Triffids

Since moving to the Sow's Ear we have barely touched the yard. Our attention has been diverted to other areas such as the kitchen. It has also been incredibly dry the last few months, so it has not been an ideal time to plant.

But in the last week or so we have had substantial rain. Now is the time to think about the garden.

A few years ago, someone gave us great advice,"Do your garden first. It will grow while you do work on the rest of the house.  By the time your renovations are finished, you can enjoy both the house and the garden."

And what pearls of wisdom those words were. We did precisely that with our second home. We gutted the garden beds and planted a  mock orange hedge on the front fence line and a lily pilly border for the side. The plants were very small but seven years down the track when we sold that house they were lush and well established.

The gardens at the Sow's Ear are okay. Someone liked their Australian natives because we have beautiful mature bottle brush trees, grevilleas and lilly pillies. They are lovely because when they are in flower they attract the rainbow lorikeets and other native birds.

Front garden bed - view from front stairs

However, there is an over abundance of sword ferns and bromeliads growing wildly in the front and side garden beds. I hate sword ferns. (They grow like a weed here in Brisbane and the only thing going for them is that they are green and indestructible). You can also have too many bromeliads.

This morning while Number 3 son was sleeping and with the ground still wet, I got stuck into the sword ferns. Two hours of solid work and I have the front bed free of sword ferns. They're stubborn bloody triffids, though! I left the bromeliads for now - their day of reckoning will come.

A pile of sword ferns and assorted greenery for collection

The Brisbane City Council schedules free kerbside green waste collection every two years and this is collection week for our suburb. Yay! One less job I have to do!

I'm hoping the rain will keep up and the milder temperatures stay for a while longer. It would be good to clear more of it and then get to the fun bit - planting!