the big catch up

Just a few short weeks after the rain started and the garden has revived from the prolonged dry weather. It's as if it never happened. Suddenly it is time to pick up the pace with garden jobs and to tackle the weedy bits and tame some crazy shrubs. Yesterday Brent came to take down some higher branches on the red cedar, and bolly gum, macadamia and a few others. This has followed up on his last visit when he tamed the front hedge of duranta and privet  ,a job that no one really looks forward to but looks amazing when it is done. That's about it for help in the garden now and the rest is down to me which is fine.
Yesterday was a sad day as we watched the big bunya pine next door get taken down as it was dead. It now lies on the ground and Shadow for some reason is scared of it. A few weeks ago I collected several small Bunya trees from around the base so we might be able to grow another one near by. I like properties that have a few large statement trees , just to marvel at their size and age and Bunyas are particularly important on the Blackall Range .
We have had a couple of visiting groups recently and people seem to enjoy visiting our garden. It is interesting to see what gets the most attention. The coral fountain is popular and lately it has been the begonias and brugmansias that have been in full flower.The masses of macadamia nuts on the ground are also noticed and some people even race up on the verandah to use our vice to open some.  Family visits are generally more frantic with children running around the path ways, looking for bugs and hanging out with Shadow.