My lawns are disgraceful!

My lawns are disgraceful! Of course, I have just returned from a delightful garden festival - I am now used to seeing beautiful lawns as well as beautiful rhododendrons. I will have to have words with NGP - Non Gardening Partner...

 Name unknown.
Speckled Rhododendron

Saturday 3rd November

My new edgers are sharp and serious, but the grass leading up to the edges is awful. I now expect a certain standard of underfoot lawnery, having seen how the other gardening half live. One of NGP's new jobs could be to raise the Moosey lawns from weedy paddocks into half decent grass carpets.

 The original!
Gingerpuss

My lawns have huge coarse clumps and tufts of grass, and lots of bare patches. One lawn supposedly mowed last weekend is covered in foot-long dandelion stalks...

Ginger Gardening Cats...

Good morning to Percy the purring ginger kitten, who sits on me as I type. Percy is turning into the perfect country garden cat. And he's extremely decorative.

I am reminded of my original ginger gardening cat, Gingerpuss, who seems to have lost all his votes, and his photograph, in my long running Most Valuable Cat Competition. Gingerpuss was the first, the prototype of all Moosey ginger gardening felines. I have contacted my invisible, unreachable web-master...

Now to contemplate the list of things to do on this fine gardening day.

Do The Following...

  1. Plant annuals.
  2. Plant out pelargonium and daisy pots.
  3. New pots for upstairs balcony.
  4. Write (nicely) about garden visit to Rhododendron Festival.

There is also a garden fete down the country road to go to this afternoon. And I could use one more trailer load of wood shavings for my paths - I keep finding weedy ones which haven't had the surface treatment. And I need to do some serious weeding. And, and, and...

Much Later...

The lawns have been beautifully mown, and I've been busy weeding, planting annuals, raking and watering. Another woodland path now has a decent mulched surface, and I've brought out lots more succulent pots to sit in appropriate garden spots, casually grouped.

 Late spring, looking beautiful.
The Water Race

We went to the fete where I bought some white flowering Watsonias and some dark green Celmisias sourced from Banks Peninsula - they'll need shade. And I got six large clumps of dark blue dwarf irises for two dollars. Right. Time to shift the hoses, wander through my woodland, and think about what to do next.

Sunday 4th November

I think my confidence is back! Amazing what a set of newly mown lawns, and a weeded band the length of my arms along neatly trimmed edges can do.

Great News - Ladies Choir to Visit Moosey Garden

I think I am getting the garden ready for a visiting ladies choir. Well, this is the official story, and I've explained to NGP that I need to plan ahead, start my big irrigation watering programme now, to have the garden ready in time. Oops - I sliced through one of the pipes when planting the house lavender. The new lavender bushes are flowering early, and look absolutely gorgeous, by the way. But the big irrigation needs fixing. Blast.

 By the side of the proposed arched Monet Bridge.
Unknown Rhododendron

This morning I woke up to the sounds of the bellbird singing, the pheasant hooting, my distant rooster crowing, Lilli-Puss on the bed purring, and Fluff-Fluff squeaking - the biggest cat with the smallest voice. I could almost see the white face of B-Puss peering cautiously over the blankets. I still miss him, but then I am so lucky in other animal ways...

Hello Again Percy!

For example, Percy the ginger kitten has arrived for his compulsory morning computer cuddle. Seeing what he's just written (//////00744442```) I'd say monkeys on a typewriter don't have a chance of producing any Shakespeare! Right. It's time I did some garden work.