I had a busy long weekend and finally planted up the side garden…
Now let’s see if I can remember how do do those clickable thumbnails…
Before
Before (kind of half way through actually, lol!)
After (well still a little bit to do but the paving, rock border and planting are done)
Thia is what I started with…yukko!
‘After’ photos look really nice, Horty :)
Thanks Bon…now just have to wait for the plants to grow, LOL!
Looks great, lot of hard yakka there !
“Jolly good show, old chap! What?”
The Estate said:
Looks great, lot of hard yakka there !
Dinetta said:
“Jolly good show, old chap! What?”
ROFL! You’re a card!
Looks Good.
you obviously do a very thorough job.
thanks for the piccies – before and after are particularly good.
Looks great Horty, well done. You’ve certainly made a big difference.
veg gardener said:
Looks Good.
pepe said:
you obviously do a very thorough job.
thanks for the piccies – before and after are particularly good.
actually your vege garden photo should be here.
your plan to fork out all the couch is a good one.
we did that with our back lawn area. it took the wife and i about 4 days – a total area of about 45 sq.m. – combined forking time – say 12 hours (a guess). – total wine drunk to ease the pain about 2 bottles LOL.
pepe said:
actually your vege garden photo should be here.your plan to fork out all the couch is a good one.
we did that with our back lawn area. it took the wife and i about 4 days – a total area of about 45 sq.m. – combined forking time – say 12 hours (a guess). – total wine drunk to ease the pain about 2 bottles LOL.
Yep, it should. Sorry Pepe, it was a passing comment that took on a life of its own…didn’t mean to hijack your thread!
Haha! Unhijacked! (I moved it all to this thread!)
Since we last spoke about it I whippersnipped the bejeebus out of it, watered it to bring it back then poisoned the stuff. It looks very different now. I see a potential vegie garden. I’m going to get out there next weekend and fork out as much as I can and then go for a drive around the nearby racehorse suburb where they leave bags of horse poo out for dedicated gardeners to take away for free. You have to go early in the morning or they’re all gone by the time you get there.
My compost area is also starting to look good. Grass is all gone. Roundup and tarp did the job there and using the tarp meant I only had to poison once instead of the usual 3–4 times so although I didn’t want to use poison at all, at least I didn’t have to use too much. I just have to build the bays now. Need some materials to do it with so will be keeping my eyes peeled for council collection treasures.
No frosts here. Further up the hill they do but not here on the flat. (Well it really should be called ‘the undulating’, not ‘the flat’ LOL!)
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…and i moved it to here.
all your plans (and actions) sound good yo me.
- horse manure from stables is good, and fairly mild, but exceedingly good for worms because of all the straw. do you have a trailer ? dogs like horse manure – what part do you envision the dogs playing in this garden ?
- spraying in small doses is necessary – so i approve altho’ others mightn’t.
- even tho’ you don’t have frost i doubt there is sufficient heat in a perth winter for your much loved beans.
- anyrate – good luck and don’t forget to design in an armchair spot – so you have somewhere to sit and watch the growth. LOL
pepe said:
…and i moved it to here.
all your plans (and actions) sound good yo me.- horse manure from stables is good, and fairly mild, but exceedingly good for worms because of all the straw. do you have a trailer ? dogs like horse manure – what part do you envision the dogs playing in this garden ?
- spraying in small doses is necessary – so i approve altho’ others mightn’t.
- even tho’ you don’t have frost i doubt there is sufficient heat in a perth winter for your much loved beans.
- anyrate – good luck and don’t forget to design in an armchair spot – so you have somewhere to sit and watch the growth. LOL
The dogs can’t access the vegie area. One of the first things I did when I moved in was build a fence (a ramshackle recycled one but a fence none the less) across the back yard to section off the vegie beds, compost area and chook run from the dog play area.
There’s a little raised bit that does as a seat already Pepe…perfect! :)
Woohoo, I just figured out how to bookmark the thread! A bit slow on the uptake but eventually I get there…as simple as ‘view whole thread’ THEN bookmark it! Now I can put all future waffle and updated pics here. :)
Thanks for resurrecting it for me Pepe (no pun intended on this good day)
hortfurball said:
Woohoo, I just figured out how to bookmark the thread! A bit slow on the uptake but eventually I get there…as simple as ‘view whole thread’ THEN bookmark it! Now I can put all future waffle and updated pics here. :)Thanks for resurrecting it for me Pepe (no pun intended on this good day)
Oh cool Horty :) Good to have your own pics and ‘waffle’ thread lol.
I got rid of couch by digging the wretched stuff out completely, and if any reappears I’m onto it pronto. I haven’t had any probs so far though. I do have a root barrier around the vege bed too.
The dogs can’t access the vegie area. One of the first things I did when I moved in was build a fence (a ramshackle recycled one but a fence none the less) across the back yard to section off the vegie beds, compost area and chook run from the dog play area. There’s a little raised bit that does as a seat already Pepe…perfect! :)
-
a natural seat is purfect – except when it rains – you might need a mobile directors chair as well.
yep the dog’s place is elsewhere – my muts will attempt to dig their way back to france if they see damp, bare earth.
pepe said:
a natural seat is purfect – except when it rains – you might need a mobile directors chair as well.
yep the dog’s place is elsewhere – my muts will attempt to dig their way back to france if they see damp, bare earth.
Oh mine aren’t diggers, but I’d rather my vegies (when they happen) not taste like dog wee! Large male dogs can aim pretty high. It’s probably good fertiliser but NO!
Ella would eat anything that vaguely resembled food, and as I have grape vines, and grapes are toxic to dogs in more than very small amounts, that was why I did it so quickly even though the vegies were a way off. Just as well, as the grapes have just finished, and yes she did snaffle a few that fell over ‘her’ side of the fence.
I have compost bays. :D
My car died yesterday (need power steering fluid which I’ll get tomorrow) and I was walking to the shop when I saw a big pile of wood and a fellow hard at work removing the rest of the fence, so I asked him whether he had any use for it all and he said “Nope, it’s all for the skip, help yourself” so today my housemate drove me around, we loaded up the car and I’ve been hard at work ever since. It’s too dark to take piccies tonight but I’ll take them soon.
I have compost bays! :D
does a little happy dance
hortfurball said:
I have compost bays! :D
does a little happy dance
yay!!
bluegreen said:
thanks horty for reminding me i have to turn on of mine and start a new one to wet out there but.
hortfurball said:I have compost bays! :D
does a little happy dance
yay!!
hortfurball said:
I have compost bays. :DMy car died yesterday (need power steering fluid which I’ll get tomorrow) and I was walking to the shop when I saw a big pile of wood and a fellow hard at work removing the rest of the fence, so I asked him whether he had any use for it all and he said “Nope, it’s all for the skip, help yourself” so today my housemate drove me around, we loaded up the car and I’ve been hard at work ever since. It’s too dark to take piccies tonight but I’ll take them soon.
I have compost bays! :D
does a little happy dance
Well done HortFurball!
shakes power fist in the air
Hi all, haven’t had time to catch up on the chat, but just a couple of pics of my new compost bays before I run off to cook and eat dinner…
Gee, you can’t tell I’m pleased with them, can you? :D
In case anyone wonders, the metal poles sticking up are part of the framework that supported the grape vine. I removed the wire from this section because I decided I really didn’t need 8m of grapevine! (and that’s only the red grapes, the white ones are still on their own frame down behind the vegie beds) I also didn’t need it growing into and getting tangled with the thorny Erythrina next door again. This is the section where the two were entwined so I’ve solved that problem!
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.
Awww man, looks awesome – I feel so lazy now!!
:)
hortfurball said:
Hi all, haven’t had time to catch up on the chat, but just a couple of pics of my new compost bays before I run off to cook and eat dinner…
Choice!
Congratulations!
hortfurball said:
Hi all, haven’t had time to catch up on the chat, but just a couple of pics of my new compost bays before I run off to cook and eat dinner…
They look good HFB
hortfurball said:
Hi all, haven’t had time to catch up on the chat, but just a couple of pics of my new compost bays before I run off to cook and eat dinner…
Looks good Horty, may i ask why is the tarp there?
veg gardener said:
hortfurball said:
Hi all, haven’t had time to catch up on the chat, but just a couple of pics of my new compost bays before I run off to cook and eat dinner…
Looks good Horty, may i ask why is the tarp there?
Good question Veg. I never thought of that.
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.
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i’m impressed – and thanks for the updates.
the compost bays might need a wire mesh front and it might have to help hold the ends of the bins upright. there’s a surprising amount of pressure on the sides when the bins are full.
congrats – looking beaut
pomolo said:
veg gardener said:hortfurball said:
Hi all, haven’t had time to catch up on the chat, but just a couple of pics of my new compost bays before I run off to cook and eat dinner…
Looks good Horty, may i ask why is the tarp there?
Good question Veg. I never thought of that.
Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
bon008 said:
pomolo said:
veg gardener said:Looks good Horty, may i ask why is the tarp there?
Good question Veg. I never thought of that.
Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
wouldnt that stop worms getting into it, horty do you drag it along the lawn and then dump it in there?
veg gardener said:
bon008 said:
pomolo said:Good question Veg. I never thought of that.
Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
wouldnt that stop worms getting into it, horty do you drag it along the lawn and then dump it in there?
Nah, worms are pretty hard to stop, they’ll easily climb up and over much more difficult things than a bit of tarp.
It might also help to conserve moisture in the heap – remember our soil in Perth is very sandy and free draining.
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.
———————————————-
They look teriffic Horty, you have been working really hard haven’t you !!
veg gardener said:
Looks good Horty, may i ask why is the tarp there?
Thanks everyone for sharing my excitement over such a simple thing.
Veg, before the compost bays went in, I pruned the grapevine down and piled all the prunings on the tarp so that I could drag them out of the way quickly and easily if I suddenly acquired the material to make the bays.
The rubbish on the tarp has some large branches that can’t be composted without a heavy duty chipper so I’m going to have to sort that pile into compostable, and not compostable. I just dragged it into the bay to get it out of the way and off the grass.
I just have to place some old slabs in front of the compost bays and I’ll be happy as a pig in mud, and turn my attention back to the vegie plots.
Speaking of which…can anybody see in the vegie plot pic, the treated pine edging? I suspect it may be the one treated with arsenic, which has made me think that now I need to either rip them out and replace with some more salvaged wood (jarrah) or buy some new wood, or line with heavy plastic. Which would be the best option do you think?
pepe said:
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.
———————————
i’m impressed – and thanks for the updates.
the compost bays might need a wire mesh front and it might have to help hold the ends of the bins upright. there’s a surprising amount of pressure on the sides when the bins are full.congrats – looking beaut
Thanks Pepe. :)
I have hammered posts into the ground to stabilise the sides front and back, and then wired each set of posts together at the top to sandwich the side panels and keep them from wobbling. If you look really closely you can see the posts and wire in the darker pic that I put up with the vegie plot pic. Do you think that will be enough? Ooh! I just had a good idea…I might use (recycle) some more of the grape vine wire to wire it together at the back for added support…perhaps run three strands of wire across at different heights right at the back against the fence. I could also attach one to the posts at the front a couple of inches above the ground so it won’t get in the way.
Yeah I was wondering what to do with the front…I may go back and get more fence palings now that I have my tardis car back, and do somewhat similar with posts but no wire so that I can just slide them out when I need access to turn it over.
bon008 said:
pomolo said:
veg gardener said:Looks good Horty, may i ask why is the tarp there?
Good question Veg. I never thought of that.
Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
Hehe! No, not even close! :)
bon008 said:
veg gardener said:
bon008 said:Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
wouldnt that stop worms getting into it, horty do you drag it along the lawn and then dump it in there?
Nah, worms are pretty hard to stop, they’ll easily climb up and over much more difficult things than a bit of tarp.
It might also help to conserve moisture in the heap – remember our soil in Perth is very sandy and free draining.
All these theories about a temporary and accidental occurrence, ROFL!!
hortfurball said:
bon008 said:
pomolo said:Good question Veg. I never thought of that.
Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
Hehe! No, not even close! :)
That’s what it would be for if it was in my garden :) bloody couch has appeared in the back now as well as the front :( Can’t poison it out the back because of the dog, and have no energy to dig it up at the moment. So I just glare at it and curse it!
hortfurball said:
bon008 said:
veg gardener said:wouldnt that stop worms getting into it, horty do you drag it along the lawn and then dump it in there?
Nah, worms are pretty hard to stop, they’ll easily climb up and over much more difficult things than a bit of tarp.
It might also help to conserve moisture in the heap – remember our soil in Perth is very sandy and free draining.
All these theories about a temporary and accidental occurrence, ROFL!!
Better stick around for a bit longer next time you post photos! grin
Happy Potter said:
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.———————————————-
They look teriffic Horty, you have been working really hard haven’t you !!
Bang post into ground, place paling, place twin post and hold tight against paling with foot, bang into ground, do the same at the back, slip palings into place sandwiched between pairs of posts, and wire posts together when you have finished. :) Only took me an afternoon.
The test will be whether the whole thing collapses as soon as the compost is full. If it does I may have to run off and buy some star pickets. Perhaps I should do that anyway and bang one right in the middle of each side…
hortfurball said:
Happy Potter said:
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.———————————————-
They look teriffic Horty, you have been working really hard haven’t you !!
Actually they were really quick and easy.Bang post into ground, place paling, place twin post and hold tight against paling with foot, bang into ground, do the same at the back, slip palings into place sandwiched between pairs of posts, and wire posts together when you have finished. :) Only took me an afternoon.
The test will be whether the whole thing collapses as soon as the compost is full. If it does I may have to run off and buy some star pickets. Perhaps I should do that anyway and bang one right in the middle of each side…
I’d say that would be a good idea, reinforce it all now before a problem arises. As Pepe said compost can get very heavy, and a good drop of rain on it might see the bays break under the weight.
bon008 said:
hortfurball said:
bon008 said:Maybe to stop grass/weeds growing up throw the bottom of the pile?
Hehe! No, not even close! :)
That’s what it would be for if it was in my garden :) bloody couch has appeared in the back now as well as the front :( Can’t poison it out the back because of the dog, and have no energy to dig it up at the moment. So I just glare at it and curse it!
Ah, I poisoned mine because it’s fenced off so the dogs can’t get to it. I then whacked the tarp on it to help smother, and then just did one more poison of the couple of determined bits that survived 3 months smothered under the tarp. I removed by hand a few bits just before I put the compost bays up. It was totally couch free. It better stay that way!
bon008 said:
hortfurball said:
bon008 said:Nah, worms are pretty hard to stop, they’ll easily climb up and over much more difficult things than a bit of tarp.
It might also help to conserve moisture in the heap – remember our soil in Perth is very sandy and free draining.
All these theories about a temporary and accidental occurrence, ROFL!!
Better stick around for a bit longer next time you post photos! grin
Oh did you guys have that chat last night? This forum and my puter don’t like each other. I saw no new posts last night and when I log on I always have to reload every page to catch up. Emptying my cache doesn’t help.
Happy Potter said:
hortfurball said:
Happy Potter said:
Speaking of vegie beds…getting there…slowly but surely. You can see edges now.———————————————-
They look teriffic Horty, you have been working really hard haven’t you !!
Actually they were really quick and easy.Bang post into ground, place paling, place twin post and hold tight against paling with foot, bang into ground, do the same at the back, slip palings into place sandwiched between pairs of posts, and wire posts together when you have finished. :) Only took me an afternoon.
The test will be whether the whole thing collapses as soon as the compost is full. If it does I may have to run off and buy some star pickets. Perhaps I should do that anyway and bang one right in the middle of each side…I’d say that would be a good idea, reinforce it all now before a problem arises. As Pepe said compost can get very heavy, and a good drop of rain on it might see the bays break under the weight.
Alrighty, I might get two per side, and bang them in at thirds. It won’t look as pretty but it will be more secure. Thanks HP (and Pepe)
Speaking of which…can anybody see in the vegie plot pic, the treated pine edging? I suspect it may be the one treated with arsenic, which has made me think that now I need to either rip them out and replace with some more salvaged wood (jarrah) or buy some new wood, or line with heavy plastic. Which would be the best option do you think?
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just leave it. whatever damage is done is fairly minor and has been done already. given the amount of toxins in everyday life i reckon a tiny bit of leeched material from those edges is unimportant.
If you look really closely you can see the posts and wire in the darker pic that I put up with the vegie plot pic. Do you think that will be enough? Ooh! I just had a good idea…I might use (recycle) some more of the grape vine wire to wire it together at the back for added support…perhaps run three strands of wire across at different heights right at the back against the fence. I could also attach one to the posts at the front a couple of inches above the ground so it won’t get in the way.
————
i can’t see it – but no grotting wire at neck level please.
it will be alright because the pressure builds as the pile grows so you can reinforce the front as the pile grows – which you will need to do to stack the pile anyhow.
Well after spending over $900 to fix my car (ouch) my washing machine decided to die as well, so I went around to my friend’s place to do some washing and on the way I spotted a whole pile of stuff someone had out for collection, including some star pickets!
So I now have the star pickets to reinforce the sides of my compost bays. :)
I also picked up a roll of chicken wire to fix the holes in the chook run and some lengths of wood (fence palings again) to raise the height of my vegie bed.
I love council collections.
hortfurball said:
Well after spending over $900 to fix my car (ouch) my washing machine decided to die as well, so I went around to my friend’s place to do some washing and on the way I spotted a whole pile of stuff someone had out for collection, including some star pickets!So I now have the star pickets to reinforce the sides of my compost bays. :)
I also picked up a roll of chicken wire to fix the holes in the chook run and some lengths of wood (fence palings again) to raise the height of my vegie bed.
I love council collections.
Me too…It’s great when you throw out stuff and others can use it and vice versa.
I got my chook pen door from a throw out and some bendable fly wire frames great in the patch when it’s a tad warm.
Oh and…when you’re ready to start planting vegies, let me know I’ve got some seed I can throw your way.
Muschee said:
Oh and…when you’re ready to start planting vegies, let me know I’ve got some seed I can throw your way.