Garden Makeover - Part 3

Ahhh... My most disastrous corner...

This corner didn't kill any plants... it was my "utility" corner with my auto gate box, water tap, hose etc. But it was the lowest corner of my (sloping) garden, and after digging up my 1st corner (in Garden Makeover - Part 2) I had to check how bad things were here. After all, the grass was almost perpetually wet here. It would squish underfoot everytime I turn on the tap.

I discovered more concrete, more cement wash, a whole layer of anaerobic mud (which smelled really bad), the concrete base that holds up my walls, pvc piping that carried my phone line, scv cable etc, a metal "box" that houses more utility cabling, and a lot of water.

A lot, a lot of water. 

Nelumbo nucifera - update

My lotus, which was weak and sharply pruned back in early January, has now recovered and even flowered.

Isn't the flower beautiful? In all it's simplicity...

Garden Makeover - Part 2.1 - Cyathea Latebrosa and Caladium Lindenii

I'm trying out a Cyathea Latebrosa, which Gn from my favourite nursery assures me can take full sun. As my garden is fully west facing, I'm a bit apprehensive about this. However, I have lusted after fern trees for many, many years, and as my previous rooftop garden is definitely not conducive for this plant, I gave in to the temptation.

Underneath the Cyathea, I've put in some Caladium Lindenii, which looks pretty good with it's colour offset.

I'll wait for the plants to settle in, and then maybe add different ferns at the base. We'll see.

Garden Makeover - Part 2

This corner had out right killed a Red Powderpuff (Callliandra Haematocephala), one of my hubby's favourite plants, and shrivelled a Mulberry bush.

The Red Powderpuff had thrived very well for months after it was planted, and one fine day just shrivelled up and died. The Mulberry used to be in a pot, happily producing fruits, looking as handsome a Mulberry bush can be. I decided to free it from it's pot constraints, and it struggled in the corner. Suffered from almost every problem a Mulberry can: scale, fungal rot, aphids... even the leaves looked like it was contracting something similar to Verticillium Wilt.

So, this is what I did:

I dug it all out.

And I found concrete slab, cement wash, red bricks... All of that came out. I conveniently had an afternoon of rain after the digging and clearing, which had the hole looking like a pond, but it drained and cleared fairly easily.

So, my solution for this corner is a layer of expanded clay (which sits on top of the concrete base that supports the wall, followed by 1:2 pumice and volcanic soil mixture, followed by 1:3 volcanic sand and volcanic soil mixture.

Garden Makeover - Part 1

The rain in December and January wreaked havoc on my garden plants. The water drainage suspicions that I had for almost a year since I shifted in, became a stark reality.

So, I am now forced to dig up my garden to confirm my suspicions:

Now, I have most of my plants taken out, with dug up holes and "canals" all over...

My Dalbergia Latifolia standing in stark loneliness:

I feel bad giving this tree the chop, so it's a free gift to anyone who wants it. Just bring your changkul and help me dig it up!

Belated Gong Xi Fa Cai!

A belated Hoppy Chinese New Ear to everyone!

It's been more than a month since I last blogged, but I had a couple of overseas friends staying with us, and the CNY preparations, celebrations and inebrations...

Just joking ;-)... Time just flies.

Now life is a little bit back to normal, so I'm looking forward to posting on updates for previous posts, and on new acquisitions I made over this period. Also, I'm looking forward to re-modelling my small front lawn, so that should be exciting!