Fixing up the garden

Our tenants were pretty good.  They left the house in good condition and the gardens looked better than expected (although this is probably due more to Dad's hard work than anything the tenants did - thanks for all the long hours you put in Dad)

As I said, the garden looked good, except perhaps for the weeds.  The buggers were popping up everywhere.  Some big, some small, some with long tap roots that were near impossible to dig up, some that irritatingly snapped in half at the slightest tug, some with prickles - you name it, we had it.

After laboriously digging out each and every undesirable bit of green in sight we relaxed.  Rule number 1 in the art of weed removal - don't relax, don't turn your back, the buggers will return, bigger and stronger, especially if it rains - which it did. Round 1 to the weeds.

Not to be defeated - we moved on to round 2, which started a lot like round 1.  Rip, yank, pull, scrape, dig, tug, scratch and 3 hours later the beds moved from vermin-ridden (top picture) to barren (middle).  But then came the piece de resistance.  Bring in the big guns, or more accurately the big pile of mulch.  Enough to knock off any weedy weeds thinking of attempting a third comeback (bottom).

But there is more to this story.  I have a new best friend and her name is Sabrina.  Now - Sabrina is a school Mum and also an angel.  I happened to mention (as you do in casual school pick-up conversation) that after weeding in the garden for 5 hours that day I has just ordered 6 cubic metres of mulch to be delivered tomorrow.  I'm not sure why I thought Sabrina might like to hear all of this, perhaps deep down I was just showing off about what a whiz in the garden I was.

Anyway - can you believe this?  Sabrina sent me a text, not just any text, but a text to say she had nothing on tomorrow and would I like a hand spreading the mulch.  Like I said, these were not the words of a school mum, these were the words of an angel sent from above.

So - here's how our day went…..

It was dirty and it was dusty, but we had fun.  3 hours later the pile had gone, we were filthy and poor little Lucy was exhausted from watching.

I just wish that pile had been a bit bigger - 2 cubic metres bigger to be precise and the top right photo shows why…grrrrr…(not a good mistake at $50 a pop for delivery)….

A couple of before and after mulch shots, plus the obligatory bee photo.  What is it about bees and me - I am not even that huge a fan of honey?  And I replanted the pots on the verandah.  Overall a job well done :)