Setting up the Back Yard

The Garden Team

One of the benefits of being the first owner of a house is that you have an opportunity to create a garden that suits you. 

We're getting our backyard set up with grass and trees. Recently, the Barossa Village gardening team installed our grass. You can see the team celebrating the end of the installation at right.

Christina and I installed a number of trees and still have a few more to go. The ground was very hard - packed clay - so digging holes was a challenge helped with a little liquid clay-breaker.

The team at work

We are watering the trees daily and they seem to be responding well enough.

We have a number of additional trees to install under the patio, but beforehand, the gardening team is going to increase the amount of soil around the patio concrete slab and the fences. When that's been done, hopefully soon, we'll put some additional trees between the patio and the back fence seen in the photo below (the trees to be planted are in the planter box), and then 80cm around the patio periphery will consist of some coloured small stone, maybe white and the two planter boxes and some pot plants will sit on the rock and brighten up the place.

I'm making a couple of bird feeders and a birdhouse at the Tanunda Men's Shed and when finished, will hang them on the external fences. There are thousands of birds in trees across the street, so when I begin providing lunch for free, some of them will probably call in here occasionally.

Patio-a work in progress

By Christmas Day, the patio should be all set up and looking great. I'll put some LED light strips around the top of the patio and a Merry Christmas sign visible from the street and all will be wonderful.

We plan to buy a new Weber Premium barbecue and spend as much time outdoors as possible.

I'm currently looking for some metal signage to install, you know, the aged stuff that you see around museums etc advertising oil, petrol, foods or simply displaying a smart saying. I already have a couple of number plates and with Christina's permission, will install them on one small wall. Then, of course, there is the 1940s Coca-Cola wall-mounted bottle opener my late uncle gave me - that will have to go somewhere. Maybe we won't have it all done by Christmas.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Robin