Any gardeners amongst us?
Keen to get into the backyard over summer and do some long over due work.
I have an issue with my lime plant, I’ll post photos later.
Good threat to post lawn photos too. I’m pretty happy with mine currently, needs a bit of work around the edges. But from what it was to what is now I’m very happy.
I am 100% a lawn guy, my front is in good nick at the moment however, the council planted a tree (which I am happy about) but means my lawn in that area now needs some work. I was lucky I went out the front just as the workers were about to dig and asked them to leave my the grass they were taking out - nice fellows actually put it back in for me, so have top soiled but now it is going to certainly take a while to knit in. My neighbour just spent $1200 on top of the line cylinder mower (I have a bottom the line one) so I have gone from best lawn of the street, to sitting next to Old Trafford lol.
Back lawn is looking pretty smick at the moment after battling winter grass - I have quite ‘inconsiderate’ neighbours behind who do not look after the yard at all, and winter grass and a bunch of other stuff took hold along the fence line. Winter grass is the THE WORST and goes crackers pretty quickly. You mostly need to pull it out by hand which is a horrible job.
My ‘secret’ is hitting the lawn with ammonia about now - makes it sing in summer like nothing else!
As side from the lawn - got some kiwi berries growing in their third season, the season we are actually meant to see fruit, but it’s not looking good.
My lawn is crap. We have Sir Walter Buffalo DNA grass and it doesn’t seed. Have finally convinced my wife to stop walking on the bald patch where the the clothes line is, but it’s still patchy as hell. Pretty sure we should have gotten a different type of grass as we’re in 50% shade or so. I’ve honestly tried everything. Have aerated, fertilized, weeded etc. If it doesn’t bounce back this year, am probably gonna replace it with a different lawn.
In saying that, hanging garden is going amazingly as is the star jasmine we have planted all across the back and front fence. We’re getting a huge amount of chillies and potentially strawberries for the kids.
My dad set us up a custom made watering control system. Touch screen, automated watering times with two different zones and wishes us a happy birthday, merry Christmas etc.
I have fully embraced my suburban middle aged man identity and gotten into lawn maintenance. I have Palmetto Buffalo in the front and Wintergreen Couch on the back.
Picked up a 70s era refurbished Scott Bonnar 45 Cylinder Mower. It does a great job, cleaner cut than the rotary and stripes up nicely.
Need a heap of soil wetter in WA though as the soil is mostly hydrophobic sand.
It is over due for a dethatching but otherwise happy with the results.
Has enough time passed since nappygate yet for me to indulge in another unnecessary woke tirade against traditional suburban family life? 
Our chickens ate our crappy lawn, I’ll get it relaid when they die.
If you own a suburban block and haven’t moved out to rent a studio apartment in a walkable neighbourhood, knocked down the house and replanted the entire block with old growth forest and native undergrowth then you are an environmental vandal. These are just facts.
Lawns are an abomination that should be replaced with less resource intensive coverings that don’t require a lot of effort and energy in your time away from the capitalist exploitation system.
I’ve got some clover coming through nicely.
I do have some Kurrajongs I planted about 3 years ago. I was hoping they’d be a decent size before the next drought in order to provide more shade, but alas, that starts next week.
I’ve tried concreting the garden but found I spent too much time watering the concrete
You looked into a concrete irrigation system?
Or maybe find a Greek gardener?
Yeah, we supposedly got Sir Walter DNA when we did our reno, but it was Covid time, when tradies were scarce. The ‘landscaper’ must have got the cheapest crap lawn possible, so that we already had winter grass (or something similar) embedded in the lawn… so that always grows quicker than the proper lawn, which is damn annoying. The dodgy stuff must seed, so it is slowly taking over… and yes, the proper lawn is bare where the missus steps on it when hanging the clothes (I know it’s her coz I balance on the edging when hanging up the clothes)
If it is wintergrass then putting down a preemergent before winter will stop the seeds germinating. (I use Embargo).
Unfortunately once you have seeds in the soil, it can take years to clear it out.
If it grows in summer it might be some form of Kikuya
I’ll take onion weed over kikuya which is a horrible, invasive garden terrorist.
You cannot have onion weed mixed in closely with desirable plants.
Roundup does kikuyu nicely.
I live next to a council reserve which is kikuyu.
My neighbours have kikuyu.
It’s a never ending battle!
I have 5 acres that had previously been used for cattle grazing without a single tree on it when we bought it. Slowly been trying to convert it from a shitty overcompacted wasteland into an actual ecosystem.
So far have planted about 50 natives, mostly eucalypts, acacias, grevilleas and callistemons. A heap of fruit trees, mostly apples, stone fruit etc. And in the process of putting in a heap of berries.
I’m another one that doesn’t understand the obsession with carpet-like lawn. Give me trees, birds, flowers bees and butterflies every day of the week.
Long way to go but this is the first year we’re noticing some differences.
Immaculate lawns on a suburban block are really just a way of saying - “I don’t have much going on in my life”
Ha, i always thought it was more of a status thing.
There’s a guy at work that has a corner block in Bathurst that was getting quotes to get everything turfed. He has fuck all backyard but a pretty decent front yard. Ive managed to convince him to turf the backyard for his kid, and put a few small raised garden beds for veggies close to the house and a few drought tolerant native gardens in the front yard. Kids are way more stoked about picking strawberries and blueberries and pulling carrots from a garden than they are about a bowling green anyway. Also mowing fucking sucks.
