Ian
caught a glimps of your photo album have book marked it and will have a better look later tonight...got a bucket load of site updates to do tonight so when finished will curl up with a drink with some ice in it and some "george" and look at your pics.
I'm over on northside mate Chermside way.
ahhh best get to work....hmmm might grab that drink before I start hahaha

Good luck.

Your backyard is about the same size as mine, and it would seem that some of your neighbours are from the 'all we need is a lawn' school that several of mine seem to have sprung from - depressing, isnt it ?

The good news is that you have something many gardeners lust after : a clean slate. Making mistakes in the early stages is all part of the process - the sad part is that we often live to regret those mistakes for years afterward. I have expressed a desire to 'tear up the lot' and start again on several occasions, but I know that it will all come together eventually.

Anyway, my advice is to take your time and work from a *plan*, even if it means you dont have the garden you want straight away. Look at other gardens - talk to their owners and try to learn from the successes and failures.

If I knew then what I know now :)

Good luck,

Artie

Clay isnt the end of the world, although things like palms prefer a sandy loam. The key lies in knowing your soil, and if that means taking samples and having it properly tested, then so be it. Many of us have achieved good results with clay, but you need to know if it is 'reactive' : whatever the prognosis, most soil can be improved given enough TLC - compost is the key. I found that the simple act of planting trees and shrubs, along with the accompanying water, bought the worms back into my soil - its all good.

Cheers,

Artie

I find the best method is to make the planting area a lot bigger than the pot but I only dig down about 6-ins (15cms) then in a wheelbarrow I mix the soil that was dug out, compost, wetta soil, and gypsum I also add a bit of ground up cow manure that I buy in bags from Beenleigh Sunday Market as I live down that way. Before I fill the hole up I water it well so that the water soaks in especilly around the sides a crowbar helps there as most times it dosn't. I put a lot more soil into the hole than ground level heap it up ( as Artie said moulded ) I put bricks around that area to keep the soil there water it well then I plant a couple of weeks later that gives the soil time to settle and if it has dropped too much add more then plant.

And the good thing is it works for me, anything is worth a try on Brissie soil. Good luck with your garden.
MM.

Don't be too hard on yourself if you make a bad choice, but try to identify it as such and take it out w/out sentiment if possible before it gets expensive and involves people with cherry pickers.

Also, you might consider overplanting somewhat with things you can bear to remove later. New plantings like to be grouped for mutual support and it's a more efficient use of water.

I'm using lots of pigeon pea as temporary shade/ soil opener-upper/ mulch-maker/ screening device much as my DH wishes I'd get over it. Bigger ones obligingly die when they are cut off.

Is there a large area of bushland? adjoining? Much in the way of indigenous understory left? Often the large (black and white) birds fare well in habitat gardens and the finches/ wrens etc miss out. Have you had a sqizz at that newish book on the wildlife of greater brisbane?
Cheers
Rose

There are a raft of hardy "rainforest" species which are tropical looking and native to the SE cnr. Being 1000km away, I'm a bit loath to name names before you've had a chance to look around and talk to the locals.

Have you been through a cycle of seasons yet and thought about personal winter/ summer requirements for shade or not? Looks as though there is a fair bit of space west of the house where you could plant some of the taller things to act as a screen/ afternoon shade. Maybe plant these with a generous setback from the boundary to reduce neighbour implications, and to exploit a sheltered microhabitat between them and the fences.
No doubt there is much, much more :)
Rose