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Frisbee Lawn Garden Tour

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If you like Frisbee throwing, or dog-stick throwing, then the Frisbee Lawn is the perfect spot for you. It's flat and large, ringed with a rose-covered fence, and sheltered from those dry nor-west winds.

Standing in the middle of the lawn you can look through the fence-line roses to the house. The edge of the lawn rises to the top driveway and the Stables. There are no horses here, but the Stables has its own garden full of irises, roses, and ornamental grasses.

Frisbee Lawn

In summers when there is little rainfall the Frisbee Lawn gets parched and goes brown. This is not a good look, and I have put in many requests to the person in charge of Irrigation at Moosey's Country Garden. No luck so far!

That same person must take total responsible for the Stables Garden, too - one fateful day he commented on the area having 'good soil'. The next day I started digging. The Stables Border has since been expanding, and now has two trees - a variegated elm and a flowering almond.

Roses and Dog Kennels

Three more distinct garden can be visited in this part of the Moosey tour. They are the Birthday Rose Garden (the perfect birthday present for Daughter of Moosey - just what every girl wants) and the Dog Kennel Garden, which is a small collection of eclectic objects and odd little plants - and some compulsory conifers. Here I've also tried to create a rockery. And I've built a small Lavender Garden for Rusty the current Moosey dog.

The Frisbee Lawn continues to frustrate me, though. Sometimes I am tempted to plant the flat part of the lawn with trees, and the slope with tussocks and grasses. Then I see the dog charging around with his favourite stick and I see reason. I should just quietly mention my latest plan for this area... A large second pond (I'm sure the dog would understand). Oops.

Birthday Garden Seats... Thu 2nd Jun 2011: Lucky Daughter of Moosey! For her 2010 birthday she has been proudly presented with some old wicker garden furniture - two seats and a little table. They go with her Birthday Rose Garden (2005-2008) and her Birthday Garden Mural (2009)...
Elizabeth Clematis... Sat 16th Oct 2010: How's this for the most exquisite pairing of beauty and the beast? It's a pretty pink flowering Clematis Montana called Elizabeth, growing delicately up one of my biggest Eucalyptus trees at the corner of the Frisbee Lawn.
Lilac Rhododendron... Fri 15th Oct 2010: Along the back of the garage is a small artistic garden, full of oddments. My pride and joy in mid-spring is a happy lilac rhododendron, growing in the company of Hebes and a juvenile green Cordyline.
Garden Lawn Rose Arch... Wed 29th Sep 2010: The entrance to the Frisbee Lawn was one of the first places to get a rose arch. And for many years this worked really well, with a lovely white Iceberg rose trailing over the archway.
Bishop of Llandaff Dahlia... Thu 1st Apr 2010: I inherited too many red dahlias in my garden - often they've been dug out and dumped by a fence-line, where they've continued to grow. One of the few dahlias I've bought in is the Bishop of Llandaff. I must admit to some garden snobbery here...
Rockery... Sun 14th Feb 2010: This was my first attempt at creating a rockery, in the year 2005. I planted grasses (and other plant bits and pieces) rather than buy in alpines and more traditional rockery plants. Oops... That might prove to be a little shortsighted...
Cabbage Trees (Cordylines)... Wed 23rd Sep 2009: A strong symbol of a New Zealand garden is the spikey Cabbage Tree, or Cordyline. I have an original trio of these messy tree-plants growing at the very top of the Frisbee Lawn, underneath a large Eucalypt tree. But there's more...
Birdbath... Fri 17th Apr 2009: The only official Moosey birdbath lives in the garden area between the Stables and the water race. But would any bird be foolish enough to use it with eight house cats in residence?
Birthday Garden Mural... Wed 15th Apr 2009: Some years ago I dug and planted a Birthday Rose Garden for Daughter of Moosey. Since then, rather than worry about posting birthday presents overseas, I've simply bought her new roses each year. What's up for 2009? Hee hee...
Rusty Dog's Lavender Garden... Thu 26th Mar 2009: Rusty's dog kennel sits at the top of the Frisbee Lawn. There's a sleeping compartment and a run, and I've planted a small Lavender Garden around the edges. Just what every good All Black supporter-dog wants and needs...
The Birthday Rose Garden... Mon 1st Dec 2008: The Birthday Rose Garden is now five years old - so much younger than Daughter of Moosey, for whom it was a special birthday present. It's planted with a stunning mixture of roses, peonies and perennials.
The Frisbee Lawn... Mon 1st Oct 2007: Yippee! Here's a proper photograph of this old established piece of paddock grass. The Frisbee Lawn manages to look good until summer. Then the ambience goes definitely downhill (no irrigation). It's been some years since the grass blades felt the gentle whirr of a frisbee...
Dog Kennel Garden... Thu 1st Feb 2007: The Dog Kennel Garden has been one of my more artistic gardening efforts. The kennel itself is an heirloom, and the small rockery next to it actually has some little conifers planted amongst the craggy rocks.
Stables Garden - New Grasses... Mon 1st Jan 2007: The Stables Garden began life as a small collection of roses and irises, dug around a hitching rail. It has now seriously expanded, and I've filled the new spaces with beautiful ornamental New Zealand grasses.
Hitching Post Climbing Roses... Wed 1st Mar 2006: The Stables garden was dug around a hitching rail for horses. I left the post and rail in place and grew some climbing roses along it - the pink Bantry Bay and an unknown amber yellow which I thought (wrongly) was Windrush. They are still there, all these years later.
Ornamental Grass... Fri 18th Feb 2005: This is one of the early ornamental grasses I introduced into the Moosey garden. I got it from a nursery, not realising it was such a compulsive self seeder. Oops!
Pink Peonies... Sun 23rd May 2004: Gradually my peonies are making bigger and better statements in the Moosey flowering garden. This bloom is from a large clump which is happy in the sunny Stables Garden.
Yellow Iris... Sun 23rd May 2004: In late October and November the irises in the Moosey garden delight with their huge flowers. Strangely there are few photographs of these beautiful plants - until now that is...
Pink Nerine Bulbs... Sun 2nd May 2004: The Stables Garden is the only border where I can grow Nerines well. Their bulbs sit half above the ground, and get sun-baked in summer.
Stables Garden & Dog - Early Days... Fri 20th Feb 2004: The Stables Garden started life as a fun small garden. For the first years its planting schemes changed, rather than its shape and size. By the year 2004 there was a good balance between foliage plants, perennials and roses. But these were early days...
Red & White Garden Fence Roses... Sun 21st Dec 2003: Along the fence which encloses the Frisbee Garden Border are the roses Dublin Bay and climbing white Iceberg. They have a bright yellow iris for company, growing in a particularly dry spot near the Ginko tree.
Spring in the Stables Border... Fri 19th Sep 2003: The variegated euphorbia is a great performer - it grows slowly and always looks tidy and fresh. The pockets of daffodils are sure signs that this is a Spring photograph. So is the green colour of the Frisbee Lawn.
White Dahlia Flowers... Mon 1st May 2000: In autumn these single white dahlias have been a beautiful feature in the Stables Border. They have always flowered late, and have had the Penstemon called 'purple passion' for company.
Safari Sunset Leucadendron... Sat 15th Apr 2000: The evocative name Safari Sunset suits this Leucadendron well. The colour of the spring growth is quite brilliant, and it's a strong growing shrub. How hardy? Of that I'm not so sure...
Cat On A Lawnmower... Thu 13th Apr 2000: Sifter will pose for the camera whenever required to. He was discovered here sitting on the lawnmower keeping the seat warm. The Frisbee Lawn behind has no dug in irrigation, and some summers can get very dry and brown.
Irrigating The Frisbee Lawn... Thu 24th Feb 2000: This picture was taken during a quite serious summer drought. Stephen has brought in one of the paddock irrigators to get some water on the Frisbee Lawn. You can read his irrigation page for all the technical details.
Conifer Leaf... Sat 19th Feb 2000: Here is a close-up detail of the conifer next to the Frisbee Archway. It is a neat compact grower.
Cat On The Garden Fence... Fri 18th Feb 2000: Sifter is now posing for you on the original horse hitching rail by the Stables. He looks a bit bored, if cats can be bored.