do you already have a granite outcrop? Do you have plenty of granitic gravel?

It is possible to make fake granite by mixing a small amount of cement powder with granitic sand to make it stronger, but you'll have to be careful about pH. I've made reasonably strong stuff using 1cup cement to about 20cups 'granitic sand', but the granitic sand we get in melbourne is about 50% clay, which does most of the binding (the cement just stabilises the clay to stop it washing away).

Probably the most important thing is to go and look at the existing outcrops and see what forms they have. If you have any luck in growing those beautiful ephemerals (hundreds and thousands, various utricularia, etc), the small perenials (Borya, Th. antennifera and Diuris), or even the black grevillea then do share with us - I'd love to be able to grow something like that!

Not much help from me I'm afraid!!! Just thought I'd say welcome and hi, there are some beaut people in here that are bound to help you....Give a wave to your right as you go past Golden Bay next time going north and I'll wave right back to you!!! Tina

Thankyou both for your replies:

Nathan... The rock formations I saw were bigger than my property, lol!! so I think I might cheat and bring in a truck load (or two) of granite rock. I want to excavate a small lake so I will use some of the sand from there and just drop it over the top (It sounds simple in theory). This will be on a base of hard ground to start with so I am "hoping" it will settle easily, without too much movement. (Well thats the idea anyway, I'll keep you posted!!) I have also printed out your message so I can refer to at a later date.

Thankyou for the plant suggestions, as I said I have a lot to learn so I will start with your list.

Tina... The world is not so large, thankyou for the lovely welcome. I am really excited to have found the site and look forward to getting to know the who's who and what's what as I go.

Regards, Marie

Nathan, I have a lot to learn about botanical names of plants and will be checking and learning to identify "by name" some of the wildflowers growing on my property. I have quite a few different species from the lily family but by far my favourite so far is the Chamaescilla corymbosa, or at least that's what I think it is.

I also considered myself quite lucky when I found a wide distribution of the cowslip orchid and a few patches of the donkey orchid.

I have a few different grevillea but have never seen a black one. I am off to the nursery today to see if I can find one (or two).

Thanks again, Marie

The problem with using imported rocks is that they always look like imported rocks. The reason I'm suggesting artificial stone is that it looks more real (even though close up it may look less real). Also, I'm strongly against moving dirt around unless you can avoid it, due to the risk of introducing bad stuff like dieback into your garden. (In the major cities I've given up caring, but if you have a relatively clean block you don't want to spoil that accidently!

The other problem is that you will struggle to make the little pools and flows that make the batholiths(?) so nifty. You don't need to make a full scale one for it to look good. One thing to note is that just like on the real outcrops, you can collect runoff and store it for use in the garden. And if you make the rock yourself, you can make the streams gather nicely in one or two places.

If you have local material, you would be best off building the rough shape up (probably with a bobcat unless you're feeling energetic!), then moulding the cement stabilised sand into the forms you want. Let the pile settle for a few months before you try and cover it, otherwise your shell might crack.

I was just out checking out my greenhouse, and I noticed that one of my Chamaescilla corymbosas has a bunch of seed pods on it! It's fairly easy to grow from seed, if you can get fresh seed (look around your property, and your friends - there might be some fairly close by).

You won't be able to grow orchids from seed without special equipment (people have claimed that they can do it with a few household items, though), so I would suggest that if you want to grow orchids to find the local ANOS club and talk to them.

Your idea has given me a really cool idea too, so I appreciate your enthusiasm and interesting ideas.

p.s. you can quickly find out what scientific names 'look like' by putting the name into a search engine (like google) and searching for images. For example, http://images.google.com/images?q=Borya&ie=UTF8&sa=N&tab=wi

Also, there are some good pages on some natives on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diuris

Thankyou again Nathan that is exactly the sort of advice I was hoping for, you have given me a lot of ideas to think about!!

I will definately be very careful about what I import into my garden but I understand what you are saying because my neighbours truck in "all sorts of s***", usually grass and scrub from other properties. They are using it to build up a track on the edge of the lake and it is horrible to see some of the things popping up, especially the different lawn grasses. Not bad considering that the Water and Rivers Commission do not "allow" you to dam the edge of the lake. My neighbour has this theory that it is his property so he can do what he likes.... he is also a big fan of "burning off" the bush but I don't like to do that either, it's not good for the kangaroo paws!!

Happy gardening, Marie.

'he is also a big fan of "burning off" the bush'

Fires burnt at the right time and in a small patchwork are an excellent way to keep the bush alive. Done at the wrong time and the plants will be steadily killed off.

When it's all gone, it's all gone.

The man at the enneabba caravan park said that to clear an acre of land took $20 of superphosphate, to restore it would cost about $1 million. In my land care experience, I think his estimate is somewhat low...