Good luck, how exciting. Best to look around and learn, for inspiration (says she who should have taken her own advice!)
If you are near Bris, a visit to the Wintle's Open Garden at Birkdale - November - I think would reward you with ideas, many of which you mention going very successfully there , even the "new" bits.

Thanks Alison - I agree that you can take a lot away from the efforts of others, and I devour every article I can get my hands on. I'm hoping that GA's Gerry Coleby will return to segments on his efforts to establish his subtropical garden in Brissie, but they seem to have moved away from tropicals lately.

I'm in Brissie for a week in early May, but my time will be taken up with the course I'm attending (work, I'm afraid). Ideally, I'd like to see the Birkdale garden, and Suan Sawan in Bray Park, along with Dennis Hundscheidt's 'compound' on the southside. If only more landlords were like Dennis - planting a tropical wonderland and making maintenance a condition of the lease !

I lived in SE Qld for many years, and never once made the effort to visit the Ginger Factory at Buderim : now that I am 5 hours drive from the Sunshine Coast, I'm really kicking myself over that little oversight.

Cheers,

Artie

Great stuff; may I be a nosy parker and ask if this is still in cQ?
Cheers
Rose

No problems, Rose :)

Yes, its on the northside of the thriving metropolis known as the 'Beef Capital' - about 2km from where I am at the moment, to be precise :)

Rocky's increasingly dry years worry me, but driving past sprinklers in the *middle* of the day banishes that concern - my last 'dummy' water bill was less than $7, so I'm confident that I can double my watering and still be ahead of the woeful practices of many landowners (public and private) in Rocky.

As for the clay and the Poinciana roots, its just part of the challenge, and will make the finished result that much more glorious :)

Seeya,

Artie

Artie , will you still be in the Rocky council area or will you have moved into the Livingstone Shire ?
Will make a bit of a difference to your water bill.
Good luck with the new garden, you will have a great time selecting plants for it.
Marion

How wonderful to be starting off again.
What a great time you will have selecting all your plants.
Good luck on your new venture....MM

Thanks MM and Marion.

Yes, I'm still within the boundaries of Rocky Shire - unless they've moved Rockonia Road and surrounding streets :)

Bit of a culture shock, leaving Fabulous Frenchville and all, but them's the breaks ! BTW, the Rocky real estate market is going like a freight train at the moment, at least in the sub-200K range. I suspect that another 12 months will see buyers in this bracket restricted to floodprone areas.....

Still the cheapest population centre on the East Coast, I'm told, and a better buy than Emerald and other towns in the midst of the mining boom.