The weather has been so hot, and we have had a few decent downpours so the fence has been able to weather nicely. The green colour is mostly gone now and it has lightened to a golden hue.
I am in the process of planting, and I decided that we really needed to wash down and stain the fence... so after dinner while it was still light we got out with the 'revive', the broom and the hose and washed it down. Goodness knows what the people walking their dogs thought (with water restrictions and all). We will have to see if the weather is favourable to us tomorrow (it's supposed to be pretty hot) as to whether we can stain it or we have to wait... the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned - then I can finish planting in the beds to either side!
On the plant front, the 10 camellias and 10 gardenias that I planted down the east side (which get no morning sun, and only afternoon sun until about 5pm) are doing well for the most part. One gardenia wasn't looking too healthy after it was planted but it has recovered and has 2 new leaves. 2 camellias have carked it - one in the garden bed and one next to the hot water service (which wasn't that surprising because of the huge amount of sand that was dumped there while building even though we did try to dig it up and mix it through). The rest of the camellias are looking very healthy with most having new buds (I'm guessing new leaves forming because it's a bit late for them to be flowering). Not bad for $1.50ea for the tubes off ebay!
I had planted 5 small grevilleas (Grevillea 'gold rush') out the front at the start of summer but they all turned brown and collapsed (and a few were stood on). The dietes are flourishing - even the ones we planted at the same time as the grevilleas that died off have resprouted. The ones we planted last autumn are still flowering and some have seed pods from early flowers being pollinated. The purple ones (grandiflora) are definitely hardier than the yellow (bicolor). They were looking a little lonely out there with the grevilleas dying, so I have started planting a border of alternating Liriope muscari and Dianella revoluta which will continue across to the end of the fence.
I have just got 2 beautiful specimens of Grevillea 'moonlight' to go in front of the fence. These can grow quite tall so we may have to stunt their growth by continued pruning to maintain a small size - but they should grow to a nice size to help screen the backyard, and they have a gorgeous white-yellow flower. I am now looking at replacing the other 3 spots (where they ones that died were) with a different yellow variety - that will not grow quite so large - more like 1.5-2m. I have seen the Grevillea 'poorinda diadem' which I can get at a reasonable price that look quite pretty. I also have one remaining cycad (that was a baby of my parent's large cycad) that has survived my neglect in a pot for about 2 years (despite the nursery bought equivalent turning brown about 3 months after I brought it home) and my parents also have a couple more for me to plant in the front between the larger shrubs and the grasses.
In the backyard I have planted out the 20 tubes of Lomandra longifolia and one pot from the nursery that I divided into 2, and these are evenly spaced in the area out the glass doors (approx 1400mm apart). Between every second Lomandra I have planted kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos 'coral queen' cultivar) which I picked up 2 pots at Bunnings for $5ea and then broke into 6 each - giving me 12 plants for $10 - so they are a bit of a trial run to see if they survive and are suitable for our weather/climate.
I discovered some beautiful grevilleas in my online searches called 'peaches and cream'. I obtained 2 medium pots from Bunnings and got our local nursery to order me 3 (they could only get 8" pots, not 6") so I have planted one of these every second gap, with 6 remaining gaps where I would like to put some banksias (my favourites are either Banksia meisneri or Banksia occidentalis but I will have to check availability). Lastly I am looking at some small growing Eucalypts - one for each corner furthest from the house. I would like something striking with preferably a white or yellow flower. I have found one called "Little Spotty" which looks like it would go very nicely with the colours already in the backyard. Another option is a dwarf ghost gum but I can't find much information about them.
I will take some photos once all the plants are in and the fence is stained. I guess it will be interesting to look back at them in years to come and see how much it has grown and changed
... lets just hope I don't kill them!
Seasol - check. Powerfeed - check. Sprinklers (spray heads) - mostly check. Watering days Tuesday and Saturday - check.
Did I say this was a quick update?
