Mondo grass

There's some cleaning up of the parents backyard being done, so we've transplanted a bit of Mondo grass to be put in front of Dionellas, which tend to grow outwards over paths where you may not want them going so far.  They're also great for lining the edge of paths.

Mondo grass in a long pot to keep them alive.

Oh yes, some of the other collection of plants being grown to go in.

9 out of 10 puppies approve of Mongo grass :P

Randomly purchased stuff

I've had a lot of free time to burn over the forced-holiday period, so have done a lot of window-shopping... and a little bit of actual shopping.  Plus side it looks like couches and beds have been selected, but we can't order them until we have a target completion date.
The biggest problem here is that some furniture can take 6 to 8 weeks to be made, but on the other side of that they don't want to hold it more than about 3 months.

Once we're back from the holiday period I'm going to put a bit of pressure on Metricon to at least come up with a target so I know when I can start placing orders for furniture - the massive pile is starting to look quite substantial of all boxes of gear to be moved in.

In the meantime I grabbed a few other little useful bits and pieces:

I saw these in EB Games - they're actually sour candies (in tins), but when I saw them their use was immediately obvious - they will be waterproofed, a spike drilled through the base, and them placed strategically in the front garden.

Sockitz powerpoints.  They're an Australian company who have gone and created powerpoints with two USB ports for charging things like phones.  Thtere's a major difference in these any many you might find at places like Bunnings - when the dust-cover on these ones are closed, the transformer for the USB ports are actually electrically disconnected, so there's no 'leakage' or standby power being drawn.  There's a 1A and 2A port (devices like iPads need 10W/2A ports).

Ah yes, rugs.  There's been a little stall down at Knox for most of the year, but I didn't want to have rugs lying around being stored, so the plan was to wait until they're closing up - which is now.  What I didn't expect was that they'd have 50% off everything as their lease expires.

Result is I ended up with these two matching ones for just $130!  The smaller one (first two photos) is a 120x160 one, and the larger one is 230x160 - one for the entryway and one for the lounge room.  They're really nice and plush - they don't feel cheap at all... and Casper loves them ;p

And lastly, I couldn't resist.  A fourth Animaniacs cel to line the walls - this one will be what goes outside the master bedroom doors, in the entryway.

And some awesome pots I found (read: want)

Oh yeah, I found these - I'm definitely considering a few.

http://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/Assisi-LED-Planter-Large.html

Yes, they're LED-lit pots :D  They come in 28cm and 40cm height pots.

More plants

On Sunday I did a bit more plant shopping to get the remainder of what's to go in.  The stockpile is getting rather large now - so large in fact, that once all these trees and shrubs grow to full size, it's actually a real concern we might be leaving a few out due to lack of space and potential overcrowding - not something I'm keen on.

I'll have to get some actual photos of the collection later, but for now I'll just borrow :D


The complete list looks something like this:

Front:
Lipan Crepe Myrtle for the center of the yard
5x Westringia's across the front.  I can't find a good pic of these atm, as the ones I have are veriegated.
2x Dwarf English Lavender

2x Dwarf Pink English Lavender alternated behind the Westringias.

Across the back fence, left to right:
Meyer Dwarf Lemon
Little John Calistemon
Big Blue Dampiera

Skye Bells Correa
Lime Magic Acacia

Then there's a heap of others to figure out where they'll go, some might be down the side of the driveway etc:
3x Liriopes

8x Dionellas
Another Damperia
An Alyogylne

Plants

No different to other areas, there's a requirement that you have landscaping done within 6 months of moving in. While the time period varies from estate to estate, it's pretty much rule these days that you've got to have a nice looking garden with certain requirements.

Some people will happily spend 4, 7, 10 grand on landscaping, which includes someone getting in and doing all the work.  Fortunately, I have parents who have an interest, so they're actually keen to make it their own little project.

Part of the requirements are that you've got to have at least one tree that's at least 2 meters in height at the time of planting - a selection that was decided straight up, a Crepe Myrtle that will require little maintenance.  We just have to be careful though that it doesn't get out of control and overgrow the driveway like our current one does, else my bikes will keep ending up looking like this:

I want to be completely clear that that is exactly how the branches got stuck there themselves, there was no manipulation involved :P

The problem with Crape Myrtles is that in that red, I can barely make out what's flower, and what's leaf (yeah, I'm rather colorblind) - so I had to find one with a lighter or brighter colored flower.  We've ended up with one of a significantly lighter color, though if only they came in a bright yellow or azure blue.

So we've already got a small garden of plants in pots sitting out the back being watered and grown, ready to be planted.

While I don't have photos, if you head in to Chadstone via the entrance near Tiffanys, you'll get a good idea of what we have in mind - a row of low, small bright flowering plants, backed with some grasses that are growing (either Dionellas or something smaller), backed my a small hedge.

The base of the crape myrtle will be done using a nice pattern of coloured pebbles - we'll get designs on paper for that in coming months.