Gardening - good for the soul

I've been exercising my green thumb today - I've always loved gardening and really missed it while we were renting. Watering and weeding someone else's garden just wasn't the same. The layout and plant choices weren't mine, and I wasn't about to spend time, effort and money on something that I'd have to leave, so I really lost interest.

I'm very pleased to rediscover the joy of getting my hands dirty. This is gardening on a much smaller scale than I'm used to, but I can't say that's a drawback.

I headed out this afternoon in search of the perfect pots. I found a great place on High St Epping that sells discount pots, urns and water features, but every time I found just what I needed, there was only one in the size or colour I wanted. I have my eye on a few future purchases though….

I ended up back at Bunnings, since I needed a light globe and a power point anyway – and found the perfect narrow black glazed pots for my yuccas. I then spotted some pots that were almost right for the front yard - right size, shape and price….. just the wrong colour. But since they were some sort of cast resin, that was nothing that some leftover Ironstone gloss wouldn’t fix.

Finally, something to look at from the lounge windows other than the fence!



Cheap resin pots came up a treat with some gloss paint



The burgundy leaves of Cordyline 'Red Star' are a great contrast to the Ironstone pot.



The other pot waiting for its occupant (I underestimated how much pottimg mix was needed) .....



.....the Dragon's Blood Tree I got for a bargain price



There’s still some more planting to be done, but I’ll aim to pick up a few plants at a time till I'm satisfied. At least I now know what I want, so that's a start!

Since the garden was looking so nice, I couldn't stand the dust and dirt any longer, so I swept, scrubbed and washed and we now have gleaming windows and clean decking and driveway. Domestic skills aren't exactly my strong point, but there's a limit to how much dirt even I can stand.