Views of My Garden

Most people would escape out of a cluttered house or an unsightly garden. I probably belong to that catergory. Not anymore! I began to understand the meaning of a green sanctuary because I now own one. Such a marvellous thing to be able to escape to the great outdoors right at my door-step. And I am feeling that wonderful sense of achievement (especially when neighbours passing by yelled out positive comments about my garden) every morning when I awake and look out of every window in the house. Out of every window, there would be a beautiful scenery awaiting me. This view is out of my back door leading to the back garden. Blue hydrangeas which I have recently planted are blooming their heads off and greeting me at the door. Probably due to the soil pH, they came up pink. I have added quite a lot of lime and they are staying pink with some blue tinge. I really dont mind the pink. They are sweet! I still have pots lying here or there before I finalise where they will end up. This lawn is soley reserved for my pooch Marco.

That's the right end of the back garden. Pardon all the containers around for collecting rain. Besides the green shed are the grevillea and pomegranate trees. The former is a nice tree to have because it attracts honey eaters and occasionally parrots (not sure what breed). I love looking at them picking at the flowers from my kitchen window. The pomegranate is having two flowers for the first time I moved in! The Carolina black rose grape vine is on the right side of the picture.

Here's the view from my kitchen window. I am getting more and more excited seeing my grape vine climbing up and across the beams... The view will just get more and more spectacular! This year I wont be having grape harvest because of the overly harsh pruning my dog gave to this vine last autumn. Hopefully next year will be a big harvest.

This the the view out of our dining area. The potted brown turkey fig tree is doing so well in the pot I wonder what magic I have added into the mix. It provides such an awesome display of foliage as we sit having our dinner. Besides the fig tree, flowering dietes (hopefully spelling's correct) grow here. They produce beautiful orchid-like flowers (which I will post in another entry). There is still a fair bit of room for me to put shade-loving potted plants in this area.

Now, for the front garden. View from my front door. Tomatoes, pumpkin, squash, sweet corn, eggplant, artichoke, yardlong beans, sunflowers are growing in this vegetable strip. The soil is very fertile and they are all growing well.

View from my study room where my patio furniture are directly out of its windows.

View from my study room showing the young wisteria, french lavender and my peach tree. In the background is the new lush lawn.

View from my bedroom. Such a beautiful sight and I love peeking out every morning.

View from my bedroom showing the small side gate and the conifers.

The lemon verbena is growing gloriously right outside my bedroom window and between the lavender bushes. I had thought it died as it looked like a dead twig in late winter. After giving it a chance by pruning it, it showed signs of life by budding and now...let the picture speaks for itself...

Left view from my bedroom window...

View from my son's bedroom window where we see most part of the lawn. We have finally mulched the bare areas under the shady trees with graded uncomposted pine bark. There are daffodil and jonquil bulbs around the plum tree but I am planning to plan some winter roses to dress up the area...Also germinating under the plum tree some nasturtiums...

Left view from my son's window. Possibly planting some autum flowering yellow crocus under the olive tree on the left.

Old and New Flowers.

My two hydrangeas are blooming. They do much better under shade but the spots I have planted them in can get quite a bit of sun and they wilt and burn very easily. I have to water them a lot and put a protective white cloth over them.

Well, the blooms did not turn out blue when the they opened. I think my soil is acidic. And I really dont mind enjoying the pink blooms too. They are pretty too. I have added some garden lime to increase the pH and hopefully soon I can enjoy blue blooms too.

As usual, my beautiful french lavender never fails to make me smile. The aroma is so wonderful and watching the happy bees flying to their flowers has this soothing effect upon me.

This is one of the two Sethi Baby blue I have bought and I have them planted at the patch next to the garage. The flowers are extremely pretty in real life :

My son and my little neighbour were enjoying a fun time playing with bubbles in the midst of the lavender Avon View and white daisies :

Fewh! My Protea Pink Ice survived and is currently putting on new leaves and tiny flower buds. I am very relieved indeed. I really find the flowers very pretty and have spent quite a sum acquiring this native tree :

And this lovely Jasmine which I have planted in the back garden next to the green fence. I will let it cover up this fence and the aroma in mid-day can make me stand on the spot and just enjoy......

Carolina Black Rose, Pak Choy, Spinach & Oregano

I must admit I have been very very busy and have been neglecting my blog for a long time. Then the laziness got into me because I felt that I have so much to update and I have been procrastinating and procrastinating the many things I have to write. Anyway, I am really very excited about my Carolina black rose grape vine. It is growing mightily. Right now, it has gone up the trellis I have tied to the support of my pergola. I cannot wait for grape bunches to appear!!! Every time I look at the leaves, I feel happy. They are so healthy and large. I am even imagining using them to wrap glutinous rice!

I have harvested loads of green and purple pak choy seeds from their pods. It was an enjoyable experience.

Loads of oregano early in spring.

And fresh spinach for frying too.

Front - One Year Before & One Year After.

After one year of living on this property, the dream of a nice lawn has been fulfilled. Just look at the pictures of the before. It was horrible :

And now :

A new vege patch

And the new lawn

The Transformation!

Finally! The new lawn is up! Two words for it all - Tough Work! But it was worth it. Hubby and I have not done a huge project of this sort before and it was great! We worked well. Good training before we enter the Amazing Race... Just joking! This narrow strip above is in front of my house. We laid Buffalo Sapphire lawn on both ends of it and keep the middle for planting. We have put up green edging all around the planting area. I am also going to put in some pavers for stepping on while gardening. So far, I have planted pumpkin, squash, lady's finger, sunflowers and long bean there. I have yet to decide on the right mulch to us for the whole garden so at the moment the bare rich soil will probably receive some weed seeds floating in the neighbourhood.

This is the large area next to the path. It looks great in the picture doesnt it?

Here's another shot. I thought it looks gorgeous. Finally a brand new lawn that looks like the one in the botanic gardens! By the way, this lawn is my 10th anniversary present from Hubby...(plus a pair of Skecher shoes and a set of aquamarine pendant and earrings)...We can't wait to have a picnic on this lawn once it gets established. At the moment, I am watering intensively since last Saturday. And I look forward to tomorrow and next week where it is forecast to rain every day. That would save a lot of money on watering bills and labour every morning.

This is the lawn in the back garden. It is reserved for doggy to do his business. Hehe...