Patio Improvements and more...

Yesterday I decided to dress up the patio with some hanging pots...

We'd been out to watch a dog show and dropped into a big garden shop on the way home. Inspired by the gorgeous flowers that were out I decided that some hanging pots on our patio fence would dress up the area nicely. However I wasn't inspired by that shops high prices and instead went to Bunnings when we got home.

I came back (after more than an hour and a half of picking up a plant, putting it in my trolley, walking around with it, putting it back, picking something else up... It takes quite some time to shop in this fashion) and set to work to create this...





Can't remember what these are but I think they are a type of petunia (much smaller flower though...)


Fuscias...


Red petunias... (not my first choice but I wanted colour without cost...)


This morning I potted a few more plants (there are still about 10 plants left that need to be planted either in pots or the ground very soon) into ceramic and terracotta pots that have been taking up space in the garage. They need some pot feet to raise them off the concrete and maybe a few rocks in the top (like the one to the front which has been in that pot for a while - and is finally growing back after getting covered in concrete dust from the neighbours brickies) but I think that this little corner looks great!










While I was shopping and working on the patio yesterday, Bryan was creating this out the front...


It's the narrow strip to the left (north) of our driveway - the rest is the neighbours land. He's been trying to get this bit done before the landscapers for the neighbours block came in to do the front. It really finishes off the front and works in really well.







Now I'm going to have a late breakfast on my lovely patio... :)

Landscaping progress...

I haven't updated for quite some time and so we have some significant progress to show...

• Our front yard now has it's rock mulch installed
• Our side path is completed
• the narrow garden on the north fence beside the patio is finished
• the vegie garden is done;
• we've solved a drainage problem along the back fence; and
• we now have a clothesline.

So enough words and onto the pictures...

The front yard has gone from this...


To this...




















The narrow side...






The patio area...




The vegie garden (bricked by my Dad and I)...










And the back fence...






There's still a long way to go... and eventually I want to be able to remove the 'dog-keep-out' fences from around the vegie garden and the back fence strip but it's so good to see some progress!!! And I must admit that getting out there watering in the mornings inspires me to do more.

I Love it!!

The concretors arrived at 5.30 this morning as promised and have been working hard all morning making our patio look GREAT!!! I reckon it's worth the wait and I've already forgotten the hassles (as Uncle Don suggested - Thanks Don!). And even better is that it's all done in time for by the time Dad arrives next week.

Some pics...

First truck arrived just before 6.00am and the barrows were lined up in the garage at the ready (I didn't get a photo...)








Spraying back...






Finished product - still wet. I don't know what the mix is called - it's just #5 from Werribee Mini-Mix...




Back step at the laundry door...


...and look what has appeared over our fence...


Yesterday it was just walls, today the roof trusses have been put up and the roof tiles have just been delivered. The same has happened on the next block over as well (both the same builder).

Concrete update...

I woke this morning to a text message from the concretor! It simply read "will b there 2morro at 5.30am"

I am rapt!!

...and he's just called again to confirm what type of aggregrate so sounds like it's definitely on for tomorrow.

My alarm is set (not going to be caught out again like the first time they came), the garage is clear - just need to move the car out, and the yard is cleared in readiness.

The front yard is planted!!

We planted the last of the plants in the front yard and have finished moving rocks (at last!!).



The before and after shot...


It's so great to have most of the plants that we have in the ground now. There are only couple left over which we will transplant into larger pots before their home in the backyard is found - means that we did a pretty good job planning how many plants we needed.



It's hard to photograph at the moment, as there's not a lot of contrast, but when the gravel is put in it should come up really nice.



We've also planted with growth in mind - we have been mindful of how high and how wide each plant gets and positioned accordingly. There is only one plant that I'm not sure of (as in not sure how high/wide) as it's one we've had in a decorative pot for 2-3 years - but we've put it in a place that it can be removed if it does get too big without affecting the rest of the garden too much.

We now have the paving (stepping stone style) and a couple more plants to put in along the south side fence (to the right) and maybe a couple of extra rivercascades along the two front windows.

This is where the paving will go...


We may get to these next weekend but there's no promises....

Next priority will be the back section outside the lounge-room window... This gap in the concrete under the piles of bricks and pavers