Sunned in...

 

Today we have a one day reprieve from the sweltering temperatures the south-east of the country has had to endure these past few weeks.

 

At 32 degrees Celsius, and with a southerly breeze, it is a nice change from the 45 degrees we reached yesterday. But the wind today is also pushing the smoke from the Bangor bushfire in our direction, so we are blanketed in a grey, smoggy haze.

 

Tomorrow begins yet another heatwave, with temperatures expect to soar back into the 40s for at least another week.

 

I spend a lot of my time in the early mornings and evenings in the garden, watering the plants as the soil is extremely dry at the moment. I am in need of more Lucerne hay for mulch: The sun is fast disintegrating what is left.

 

We have started putting the sprinkler on in the evenings for a few minutes on the back lawn, and all the birds (including up to ten magpies at any one time!) come swooping in to cool off, take a drink and search for bugs under the spray. We watch them from the kitchen window, in the comfort of an air conditioned house, where indoor activities are all the go.

 

We don't get "snowed in" here; we get "sunned in" instead.

 

How's the weather at your place?

Summer Surprises (in the garden)

[Where the lawn used to be!]

 

Oh! It has been so HOT!

 

We've just come out of a heatwave that lasted over a week and saw temperatures nearing the 50 degrees Celsius mark (that's 122 degrees Fahrenheit) just about every day. We spent the entire week inside, in the dark, with the air conditioning on. The temperature wouldn't fall below 35*C at night, so to stay cool and to limit our electricity use, we camped in the living room, ran the air con on low at a very comfortable 24*C, and shut out the rest of the house.

 

That's another good thing about these old stone buildings: They're not open-plan, as is so popular with modern design, so there aren't large, open spaces that require a lot of energy use to keep cool.

 

 

The garden has suffered a little, as is to be expected. I only water the lawn once a week, just to keep it alive (but not thriving). However, the rest of the garden has not suffered as much as it has in previous years thanks to some well-timed pruning and a heap of Lucerne hay as mulch.

 

In early December I cut back the hardy Hardenbergia to the point where it was nothing more than a twiggy vine. It is now bursting with new growth! It certainly doesn't seem to mind all the sunshine we are having, that's for sure.

 

There are other small surprises in the garden too, including bulbs in flower, sweet alyssum, and button daisies peeking through the mulch. The mulch has been a miracle worker: I only water every few days, and yet the ground stays moist. I have used other kinds of mulch in the past (pine bark, and pea-straw), but Lucerne hay is proving to be the most effective. I would recommend it to any gardener, especially those living in dry, hot climates.

 

It is always nice to find plants thriving and in bloom, but even more so on a day that is 50*C.

 

Native Anthem

Yesterday afternoon I ventured down to Stirling North, just outside of Port Augusta and around 30km from where I live, to visit a 90-year-old gentleman who propagates and sells native Australian plants.

 

It was a true adventure of new-found knowledge and discovery. In the past I have been reluctant to grow many Australian native plants for fear they would make the garden look untidy and dull. Yesterday's adventure made me realise just how fantastic a native Australian garden can look with a bit of planning and attention. I discovered that the key to having a fabulous native garden is in the pruning: Leave them to grow wild and they will split, look shabby, produce few blooms and won't live as long. And as it turns out, they are not hard to manicure at all: From about their second year (when they reach about 1.5m in height) they should be pruned back by a third once they have finished flowering in spring. This will ensure the bush stays "tight" and bursts with flowers every year.

 

And it's the flowers that I am most keen to see plenty of in my garden. Whilst manicured looks splendid, a garden isn't all that fun without splashes of colour and the regular visits from the native bees and honey-eaters (birds). We lost a number of shurbs preferred by the honey-eaters last summer and I am keen to ensure their return.

 

Last spring I planted two "test" eremophilas - a groundcover and a silver shrub - to see whether they would survive the summer heat and how well they would grow in our hard, clay soil (which manages to annihilate even the hardiest lavender, a popular garden plant in Australia). As it turns out, they are thriving. Eremophilas only need to be watered until they are established, after which they should be left to their own devices (unless, of course, they are looking a little "thirsty"). They make the perfect water-wise garden for arid and desert conditions. Seeing my test plants grow so well over winter (which has seen them treble in size), I made the decision that a native garden might be just what we need to achieve the manicured, evergreen and colourful garden we want.

 

So, after learning how to grow and prune native plants perfect for our climate from the expert (the gentleman in question pioneered the world-renowned and one-of-a-kind Arid Lands Botanic Garden in Port Augusta), I came home with a selection of eremophilas (trees, shrubs and groundcovers) and a purple lantana, which will go in-ground next weekend. With prices ranging from $2 - $4.50 per tube, a mere $30 spent and I came home with 11 plants. Now I just need to decide where to put them!