Last year (2025) was a time of consolidating what we have and enhancing the existing garden beds – and garden maintenance schedule so we are not suddenly overwhelmed.
Rabbit proofed fencing around the birch forest and the far side of the Perennial. The rabbits ate all my Granny Bonnets and anything else they could find. You could walk up to the Birch forest and they would just scatter. The fencing has been very successful especially in the Perennial so Birch Forest was the next on our list. .
General maintenance around the chook pen and dealing with the rodent issue. We have secured the pen with double wire which is dug in to keep out foxes and rodents.
It is ongoing – keeping the food up and away overnight and putting fresh hay in regularly. They are so reliable with their egg laying and so gorgeous that we want to do everything we can to make them happy (and safe)
Espalier lemon trees outside wall of the secret garden where the “Giardino Segreto” sign is (see below). We have bought 4 lemon trees and completed with the wire and the hooks against the wall.
This comes under the heading of something I always wanted to do. It is only just been sucessfull – not enough sun for the lemons!
Fixed Up the Raised garden beds and get food production back on track. We have three raised garden beds and 2 lower ones.
We grow zuchini, tomatoes, pumpkin and beans but it is time to get some permanent netting solutions and improve the soil and as always fix the automatic watering. In the lower beds we use them for flowers as they are visible out the back.
Here are the dalias, penstemons and echenasia for me to look at as I walk by. This also needs to be set up properly and of course rabbit proof fenced!
Manage the Wisteria in the Colonnade and the surrounding area. The wisteria under the colonnade is very old and very robust. It is surrounded by lots of echium, ceanothus and a weedy creeper. The rabbits are also living in the cubby house! In full bloom it is stunning but it has to be properly pruned which allows it to blossom a couple of times a year. We have neglected this area and it is an impotants task not to overlook so we also planted lots of root stock natives as well as a Tulip Tree!
Updated the waterfall so it flows properly. This area has now been re-landscaped with reeds and native grassess.
There are more projects to come – so watch this space!