Month: January 2012

Bellingen under water …

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It started raining early last week, which was nice because we’d had a few hot days and the garden needed a light watering.  Then it rained on and off for five days, which was also nice because it meant we had a bit of reserve for the next hot spell.  Then it started to rain seriously on Sunday and it has hardly stopped since …. so today the bridge went under for the first time this year.  If it keeps raining up on the Dorrigo Plateau as predicted, we may yet be completely cut off, but for now we can still get out.

The garden is like a rice paddy but otherwise everything is OK so far.
You can follow this link to see the report in our local newspaper …
Bellingen river floods

The tropical beds project …

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One evening early last year, I was standing on my balcony with a glass of wine in hand contemplating my garden when I had a sudden rush of inspiration.  Whether it was due to my recent visit to Coco’s Cottage or the effect of the wine … who knows … but I decided it would be a great idea to convert my front lawn into sub-tropical garden beds.

After much pacing backwards and forwards and the laying out of garden hose, I came up with a plan.  Friends Brian & David helped by delivering multiple loads of rich garden soil.  Jason the Kwik-Kerb man laid the edges, and I built up the beds with cardboard, soil and sugar cane mulch.  Other friends added to my plant stock with donations from their own gardens.

Now growing happily in the new beds are … various gingers, pandanus, ornamental bamboos, a black sapote tree, a ylang ylang tree, tiger grass, pink bananas, galangal, turmeric, costus, and a beautiful apricot datura.

At the end of summer I’ll post a complete time-lapse article
with photos taken from my balcony
♥ ♥ ♥