Bushland Garden

I'm having a terrific time working at Whistlestop at the moment, a combination of more clearing near the rocky area along the main track and finishing painting the fence.  Both are going very well!!  The weather is fantastic for working outside- cool, clear days- although the nights have been extremely cold, down to about minus 9 Celsius.

I am really enjoying the clearing in particular.  Although our property has never been developed in any way- it has always been grazing land since European settlement- as I continue to partially clear and tidy up this rocky area it is as if I'm re-discovering a very old landscaped garden that has become utterly neglected.  The more I progress, the more I am surprised by what is there and how attractive the area is.  I am removing most of the tea-trees (Leptosmermum scoparium) from this area, but leaving the shady gumtrees and small native flowering plants which are fun to discover once the tea-tree is removed.

There is no particular 'use' in mind for this rocky bushland area, although I originally started the clearing to allow our main vehicle track to be widened and graded.  One thing I really want though is for the Miniature Railway, when it is eventually built, to mostly run through attractive bushland, rather than the very scrappy scrub that mostly covers Whistlestop now.  So, as the saying goes 'you've got to start somewhere', and this is the start of turning acres of impenetrable tea-tree scrub into acres of attractive rocky bushland!  There is enormous potential, and it is very satisfying to see good progress.  One thing that I hope never to do is to simply 'clear' any part of our block using heavy machinery, which really makes a big mess.  This type of clearing is necessary around buildings etc, but I'll try to minimise it as far as possible, preferring the scruffy bushland to gradually evolve into a bushland-garden.