Attacking the Jungle

Cotton palm in front of abode

In my last blog I said I’d tell you a bit more about what I have been doing since I arrived back in WA. As some of you know I have a small two bedroom abode (I say abode as in the west we call this type of abode a unit where as in NSW it called a villa and I’m sure somewhere else you will call the same thing by a different name) My abode is one of 12 which has a communal driveway between two rows of 5 adjoining homes. The four homes at either end of the driveway have a larger plot of land which each are responsible to care for as it is not part of the corporate body. Mine is one of the top blocks and has quite a bit of land which is on a steep slope up to the road. When I first bought the house/unit part of this slope was supported by rotting, white and infested railway sleepers. These were later replaced by a lovely sandstone wall.

trees over hanging public path

Behind this wall odd plants and scruffy daisy’s grew out of control. It sounds lovely but it was really just a mess. Unfortunately although the purple daisy’s look lovely and covered the sandy soil they also tend to take over and grow up into the native shrubs. I had to rescue one of my native shrubs as it was struggling to survive under the strangle hold of the daisies. Part of the tenants agreement was to tend to the garden but this had not been done although she did tell me she was retiring now so would have more time to garden. I do hope so although I tend to think you either are or aren’t a keen gardener.

On the top of this slope, beside the public foot path, the native trees grew and grew and grew. Constantly needing to be trimmed back so as not to over grow the path. This year I decided I would make a huge effort to clean this whole area up; pull out the rubbish plants and plant things that have a purpose and can withstand a bit of neglect, which is expected in a rental property as well as our sandy soil and hot summers.

I rang around for a few quotes and found someone who would remove the cotton palm which I was told could become a fire hazed. That is if some idiot decided to set the hanging dead fronds alight! If I didn’t remove it I’d have to trim it. The price for a trim was not cheap as it was over 600mt. Included in the quote was the removal of the umbrella tree and trimming and cutting back of the native trees that overhang the path. I hoped to use the tree mulch on my garden too.

Before all this was done I took the secateurs and saw to some of the other plants severely hacking them back and some including a smaller cotton palm I pulled out completely. I didn’t realise how far down I had to dig the small cotton palm to get it out! I think it was as deep as it was tall! At least now I have a decent hole to plant another tree LOL

after removal of cotton palm

I thought I’d make good use of the mulching machine when it was here too. It would save me paying for all the clippings (which quickly became a huge pile) to be taken away independently. Mum and I took a trip to the native tree nursery. I bought; bottlebrush, grevillea and similar shrubs that would grow 2-3mt to make a thick hedge for privacy along the border, some clumpy smoky grey bushes and two different types of pretty yet resilient groundcover. All of which were to replace the daisies and cotton palms. Mum gave me a fig and an olive tree which she was growing in pots. I had decided I might put in a few fruit bearing trees but would needed to choose some that were most likely to survive our severe hot, dry summers as well as the sandy soil. The mulch as well as gardening mix would help the seedlings but I may need to put in some kind of temporary watering system to make it easier for my tenant to water till the plants were established.

front trees trimmed off public path

The day finally arrived and the boys with their boy toys arrived. Three chain saws one large, a smaller one and one on the end of a long pole to reach the smaller, higher branches. First the cotton palm was cut and pulled down then quickly the fronds where cut off and the trunk sliced into pieces that could be carried to the mulcher. I couldn’t believe the guys had NO gloves! Have they not see the size of the thorns on these fronds! I wasn’t surprised when one yelped after being snagged on one.

One guy, I thought had all the fun, he was in charge of the chain saws, wielding them around with the skill of a trained wood chopper. All the overhanging branches from the trees that were along the public foot path were shaved off a meter from the edge of the path. And all the debris was fed into one end of the mulcher and spat out as chip into the truck. I ask if I could have the mulch left for my garden but the young man wielding the saw’s (who would argue with him!) promised to bring me a better quality mulch but I explained that I had already put in an order for a free truck load of mulch which was going to be delivered sometime before Christmas. I’m sure my neighbours will enjoy sharing it too.

clean verge after trees have been trimmed

I was surprised how quickly the job was completed. Just over an hour to fell, saw, mulch and sweep up. I was glad I was there as I was able to get some of the dead branches cut out of the trees as well as out of my beautiful melaleuca gum.

Next step is to spread the mulch when it comes, plant the new natives, fig and possibly an olive tree and put in a watering system of sorts to help them survive the coming summer.