We had planned to go to our local HPS monthly meeting last Saturday but the sun was shining and the lure of the garden was so strong that we abandoned the idea and spent most of the day gardening instead, oops!
Usually Kniphofia thomsonii almost totally disappears in the winter but this time it remained evergreen and the old growth has gone floppy hence it's received a good trimming. White crocus have emerged between it and the Cotula hispida
Now the garden has been pretty much left to its own devices for most of the winter. The areas that were affected by the fire last summer were pretty much untouched from the point when the builders had finished constructing the new jungle hut up until last Saturday when we started clearing and tidying up.
Eremurus have started to creep up, together with Cyclamen seedlings
The garden recycling bin was filled up in no time!
Trimmings get dumped in the middle patio first before they get taken to the recycling centre
How nice it was to finally get stuck in again! We didn't do any clearing out of debris and dead plant materials in the autumn and winter and now that spring is looming we must remove all of them to make way for new growth, and more importantly to make our garden look nice again.
This Dicksonia antarctica fell down during the fire and was never propped up since then. Late in the summer it threw out new fronds much to our delight but as it was lying sideways the growth continued to go skywards...
It was well rooted on to the ground before the event. We'll be propping it up again very soon and bury almost a foot of the trunk on the ground to give it the best possible chance of recovery and make re-rooting much quicker (and make it more stable too). It will be one of the first things we'll do in this month before the new growth comes out so the fronds won't be lopsided in relation to the trunk.
This one wasn't a victim of the fire but of winter 2010-11. It will be used as a pathway edging.
It looks like there are loads to do and it also feels like we are starting all over again. But after spending nearly the entire day clearing out and making plans we reckon it won't take us long to sort things out.
The gravel is heavily contaminated with ash, broken glass, and other debris that the top layer needs to be skimmed and replaced with fresh gravel
Where a tall Magnolia delavayi once was has now been finally cut down to a stump. Some new growth sprouted at the base and we'll let that take over. Hopefully its growth will be vigorous.
Some surprises - Chamaedorea radicalis sprouting back and...
Chamaedorea microspadix making a comeback after this potted plant was totally burnt to nothing but a charred root ball. The plastic pot was gone and was just a black ball but the rains have washed the soot to reveal the roots and looks like also triggered it to throw out new growth.
We're feeling quite excited on how the garden will shape up this year. The rebirth of the garden has begun.A Phoenix will rise.Mark :-)
