A gardener’s playground

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The DIY and gardener's playground...

The DIY and gardener’s playground…

When we were recently in the Land Down Under, we kept seeing these big, dark green buildings everywhere we went. It taunted me, seeing them everywhere, but not putting a foot through those doors until a couple of days later.

Ah, Bunnings. I’d heard so much about it and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s where you have whole arrays of gardening tools and DIY bits and bobs – and seeds and plants – to tempt you. I amazed people with the quantity of things I bought…

Materials to make a quick trellis (no I didn't get this)

Materials to make a quick trellis (no I didn’t get this, but I would’ve if we’d had the luggage space…)

Oh how I drooled over the different shredders... My composting time would be reduced with one of these around!

Oh how I drooled over the different shredders… My composting time would be drastically reduced with one of these around!

Yes, I got these - useful and at very decent prices

Yes, I got these – useful and good quality for the money.

It’s easy to let yourself go a little crazy when everything you can imagine, and so much more, are all under one roof. Even better, the cost of most of these tools was lower than here in Singapore. I had a blast shopping at a couple of these outlets, and I’d love to go back again!

© 2016 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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First marrow of the season

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Our first marrow of 2016!

Our first marrow of 2016!

The hot weather has been hard on our plants. Many of them have been struggling to start fruiting, and some of them didn’t succeed before they died off. I was worried about our mystery marrow plant because we had just one that survived the weather.

By the way, I call it the mystery marrow because I was given the seeds for it from another gardener who didn’t have the proper name for the fruit, and just called it a marrow. It’s some type of gourd, probably related to the winter melon. I just don’t have the proper name for it.

Anyway, the vine has been growing quite well since late March, but even though it started flowering in April, it didn’t manage to set fruit until now. There were several possibilities before and after this one, but they all aborted. This fruit is just over a week old. I hope it’s just the beginning of the season!

© 2016 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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Know your garden helpers – shrews

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Earlier this week, residents of a local housing estate discovered that what they had thought was a rodent problem was just an increase of the shrew population instead. Shrews may look like rats – I have difficulty identifying them unless they’re stationary because they have a similar body shape and colour. However, shrews have rather fat, hairy tails, tiny eyes and more pointed snouts. Locally, they’re also called “tikus busuk” in Malay, meaning “stinky rodent”, which is in deference to their musky smell.

We know that there are shrews in our garden because our dogs occasionally catch and kill them. At night, we hear occasional high-pitched squeaks. I used to think they came from rats, but it’s more likely the shrews, because like bats, they use echolocation to move around.

It’s interesting that the news article said that shrews are classified as insectivores when they are apparently omnivores. Besides insects like beetles and crickets, they also eat earthworms, millipedes, snails (yay!) and small snakes and birds, roots, seeds and other vegetation. Among other things. I can accept having them as part of the ecosystem here.

I was glad to hear that some residents of the estate in the news, upon learning that the creatures were not rats, and how they are helpful in eating insects like cockroaches, requested that they be left alone. It’s such a common reaction to want to immediately exterminate things that are alien to us. I used to be like that until I realised that everything has its place in nature, and if we create the conditions that they thrive in, then we need to learn to manage the situation – live with it, or change the conditions. Anyway nature has a way of balancing itself out.

© 2016 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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Visit to Zanthorrea Nursery

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Arrival at nirvana for me

Arrival at nirvana for me

We recently went on a short visit to Perth, Western Australia, and my cousin who knows us all too well brought us to Zanthorrea Nursery in the foothills of the city. I thought it would be the standard plant nursery where there would be pots and pots of different plants to admire, but I was off the mark!

Some of the herbs and veggies on sale

Some of the herbs and veggies on sale, each plant nicely labelled and with descriptions and growing instructions (like!)

This garden centre is nestled among established native flora – meaning towering gum trees – and while there were indeed pots of plants, there was also a huge display garden that we spent no little time wandering around.

There was the controlled, paved area…

Display of different forms of container gardening - what I consider the "civilised" area

Display of different forms of container gardening – what I consider the “civilised” area

And there was the oh so natural area…

Earthen paths meander through the garden in a most delightful way

Earthen paths meander through the garden in a most delightful way

One of the varied garden displays along those winding paths

One of the varied garden displays along those winding paths

All kinds of works of garden art are scattered throughout the place

All kinds of works of garden art are scattered throughout the place

Functional garden art - would you like to sit on this bench?

Functional garden art – would you like to sit on this bench?

Native plants were abundant…

Gum tree pods, I think

Gum tree pods, I think

Banksia flowers, which look like bottle brushes to me!

Banksia flowers, which look like bottle brushes to me!

And of course the iconic Kangaroo's Paws!

And of course the iconic Kangaroo’s Paws!

And the native plants attract native fauna…

I don't know what this bird is but it's gorgeous!

I don’t know what this bird is but it’s gorgeous!

Birdhouses are set up on practically all the trees at Zanthorrea

Birdhouses are set up on practically all the trees at Zanthorrea

Different birds make use of the birdhouses

Different birds make use of the birdhouses

Right in the middle of the garden is this enclosure with interestingly feathered chickens. I've never seen such fluffy chooks!

Right in the middle of the garden is this enclosure with interestingly feathered chickens. I’ve never seen such fluffy chooks!

There is also a lovely shop to browse through. Zanthorrea is an accredited nursery, and besides specialising in hundreds of varieties of native plants, they also had a nice range of organic seeds on sale. It was overwhelming but I managed… :-D

If you are in the vicinity, it is so worth a visit: 155 Watsonia Road, Maida Vale, Western Australia, 6057. They are open daily (except for Christmas Day) from 9am to 5.30pm.

© 2016 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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