Tree Troubles

Because there are cracks appearing in my concrete block house over the past couple of years we had an engineering report prepared.

Now while some of the damage has been caused because of the volatil;e clay soils, and the mining industry of the area over the past 100 or so years, and no-one knows even the exact location of some of the tunneling that went on.

The major concern that involves a gardening perspective here was the ingoing damage of the small leaf fig tree in the neighbours yard near my fence line.

Not only is this causing the soil to be dried out extremely quickly because the large tree is drawing moisture from the surrounding soil over a large area. But it is also causing damage to the underground services like sewerage and rainwater pipes in and around the two houses.

All this because a person planted an inappropiate tree, (probably a one time house plant), on their fence line. It is also starting to grow into the overhead electricity line going to the neighbours house.

Moral to the story - think long and hard when planting long term species (Trees, bamboo etc), about what size or area they will cover in the years ahead. Including long after you have moved on.

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Post Shopping Regrets

Now is the time when most of the Christmas shopping is done, and we are into the actual preparations for the big day. We now sit back and wait for the way too early wake up call on Christmas morning by overexcited kids, who are going to be hyped up all day long. Between the excitement of opening presents, playing with them and the overloads of sugar, chocolate and deserts…..

Unfortunately though at least some of the presents that we receive or that we buy for ourselves, both in the lead up to, and after the Christmas rush, will probably never get a single use, or only a few uses before being relegated to the shed or the back of some cupboard.

This is especially a problem when it is our own money we have wasted on purchasing some little or even major gadget or other item, that does not get the use expected of it, when you were in the shop looking at it. We as gardeners are very guilty of these sorts of purchases, buying both big and little gardening gadgets that get little use after their initial enthusiasm. Most would admit to having gadget items stored away somewhere in the house or shed, or have given things away to others, or to charity stores.

Among mine include a gardeners kit where you have a set of different implements (Hoes and rakes etc) that can be screwed into either a long handle or a short handle. Just didn’t find that all the effort of changing implements worth it nor did it seem as strong as a single old implement that it was supposed to replace. So it has been relegated to the shed, while I still use all the tools it was touted to replace.

And this is not even just dealing with just gadget items though, this includes such things as clothing, toiletries, toys, decorator items, etc.

On a recent survey of women, it was estimated that they buy around 71 items of clothing a year & around 8 are never worn.

Though I wonder how many of the unworn items were purchased for the men in their lives….

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How Come....

How come is it that goods that go by vehicle are called shipping or shippage, yet when you transport goods by ship, they are called cargo?



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Mistletoe

Now at Christmas when this plant is such an important part of the tradition of this festival. It is important to remember that this plant is not just a simple and pretty plant. Nor is it an innocent such as the person for whom the current celebrations are held. As pretty as it looks you still have to remember that mistletoe is a parasite and it still sucks strength from your tree’s.

Because it's roots are growing inside the branch of the host plant, sucking life and nutrients from the host and weakening that area and the host in general and making it’s branches more prone to breaking off. Also makes the host more susceptible to other pests and diseases entering around that area.But on the upside its fruit provides food for many of our native birds who eat them and then deposit the seed mixed in their dung on the branches of other trees to germinate there in cracks in the barks.

Despite the fact of the problems they cause, they are just as much a part of the natural environment as any other plant species, even though they are a parasitic plant that requires other plants to produce their food for them.

Now if this were an animal parasite how do you think we would react about it sucking the life out of the host it was attached to?

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Dial up frustations

Being on dial-up I get very frustrated and often end up surfing away from many blogs when they have a lot of pictures on their main page. Simply because it takes so damn long to load their main page I end up giving up trrying to see it. It also frustrates me with the big gaps between their writings with the blank spaces between it.....Things often freeze up with my old computer while they are loading, and this is not just with that page but everything else that I am doing on the computer, which adds to the frustration levels.

These are pages that I am not likely to revisit either, as long as I remember them. Which is sad because many of them have interesting entries. But because of the long loading times many of us on poor old dial up are disadvantaged by it all.

And no, I cannot have cable or broadband in my house, with the old telephone wiring in this place. I am stuck with dial up or no internet at all. And besides I do not want any contracts running for two or three years which further restricts my internet choices.

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Another School Year Ends

Well the school year ends today here in Queensland for the lower grades, (Grades prep & 1-7), while the upper grades (Grades 8-12), have been finished for up to a month already. And it means that from here on in I will only have one child left at school. Yippee...

But it means entertaining the youngest for the next 6-7 weeks till the new school year begins in late January after the Australia day holiday. It will seem strange not having a child in high school next year for first time in 11 years.

Here we are wrapping up at the end of another year, (commercially, socially, educationally and mentally), with schools, businesses, and professional people finishing up for the year and try to relax over the christmas/ New Year period, over the next week or so.

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Self seeders are good for garden but not the environment

You hear a lot of bloggers rave on about how great it is for certain species of plants to self seed around the garden, and yes it's true that it is a good thing confined within your own garden space.

As it provides you with free replacement plants each season, from these species.

Among the species that do this includes plants like petunias, alyssium, Queen Anne's Lace, and even some veggies and herbs like basil and lettuce.

However on the downside have you ever thought about what happens to the seed that falls on to your driveways, paths or even onto the roads in front of your property..... They end up being washed into the stormwater systems, that flow out into your local creeks and river systems. From here they wash into the semi dry gullies or up onto the banks of the water systems, where they sprout and become weed species in your local environments.

Another issue again is the plants which epand their territory by runners or underground runners, or by offshoots. These are good when confined within your garden but what happens when these plants are pruined or have side shoots dug up and removed from your property. Especially when the garden waste they are in is dumped inappropriately and not composted properly. They again have a major chance of becoming environmental pests. Plants which stand a chance of becoming so include many of the aloes, frangipani's, mints, bamboos etc etc.

So what can you do to stop these plants or seeds escaping from your property.
1. Ensure that all organic waste is properly composted
2. When you wash driveways and paths around seeding time, sweep or wash them into lawn or garden areas, not the storm water drains.

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