Creating, collecting & recycling textiles & papercrafts. I love preserving the past for the future.

Saturday 6 August 2011

Recycling old timber and starting new gardens.

Winter Gardening
on
the
Darling Downs

My DH really outdid himself today.
We recently acquired some beautiful old timber from a neighbour who pulled down his old termite ridden cattle loading ramp.
He had it sitting in his paddock for quite a few weeks and I plucked up enough courage to ask him if he didn't want it for firewood etc could we please have some???
'Sure', he said, 'only happy for you to take as much as you want'.
I was thrilled, DH was a bit 'ho-hum', but anyhow it was his idea to make a lavender walk garden a few weeks back, so I knew we could use this old timber.
I have ideas for a garden seat, a mock post and rail fence, sleeper type slabs in the gravel path and who knows what else with the left overs.
One beautiful piece of iron bark hard wood alone is eight feet long and 8 1/2" x 4 1/2 ".
Way too good to become firewood or go to the dump.
As soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do with it. It will make a great low bench type garden seat.
This project will come to fruition in a few weeks I would think.
DH is thinking of how to make legs to suppport it atm, it's extremely heavy so he has to get it right.
DH and Gordon, our 2 yr old Manx cross filling the posthole

Completed post and rail fence with rustic garden ornaments

DH, Edie on rail and Gordon on colourbond fence

Edie, our two year old Manx

We used this concrete lizard garden ornament as part of the garden rock edge.
It's a bit faded so it's getting a paint face lift.


Start of where the gravel path will go.
This timber is one of the old iron bark pieces from the neighbour.

This is the newly laid garden for our new lavender walk
Gravel to be added to path & planting still to be done.
DH hand collected all these rocks from a farmer's paddock.
The farmer has SO many he can't plough properly.
He said we can gather as many as we like!!
All for FREE!
DH is the one doing all the hard work and his back is still holding up well.
He's a good bloke.

Winter primulas just starting to come into flower....
Things are slow up here on the Darling Downs, it's just too cold.

The alyssum does not mind the cold, even successive frosts!
This yukky white border is being painted or replaced with rocks.
More rusted garden objects, collected over the years.

Stay tuned for more photos as the paths are gravelled & plantings occur.
Late winter is the best time to garden so you should see the next stage soon.