Exterior Visions - garden design blog

House & Garden Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 09:20:00 +0000

I'm excited that our business is featured in November's issue of Australian House & Garden Magazine :

“ Landscape Designs should express everything you’d like your garden to be “

Claire works closely with her clients to translate their ideas on paper. This results in personalised plans which allow gardens to be created in stages without compromising the final effect.

A big thanks to my sister Amber Simcoe from DeRay&Simcoe for taking the professional photographs for this article. Here are some more photos from the shoot that our client kindly allowed us to take. This particular garden in Dalkeith was designed by us two years ago. It was constructed by Leon and his team from Gradient Landscapes a year ago.

Front Garden : The owners of this property wanted to give their house more street appeal without having to change the facade of the house itself. This meant that the landscaping needed to work with the existing face brick-work. They also added a modern garage door to complete the look.

Paving Types : Natural Granite Paving and Cobblestones were used as an inlay to break up a large area of Hanson Imagecrete Exposed in ' Classic Rose '

Retaining Wall : A rendered brick retaining wall was built to create a level area of paving next to the house as a parking spot for a trailer. Dwarf Dianella softens it.

Planting : A three layered garden bed of Dwarf Pittosporum,Viburnum and Flowering Plum Trees . These will grow to screen the neighbour's existing retaining wall.

Play Areas : Having a large family meant plenty of spaces for play was a high priority. We created a stepping stone area as a platform for a large spring-free trampoline.

Alfresco Area : An outdoor kitchen was installed in the back garden, complete with an oven. The steps, screen / feature wall, deck and lighting were all new elements incorporated into this garden renovation. New fencing and a pool area make-over were also part of this project.

Perth School Kitchen Garden Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:14:00 +0000

Last month I took part in a Perth school garden tour of local primary schools participating in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program.

Our first stop was East Maddington Primary School where the students kindly gave us a guided tour under very wet conditions. No watering was going to be needed in the garden that day!

The teachers encourage as many garden related educational activities as possible. Here the children have been involved in both recycling and garden sculpture.

At Westfield Park Primary School we were very impressed by their Aquaponics System.It's not hard to see how science can be fun when it's taught with such a hands-on approach. Apparently the kids favourite task is removing caterpillars from the vegetables.

Cooking, gardening and learning go hand in hand in these schools. Organisation is especially important in the kitchen when children this young are cooking. They're surprisingly skilled and capable.

At Bertram Primary they have a large garden to ensure they have enough produce and teaching area for their many pupils. Even so the schools require donations of fruit and vegetables to subsidise what they can grow.

This is where we enjoyed a freshly prepared organic lunch which was served proudly to us by the students themselves. The schools have an adult kitchen helper and a garden helper who coordinate the growing and cooking. These are not necessarily teachers, but specialists in their field.

Lunch : Roast pumpkin and feta pies / chicken kofta / spinach, oven-roasted tomato and bocconcini salad with eggplant couscous. Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds!

Spearwood Alternative School have a very modern and colourful teaching kitchen. The children told us stories about stinging nettles and the exciting plans that they have for their garden.

Palmyra Primary School is the only school that haven't opted for retained raised beds which shows that a kitchen garden can still be achieved without them. Many of the schools have compost systems and keep chickens.

Here is the SAKGF write up of the occasion :

http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/news/news-item/85/perth-kitchen-garden-schools-tour

You might also like to read my previous post on this subject :
http://exteriorvisions.blogspot.com/2009/03/stephanie-alexander-kitchen-garden.html

Meeline Station

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Tue, 03 May 2011 05:10:00 +0000

Easter and Anzac Day were so close together this year that it meant six days break from work. We were invited to spend this time with friends who were staying on a Station near Mt Magnet which is a 6-7 hour drive, North East from Perth.

Meeline Station was originally a sheep farm but is classified as having been in drought for the last 14 years. As a result, farming is no longer viable. These sheep and milking goats are the only ones left. This one is so desperate for some green fodder that it's eating Eucalyptus leaves. They're also quite partial to Bougainvillea shoots from the garden.

With sunsets like this and clear starry skies we didn't miss our TV or Computer screens at all. One night we saw at least six shooting stars. There was also plenty of cooking and eating to be done. We cooked some Hot Cross Buns on an open fire.

Surprisingly there was a fair amount of vegetation for such a dry place. The most noticeable tree was the Bush/Desert Kurrajong - Brachychiton gregorii . There were also some Eucalypts and Sheoaks growing near the homestead.

This Flannel Bush - Solanum lasiophyllum was one of the only native shrubs flowering at the time and it really stood out along the roadsides. In this part of Western Australia it's well and truly survival of the fittest.

Stony ground makes planting a crop out of the question but it does create some nice scenery. Naturally occurring Sandalwood trees have been harvested here in the past. Wild Goats have also been a source of income more recently.

Millet Park

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:24:00 +0000

I look after my Nephew on Wednesday afternoons and we usually visit a local park together. We try to visit a different park every week. Last Wednesday it was Millet Park in Innaloo.

This park has a variety of areas to enjoy depending on your chosen activity. There are wide open spaces to run around in or fly a kite, paths for children to ride their bikes, a bbq area, benches for relaxing and there are lots of large shady trees to sit under.

The most popular attraction at this park is its amazing climbing frame. It's an elaborate web of ropes and platforms kids love to get entangled in. There's a listing on A Coffee in the Park in their 'Great Parks, No Coffee ' section. This website's a great resource for choosing a park to visit. Especially if you like coffee!

The City of Stirling won an award for design excellence with this park in 2008. I like the contrasting gravels that draw your eye to this very simple yet effective piece of public art.

The plantings are native, informal and nicely maintained. They fit well with the Eucalypts which I assume were existing. The park appears to be watered by a bore which has unfortunately stained a lot of the new installations. The toilet block could do with some updating. Parking is also an issue with only a couple of designated bays available.

After I'd taken this photo of the bbq my nephew asked me "did it smile?" We had such a good time here that we went back this week. Trying to convince him that it was time to go home was very difficult!

Dog Friendly Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:08:00 +0000

We have a new addition to our family. Her name's Bonnie and she's a 6 month old Chihuahua x Jack Russell. She was adopted from an organisation called SAFE and we can't recommend the experience enough. Prior to bringing her home they conducted a yard inspection to make sure our garden was suitable for a her.

The first obvious danger was our pool. Bonnie needed to learn where the steps are should she fall into the pool when we're not home. Because it's winter at the moment we didn't have the heart to throw her in the freezing water. So in the meantime we put up a temporary bamboo fence to prevent her from gaining access to the pool.

They had a good look at our fences and gates to make sure she couldn't escape. Being a small dog she didn't have much chance of climbing these but we needed to make sure there weren't any small holes she could get through.

Bonnie had been with us for a few days when some not so obvious dangers came to light. I noticed her eating something outside which in itself wasn't unusual as puppies eat everything! On further investigation she had eaten a berry which had fallen from a Cape Lilac tree hanging over our fence. Knowing that these are poisonous I rushed her to the vet who induced vomiting.

While she was at the vet for observation I hastily cut the tree back to prevent any future incidents. The tree was on council land so we reported it to them because we were concerned that it was near a children's playground. It has since been removed.

When I was in the garden I noticed some more berry producing plants that are also toxic. I'd been meaning to remove these Asparagus Ferns for a while because, like the Cape Lilac, it's also a weed. It spreads readily when birds ingest the berries.

If you're wondering if any of the plants in your garden are dangerous to dogs, this is a good website ASPCA.

Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:11:00 +0000

We recently spent a week in Sydney to attend a friend's Wedding. It was planned as a holiday but ended up being a working trip due to the amount of work I had at the time. We did find some time to get out and about though. These photos are from our visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

The simplicity of this bed, a single Mauritian Hemp surrounded by a Succulent caught my eye.

Some Public Art amongst Beach Lilies with yellow Canna Lilies in the background. These seed sculptures were crafted by Bronwyn Oliver in 1999 to commemorate the location of the first farm in Sydney Cove.

A formal hedge bordered Herb Garden. This style of garden is surprising in a public setting and it was attracting a lot of interest on the day.

The gardens not so welcome residents, grey headed Flying Foxes. These animals inhabit the gardens in plague proportions and there are plans to relocate them due to the amount of damage they're doing to the gardens.

Definitely a highlight was Jamie Durie's succulent garden created in 2003 for 'Sydney in Bloom' and donated to the Botanic Gardens trust. I don't think I've ever seen such a varied selection of succulents and cacti in one location. They're planted in and against a stunning steel structure which really sets them off.

A wide flag stoned seat curves around the perimeter of the garden for rest and contemplation. It also helps keep visitors a safe distance from these spiky specimens. I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for the grounds keepers here. I would want full body armour before tackling any weeds in this garden!

Work in Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:26:00 +0000

FRONT GARDEN DESIGN

These are the plans for a garden we designed in Bayswater. It's currently under construction and is being project managed by Mark Manolini from Source Architectural Products. He was kind enough to send me some photos to keep me up to date with the jobs progress.

Front Retaining, Screen Walls and Planter Boxes taking shape

Feature Stonework to Letter box

Feature cladded Screenwall for future poolside Cabana

Plenty of bricks on-site for future works

BACK GARDEN DESIGN

The back garden features a Skillion Cabana designed by Magorian Designs with Mark's direction. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result. Especially the mosaic tiled platform with water jets into the pool.

Stickybeaks

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:42:00 +0000

My nephew and I spent a fun couple of hours last week at Stickybeaks in Kings Park. This family orientated cafe' and playground is the perfect place to have a coffee while the children are playing.

I was most impressed with the play equipment which is a nice blend of modern and traditional elements. There are plenty of textures, sounds and moving parts for the kids to experiment with.

This wooden castle and pirate ship reminded me of the playgrounds I grew up with before brightly coloured plastic and metal became the norm. There is ample shade from pergola structures, shade sails and trees.

The most popular item seemed to be this realistic plane with children taking turns to use it. There is also a fire engine/climbing frame which inspired some frantic make-believe antics. The cafe' stocks sweet goodies which are useful as a distraction when it's time to go home!

Planting Re-visited

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:10:00 +0000

You may remember a post I wrote about some plants we supplied for a job in Lesmurdie. Yesterday I re-visited the garden where they were planted and I'm pleased to report that the majority of the plants are growing well.

There have been a few casualties which is to be expected when establishing a garden especially with the very hot weather we've had this summer. The reason for my visit was to determine the cause of death and suggest a suitable plant to replace them with.

The problem seems to have been caused by reticulation issues. We've opted to replace them with a variety that is currently flourishing in the position. Dianella 'Cassa Blue' should be able to cope with both drought and wet feet from time to time.

This property has amazing views of the city from the escarpment. Care had to be taken that the plants weren't going to grow tall enough to block these views. The grass in the foreground is Dianella 'Emerald Arch'

The rate of growth of many of these plants has taken my by surprise. This row of Escallonia 'Iveyi' is ready to be hedged after only three and a half months! These were in 14cm pots but they were planted quite densely which has helped.

Echeveria 'Mauna Loa': borders this planter box with Cyca revoluta beyond.

Furcraea foetida 'Mauritian Hemp': under planted with Festuca glauca and cracked pea gravel as mulch.

Chrysocephalum apiculatum 'Flambe Yellow': adds a splash of colour beside the driveway.

Full Office Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:34:00 +0000

Late last year I was busy renovating our office. This involved numerous trips to IKEA and much decision making and deliberating. I knew I needed three large desks with overhead cabinets but had trouble finding ones to suit the dimensions of the room. The desks that came with hutches were too small for my purposes. IKEA has a very helpful 3D office planner, I also found the general home planner useful.

It was important that the desk and overhead cabinets were the same length and colour/finish. Having no luck finding a horizontal cabinet and matching desk it occurred to me that I could use a BONDE vertical shelf unit as an overhead by turning it on its side. I recommend seeking professional advice for the overhead cabinet fixings. These were paired up with VIKA MOLIDEN desks.

We needed a lot of filing space so I chose GALANT drawer units that have a file draw. I wasn't happy that the handles for the drawer units weren't going to match the EFFEKTIV filing cabinet so I bought some additional JIGGA handles after making sure that they were going to fit the pre-drilled holes.

Two of these vases were also from IKEA and they happened to match an oval shaped one I already had. I chose DRONA fabric storage boxes although there are others I could have used that fit with BONDE shelving units.

The filing cabinet was originally going to have white draw fronts but when I unpacked them there was no mistaking that they were off-white. The only option I had was birch or beech veneer. This led me to purchase some KNUFF magazine files and FIRA three drawer chests and a RIBBA frame in the same birch colour to repeat the accent. We found our very comfortable chairs at McLernons in Osborne Park.

This is a print that I bought as a souvenir on our honeymoon at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Finally all of that carrying it in our hand luggage and trying to keep it flat has paid off! The colours for this makeover were heavily influenced by the notice board I had already made.

Some Green Relief

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:23:00 +0000

Perth is in the middle of a heat wave. The last two days have been 43C and my garden is suffering! So I thought I'd post some photos of my garden in its greener glory. I have to admit that these photos were taken a few months ago when we still had some rain ( it hasn't rained here since November ). I should also point out that these particular plants are in full or part shade positions.

These are the flowers that emerged from the Draceana buds I wrote about here These honeysuckle-like flowers covered this flower spike and have now turned into round green berries. This is one plant I don't have to nurse through the summer. It's almost as tough as my Cast Iron plants.

Another one that seems to thrive on neglect. I have noticed that my Philodendrons are a little on the yellow side at the moment and do benefit from an additional hand watering between our two sprinkler days. Here is one of their very sculptural flowers.

A new addition to our garden which is proving to be a winner. These Pineapple Lillies have already flowered since being planted in early December. The foliage isn't as purple as it was and I've read that they have more colour in the full sun. Mine are in part shade so that they can survive these harsh conditions. I'm finding that they're needing daily watering at the moment.

One of my favourite plants that alas don't look like this in my garden. These photos were taken elsewhere. The main problem I have in growing these is snails and two dogs who jump on them every time that they want to bark at the fence. Until I find solutions to these issues I can only dream of these heavenly Beach Lily flowers.

Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:16:00 +0000

Just got back to work after the Christmas/New Years break. We took our holidays in early December this year to avoid the crowds. We went to a small town which is three hours north of Perth called 'Greenhead'.

This is the lovely beach house that we stayed in which was just perfect. We found it on the Stayz website . I was pretty impressed with the low maintenance coastal style garden. It was hooked up to an automated Netafim watering system. The areas which would typically be lawn were gravel instead.

A jetty at Jurien Bay which is 15-20 minutes south of where we were staying. This photo was taken at 'Turquoise Bay'. All of the beaches in this area are this spectacular colour.

We spent our mornings on the beach before the sea breeze came in. There were enough beaches nearby to visit a different one each day and have them to ourselves.

Greenheads main beach 'Dynamite Bay'. Here is where we played some cricket, had a BBQ dinner and watched the sun set.

One day we decided to go for a day trip to The Pinnacles. There seems to be numerous theories on how these formations occurred. Tree trunks or roots are thought to have played a part.

Western Australian Christmas Tree Nuytsia floribunda They're a member of the mistletoe family which is quite appropriate given that they flower in December. We saw these in a nearby National Park on another of our day trips.

Fringe Lily Thysanotus multiflorus
The area is best known for it wildflowers. We were a bit late to catch them on mass but there were a few that I managed to snap.

Yellow Rush Lily Tricoryne elatior

Mulla Mulla Ptilotus exaltatus

Plant Sourcing

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:18:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I worked on a project which involved sourcing some plants for a job I designed in Lesmurdie. I chose the stock by hand at two different wholesale nurseries to ensure quality and that the varieties were as close to ones I had specified as possible.

Left : Agonis flexuosa nana ( Weeping Form )
Right : Dianella ' Emerald Arch '
There were a few that weren't available, unhealthy or too small. This meant I had to choose an appropriate substitute. The plants are loaded onto trolleys then delivery was arranged for 2 days later.

Left : Correa ' Wins Wonder '
Right : Dianella ' Cassa Blue '
The brief for this planting scheme was low maintenance / water requirements. The site also had a bush setting on an escarpment meaning that natives were a must. Many of the species chosen are dwarf meaning they won't grow too tall and block views or require too much pruning.

Left : Acacia ' Honey Bun '
Right : Correa ' Wins Wonder '
Ground covers were used to reduce evaporation from the ground and discourage weeds. Plants were grouped densely to give an instant garden effect and reduce water wastage.

Acacia ' Honey Bun '
This Acacia grows 1.5m high by 1.5m wide and is a fairly new on the Perth plant scene.

Hardenbergia ' Purple Spray '
This Native Wisteria was hard ( pardon the pun ) to find. I think I bought the last of the stock at the time. This one was chosen as a ground cover for a sloped area where I imagine it will cascade down nicely. It is commonly used as a vine.

Left : Lomandra ' Tropic Belle '
This native grass grows to 1.5m high with sprays of pale yellow feathery flowers.

Lomandra ' Tanika '
A smaller growing Lomandra at 700mm with fine foliage.

Callistemon ' Endeavour '
This wasn't the plant I initially had in mind for a position in front of 2 -3m high wall. However I couldn't resist the profuse flowers and the height of these specimens. They should also be fast growing and soften the wall in no time.

There were more plants for this job than I've shown. The house has a modern Mediterranean feel so we used a lot of succulents ( Agaves, Mauritian Hemp, Echeveria ) as feature plants. There were also some advanced Frangipanis, Olive and Grass Trees. Stay tuned for photos of the finished job.

I'm finding that there is more demand for plant sourcing at the moment than design. For a job as big as this one a design is essential. For smaller jobs where the garden beds are already established I offer a 3 hour consultation to write up a Planting List which can then be used to quote and supply the plants. Please let me know if you're interested in this service.

Strange Garden Sightings

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:23:00 +0000

As the weather has improved we've been spending more time in the garden. Both gardening and more importantly relaxing. We had some relatives visit us from the UK last weekend and we spent the whole afternoon and evening in the garden. It's always refreshing when your garden puts on a show you weren't expecting.

My Draceana hookeriana is flowering! This is a definite first. At the moment it resembles asparagus but I'm hoping it will burst into something more attractive soon.

One of our beetroots has reached maturity. This is surprising because most of the vegetables that needed time to ripen were savaged by bugs before we got to enjoy them. Other vegetables we have had success with are lettuces, rocket,English spinach and baby carrots.

This little visitor flew in for an afternoon swim and crackers. We are used to seeing birds in our garden but a duck was a real novelty.

Once the sun went down the wind was quite chilly so we all sat around our ( recycled washing machine tub ) fire pit. It was Halloween so the kids had fun toasting marshmallows and playing with glow sticks. We have more family visiting us in December and we're looking forward to more days spent by the pool.

Northbridge Piazza

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:35:00 +0000

Saturday morning saw us heading into Northbridge for a Dim-Sum lunch at Northbridge Chinese Restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised to find that gone is the cliched out of date decor.It has had an interior makeover and is now quite modern.We didn't really need another reason to go there.

We arrived just before 10am to beat the rush, only to find it wasn't open yet. So we decided to go for a stroll. Northbridge is Perth's nightlife/cultural centre. It is a completely different place by day.I was excited to get a closer look at the recently streetscaped Northbridge Piazza.

This is a small part of a 3.9 million development by the City of Perth which is to include a giant LCD screen,performance stage and micro-brewery.The informal seats which glow bluish purple by night are white during the day.Kimberley stone has been used as both a paving and wall cladding giving the area a clean,uncomplicated look.

I like the way that the lawn has been mounded against a retaining wall here.This might have been a way to keep existing trees when the ground level surrounding them needed to be lowered.Too often trees are removed just to allow for ground level adjustments.

This green feature wall is 8m high and planted with vines.I really like the transperancy of these mesh panels that frame sections of the sky.

The street trees here are Gleditsia triacanthus 'Sun Burst'. I have a soft spot for these trees because my husband and I stood under one while we said our Wedding vows when it was just coming into leaf.We celebrated our two year anniversary last week.

Outdoor Fabrics

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:46:00 +0000

During my early morning blog reading today I came across a link to a fantastic website for Fab Outdoor Fabrics (courtesy of Belinda from The Happy Home)

The samples section is most helpful,offering suggestions for fabrics that coordinate well.There is a shipping fee of $10 to anywhere in Australia regardless of the quantity.

These are just some of the many beautiful fabrics available for outdoor cushions and lounge settings.Hmmm....I feel a project coming on!

Ornamental Grasses

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Sometimes too much emphasis is placed on foliage and flower colour whilst choosing plants. Often it is their texture which is their best attribute. Here are some grasses with a 'soft and fuzzy' appearance.

Purple Fountain Grass
Pennisetum
This is available as an Australian variety (alopecuroides) and exotic (advena rubrum, setaceum rubrum ). Exotic varieties of this plant can become invasive in bushland areas. Listed as a weed in some states

Lomandra
longiflolia 'Tanika'
This Australian native grows to 600mm high in the sun or part shade

Lomandra
'Seascape'
Great for mass plantings where a blue/grey foliage is required

Poa
poiformis 'Courtney'
Native 500mm tall ornamental grass

Festuca
glauca
European blue/grey 300mm cushion forming grass

Carex
'Frosted Curls'
This 400-500mm weeping grass originated in New Zealand.

Carex
testacea
An orange/brown variety

Coraline's Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:37:00 +0000

This movie is a must see for gardening enthusiasts. Coraline's parents are gardening journalists who don't garden and dislike dirt ( the irony of this wasn't lost on me ). When she visits her 'other world ' they have created the most amazing garden of glowing magical flowers. There is a cherry blossom orchard made of pink popcorn! Meet one of the animators responible for this masterpiece :

I'm going to cut this post short and go and do some REAL gardening!

Sneak Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:24:00 +0000

Here are a few glimpses of a recently built garden renovation that I designed for friends of ours. This project will be featured on my website soon so stay tuned to see more of it.

Front Garden :

There was a two metre slope down from the level of the house to the verge meaning that some serious retaining walls were required.

This was an existing Umbrella tree which we accommodated into the deck. My friend was given the title of 'tree hugger' by her husband for wanting to keep this tree. All of the decking for this job was done by another friend of ours who is a handyman by trade.

Transplanted Agaves in stone cladded Planter Box.

We chose to put the steps off to the side to create an open arc of lawn on the top level. Jarrah sleepers we used for these angular steps for some variety in materials.

Back Garden :The back garden was split into two levels without a means of easily moving between them. To solve this issue we created an intermediate level in the form of a deck. This also made a platform from which an existing pond could be enjoyed.

Timber Gates were added to match the Batu Decking.This house also underwent a complete interior renovation,outside painting,rendering and roof restoration.Our friends added a two car garage too.Their house has just sold for a record price in their suburb. I'm glad all of the hard work and effort they put in has paid off.

Fresh Home Produce

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:46:00 +0000

Over the last three months I've been nurturing a small vegetable patch. After much research and discussion it finally came to fruition in mid June.

June : Advanced Seedlings at Planting

I first ordered a raised corrugated iron garden bed from Gardener's Direct ( see my story on these here ). Mine was made to a custom size of 2000 x 1000m x 400mm in zincalume to match our shed and pool equipment housing. My husband gave me a hand to pick this up along with a trailer load of organic compost from Soils aint Soils in Malaga.We wheel barrowed this into the back garden.Our compost bin wasn't producing it quickly enough to fill the whole bed!

I picked up some advanced vegetable seedling punnets choosing varieties suitable for the position of the bed. It only receives full sun in the morning so I was careful to choose vegetables that could cope with limited sunlight. These were Broccoli, Spinach, Cauliflower, Rocket, Snow Peas, Beetroot, Lettuce, Brussel Sprouts and Spring Onions.The veggies were then mulched with hay from our friend's farm.

July : One Months Growth

After an amazing amount of rain ( I haven't needed to water so far ) the veggies got off to a great start.They had one dose of Seasol and weekly applications of homemade garlic spray to deter pests.This seems to have worked well. The only thing I would do differently would be to use a hay mulch that didn't have any seeds in it. I found that the hay germinated and grew a carpet of little green shoots that needed weeding out.

August : Anyone for Salad?

I have been harvesting the lettuces, rocket and beetroot leaves for salads for the last few weeks.There is one very small cauliflower and some larger broccoli developing. The broccoli is confusing me because it's flowered before it got big enough to eat. I'm not sure if I planted it during the wrong season. It is a dwarf variety, maybe I should have picked it earlier.Does anyone have any advice for me on this?

Broome Resorts

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:17:00 +0000

The main reason for our holiday in Broome was to attend a family wedding. This was held at Cable Beach Club at the Lily Pond Lawn amongst mature tropical gardens. This is the most well known of the resorts in Broome famous mainly for it's beachfront location where you can enjoy a drink overlooking the ocean.

Wedding Location - Cable Beach Club :

We stayed just out of the Cable Beach area in a self contained apartment complete with our own day bed and outdoor shower. The Frangipani has two pools, one of which was heated.

Our Accommodation - The Frangipani :

The Bride and Groom were staying across the road from us at The Pearle. Their self contained villa had a private alfresco dining courtyard and lap pool. The alfresco and pool decks were built up to the same level as the floor of the villa and surrounded by sunken gardens.

Bride and Groom - The Pearle :

Broome Beaches

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:13:00 +0000

We've just returned from a weeks break in beautiful Broome. Here are some of the things we enjoyed there :

1. Sunset on Cable Beach

2. Visit to the Wharf
3. Scenic Flight over the Horizontal Falls

4&5. Another Sunset on Cable Beach

6. River mouth from the air

The highlight of our trip was the scenic flight we took over the Buccaneer Archipelago. Our friendly pilot was Andrew from Kimberley Aviation.

Our best meal was at The Old Zoo Cafe' where we tasted some local produce including Kangaroo, Emu, Crocodile and meat from a Pearl Shell.

We also visited the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park which put me off swimming anywhere other than a swimming pool for the remainder of our trip!

Farm News

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:08:00 +0000

It has been so long since my last blog entry that I have some exciting news from our friend's farm to share with you. When we were there one of their cows was ' with calf '. She has since given birth and he's been christened ' Elderado' and is a lovely chocolate brown colour.

What a beautiful boy!

The wet conditions in Western Australia during the last few months have been perfect for the vegetables we planted.

Long Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Sometimes the best holidays are the unplanned ones. Last Monday was a public holiday in Western Australia for Foundation Day. It had taken us by surprise and we hadn't arranged to do anything. When friends invited us to their farm in Greenhills ( near York ) for the weekend we jumped at the opportunity because we've always had such a nice time there in the past.

Here is some of the fresh produce we picked and cooked with over the weekend. Some of the vegetables on hand were silver beet, chard, eggplant, chillies and capsicum. There is also a fruit tree orchard protected from birds by a netted enclosure. We picked some mandarines,oranges,lemons,limes and persimmon.

There are two prosperous vegetable plots and we added a third during our stay. We cleared a wheelbarrow's worth of weeds before planting seedlings of onions,broccoli,cabbage,basil and thyme. The whole bed was then mulched with hay.

There are two dams with Yabbies ( small fresh water crustaceans ). We caught some in traps baited with chicken. We set two traps twice and caught enough for an entree to feed six people for dinner. First we boiled them briefly before removing the shells and tossing them in a pan. Half were flavoured with butter and thyme. The other half with fresh chili, green capsicum and garlic. Both were delicious!

This has been a work in progress. Last time we came to the farm we helped with the bodywork on our friends ' Car-B-Q '. It has been sprayed since our last visit. Hopefully next time we can lift the bonnet and cook some Yabbies on it. If you look closely the temperature gage has been installed in the bonnet.

A collection of Recycled Bottles adorns this vine trellis.

This sunset was redder than this in real life. Maybe it's time for a new camera?

Painted wooden Magpie windmill.

The latest residents on the farm.There are two mothers with their calves.The one in the foreground is my favourite ' Daisy '.

Potted Jonquil bulbs on the veranda.Can't wait to visit again in September for our friend's 30th birthday party.You may also enjoy this story.

Stormy Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Maloney) — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Last week we had our first taste of Winter weather. It rained for three days solid and there was some serious winds ( up to 100km per hour )

I went for a walk near our house on the weekend and saw that the wind has made a real mess of this fence and retaining wall. The top course of block work has been lifted. These owners can't have been too impressed, they only put this up a few years ago.

I always get a bit nervous when it's windy that our tree will drop a branch like this one has. Eucalypts are notorious for this. There's an avenue of Lemon Scented Gums in Kings Park which are insured to cover potential damage to cars parked beneath them.

There were broken bits of tree branches everywhere. My dogs had a good time sniffing them all. Two children in the park had collected some and made a tee-pee leant up against a tree. It looked like a fantastic cubby!