In March 1998 we looked at a 10acre block of land in an estate called Windsor Park.

We liked the idea of joining a group of people, who all wanted to get away from the city and to become a small community with a country feel. The block of land, although very dry, as it was autumn, looked promising (photo of us). It was already partly fenced, along the roadside, with the Estate's landmark black post & rail fencing. It was high, had a nice view of the surrounding valleys and hills, an area perfect for a dam and house, was only semi- cleared with some natural bush left on it, and most important of all... a nice feel to it.

So we made an offer which was accepted, and on May 31^st 1998 we had a 'Land Warming Party' where we, in front of our friends and family, ceremoniously planted our first tree, a purple Jacaranda. If John knew then, what he knows now... he would have refused to have any plants until we had a house. But, in blissful ignorance he even helped dig the hole! We then posed behind the tree for prosperity.

Speaking of holes, check out the hole that he had to dig to burn out a tree that got in his way a few years later!

We also discovered from our neighbours that there were 'Brumbies!!!' This of course made me want to look immediately, so we went for a drive, and found them only one block away from ours.

The Brumbies were pretty wild (luckily we had a zoom on the camera). But they soon got used to us and the first Xmas we spent out at our property in 99, John woke me up at 5.00am with my Xmas present. Bleary eyed (those of you who know me will know I am not at my best in the morning) I saw the Brumbies grazing peacefully just outside our shed!! That was the last time that we would see the Appaloosa mare and foal as she was caught not long after that. The main two mares stayed for the next couple of years, reliably producing new foals each year. The Stallion though, is my favourite. Black and with a great arrogant stance, he's a beauty, and he knows it!!! As time went on the foals became quite cheeky and tame (my favourite being Blaze) and I would often alternately adore them and curse them for wrecking my garden, no fences you see. But of course something this wonderful can't last for ever and one greedy, short sighted neighbour, ended a lovely era and caught the stallion, while another caught the Brown mare and her current foal plus last years 2 foals. The only one left now is the Black mare and her little filly.We'll see how long she lasts. It's such a shame how a couple of people, can spoil what is so wonderful for so many others...

)

Back in July 1998, we started planning where our house would go, (photo of proposed front door) and I started planning (on a VERY grand scheme) my garden. I first turned my attention to the front gate and fence-line, after all what masterpiece doesn't begin with a dramatic entranceway?

I envisioned two huge purple Jacarandas framing the front gate and alternate pink & white Bauhinias along the fence-line culminating in two spreading Poincianas in each far corner which would shade the climbing roses. The driveway would meander up to the house framed by flowering Grevilleas and an avenue of Leopard Trees! (I don't think small do I?) Well we had planted out first Jacaranda in May 98. The second one followed in July. By March 2000 we had a front gate and the beginnings of our driveway. By August of the same year, the trees had both grown taller than John.

November, only 3 months after our dry winter, those same trees had almost doubled in size again, thanks to a good start to our wet season.

January 2001 saw the start of my dream becoming a reality (fence to left, fence to right) and in October my Bauhinias flowered for the first time. The pink & white story started to come true.

In November 2001, John and I posed in front of our first Jacaranda again, just to emphasize the difference. Of course we had to pose in front of the tree and not behind it as we did way back in May 98.

November also had my climbing Rose 'Peace' showing off gloriously in its corner next to the Poinciana.

From the driveway, of course the next step is the internal house garden, approx. 1-acre. Our driveway will end in a turning circle outside our front fence, around a lovely big spreading Poinciana, which will provide shade to park under.

Initially, we were coming out for a day at a time, packing a picnic lunch, and watering my trees with 2 & 3 litre bottles of water. But as time went on and the number of trees increased (probably because I kept on bringing out another 2 or 3 trees each visit) the back of our little hatch soon became full of bottles of water. We were bringing out over 100L each visit! Much more and we couldn't fit it all in. This led to the realisation that we needed a tank, and for this we needed a shed!

So we pegged out the area in July 1999 and by Aug we had a shed.

A nice big 7m x 6m double garage complete with a side door and window and best of all a 3m verandah on the dam side. Well… eventually it will be the dam side. December of the same year saw us adding a tank. It promptly filled up in less than a month thanks to a short but intense wet season. We now had not only a place to stay thanks to some donations like a gas stove from a boss of mine, but more importantly…WATER… Of course this meant (John didn't realise the implications at the time) I could plant more plants. Notice we had no plants around the shed? Well that was about to change!

The first 3 gardens I planted after starting the front entrance gardens were a Native Garden in July 1999. It looks very dry and rough doesn't it? Well, natives are supposed to be hardy, so I put them in the worst area. They seemed to do all right, as this is them a year later. A bit overgrown but they are growing well. Next was my Frangipani Garden, after all what tropical garden is complete without the scent of Frangipani's wafting through the air? A couple of months later, some daisies and a purple Lasiandra (Tibouchiana Alstonville) added some substance and by Feb 2001 with the help of two more Lasiandras (Tibouchiana Kathleen) and a row of Hippeastrums along the back we have a garden bed starting to form. The Hibiscus Garden is also visible behind. April 2001 saw my Tibouchiana flowering for the first time. They will flower while the Frangipani's are dormant and are losing their leaves, and the Frangipani's will flower while the Tibouchiana's are resting. So we should always have colour. And last but not least, I started my Woodland Garden (which is my favourite and most ambitious!). Just a couple of Leopard Trees along what will be the inner boundary. This is the western side so very hot in the afternoon. Trees to shade the house and garden are a must and so must be started early! See the same garden 6 months later.

More trees and you can see the Frangipani Garden in the distance. From the staked tree at bottom centre to the tree in the far left corner is the inner boundary line. I've added a Flame Tree, a couple of Lemon Scented Gums and a Yellow Trumpet Tree. The shade cloth in the middle is the start of my Magnolia Garden with a Ginko Biloba Tree.

We are also very lucky to have a lot of natural wildlife around apart from my favourite Brumbies. Two different mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos roam through our block

We encourage the birds with both a birdbath and a bird feeder. Although some of our visitors are a little more alarming, especially for gently bred Kiwi people and nervous Aussies. We found this Trapdoor spider while extending the Woodland Garden by adding the Deciduous Garden. Notice the egg sack. But she was very non-aggressive, John was poking her with a stick and there was no display of fangs at all. We also have a couple of large lizards around. Lace Monitors that climb trees and steal birds' eggs and also Sand Goannas. We haven't seen any snakes on our property yet. We've seen a couple of snakes crossing the road in other parts of the Estate. One we identified as a Green Tree Snake, which is pretty, but relatively harmless, the other we didn't have a chance to, but it was some form of Brown Snake, which are of the deadly variety.

March 2000 saw me adding two more gardens to my collection (I'm a sucker for punishment) A Japanese Garden and a Hibiscus Garden. The Japanese Garden is at about the same level of progression, as we have since worked out that we wish a creek and a pond to end here and to make it sunken. As a result it is waiting for more time and effort than can be given at the moment.

The Rose Garden was also created, almost within a day using the left over sand from our tank. See before & after shots. A month later I was extending it again! and by Oct I had a flourishing flower garden allowing me to pick flowers for a vase

The Hibiscus Garden though, which is another part of the Tropical look is coming along well. In August 2000 we stayed out at the shed for a week for my birthday, quite comfortably I might add

It also saw me adding more to the Hibiscus garden (fenced from the rabbits, brumbies and wallabies). That week saw a HUGE difference in my garden! I had a whole week to water, plant, plan, mulch, extend etc!!!

My birthday presents were of course…plants from my favourite nursery in Toowoomba. There I can get deciduous and exotic plants that are not available from the coast, because Toowoomba is in the highlands and therefore a lot cooler and wetter. Yes Qld can get deciduous colour. So Lilacs, Magnolias, Azaleas, Camellias, Redbuds, Red Maples & Ornamental Pears (Manchurian) were all added to my Woodland & Magnolia Gardens. They were completed with newspaper & mulch to define the beds and shade cloth to shelter the more delicate plants until the trees are big enough to provide enough shade.

This mulching layer apart from encouraging worms (and the occasional Brumby if you accidentally get Lucerne instead of straw) & discouraging weeds, helps keep the moisture in the ground to conserve water (a very precious commodity out here). This layer I apply at least twice a year. In winter and then after the first of our summer rains start.

I'd like to point out that all these gardens have been accomplished WITHOUT any form of machinery to dig, weed etc and… using only hand watering. This involves water bottles buried in the ground with a small hole in the base to slowly drip feed until I can come out to refill with water. This often leaves 2-3 weeks between watering. We STILL do not have a watering system set up. John has been planning a solar set up for me for about 6 months. But until then it is gravity fed hose, though not all of my garden is below the level of the tank, and watering can!

December 2000 saw us celebrate our second Xmas at our property, by hosting Xmas dinner for 10 people! Margaret & Alan, Ian, Paul and friend, (John's family) Scott, Kris & Cade (Fiona's Brother & Family) all attended, to be greeted with battery operated Xmas lights in our real Xmas tree (Gum Tree) and a huge Roast turkey & buffet. It was delicious and a credit to what you can accomplish with very little.

Six months later sees the outline of the gardens more established. (See Hibiscus & Woodland gardens in June 2001) and yet another Garden added to the list; the White Garden, which is an extension of the Woodland garden and where we envisage that guests will retire to, after dinner for a drink and a chat. A private, paved, outdoor screened area with beautiful luminous and headily fragrant white flowers.

The shed has also changed as we moved out of our unit in March 2001 to commence housesitting. The result of which meant that we had to move a lot of our

Autumn 2001 brought with it some gorgeous blooms from my Camellias, which flowered like a dream for me. Mostly Japonica's like Kramers Supreme, Debutante, CM Hovey & Nuccios Gem.

And to rival them my Hibiscus also put on a show with Rosalind, Harvest Moon and D J Obrien flowering.

August 2001 again saw big changes because surprise, surprise I got plants again for my birthday, but also a beautiful Australian Bird Bath featuring the Waltzing Matilda story from John. Among the plants I received were two lovely standard pink Azaleas which I planted to frame the entrance of the path to our shed. Also some beautiful standard Roses: French Lace, Friesia, The Children's Rose, and Fiona's Wish. My daisies also surprised me with their tenacity during a very dry time and they also flowered. A Magnolia Stellata 'Waterlily' was a last gift.

Spring, naturally, is a gardener's favourite time of year, and the 300 bulbs I put in autumn certainly paid me back 3-fold for my time & efforts. Anemones, Ranuculus, Dutch Iris, Jonquils, Ixia, Sparaxis, etc all created a riot of colour.

For those of you who don't live in the tropics, I might just emphasise that our autumn and winters are mostly dry, only getting about 50ml (if we're lucky) a month, and temperatures ranging from 0-14 at night and 14- 25 during the day. While we start getting a bit more, say 80-100ml of rain a month in spring and temperatures rising to 30 in the day and 17 at night. It’s not until summer that we get the majority of our years rainfall. Averaging about 100-150ml a month, although it's not unheard of to get over 200ml in just one day and then nothing for 2 months! If you think about it, it actually makes sense. In winter when its cooler, and therefore much nicer weather to be doing things, its dry therefore much more pleasant than constant dreary rain & drizzle. Then in summer, when its stinking hot, 40 degrees and 90% humidity, to have rain to break it all up and make it green, giving the plants water when they most need it! Is wonderful. There is nothing like a good summer storm! The rain isn't even cold, although the drops can sting, as they are very big and come down very hard!

The difference in growth rates over those summer months can be incredible! Check out the Woodland Garden in winter, and in summer 5 months later. No wonder John has to keep mowing. Summer is also the time to add another garden, as the wet ground gives the best results to newspaper and mulch. So my Deciduous Garden was created with a little bit of help (and some early Xmas present Trees) from Mum & Dad in a morning. Haven't they worked hard? The Vireya Rhododendrons love the humidity and heat as they are native to FNQ & Papua New Guinea and they flower at this time as do the Asiatic & Oriental Lilliums & Gladioli. Finally the Crepe Myrtles flowered completing the picture. Notice the gorgeous Hardwood Park Bench John bought for me for Xmas in the background.

All in all, we are very pleased and proud with what we have managed to accomplish with our bare hands so to speak. We still do not have electricity or running water for a shower etc. We run on gaslights, a camping shower plugged into the car cigarette lighter and a gas stove/oven. But despite this the time we spend out there is so peaceful, and serene it makes up for any little inconvenience. We can't wait until we can start building our homestead style house out of straw bales. We'll keep you posted…. Look out for the second installment!

We'll leave you with this shot. Don't you wish you could be here?

Take care,

Fiona & John

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