol!

Let us know how you get on Tay
EM