#Brett walker window cleaning series

We want to ditch the lawn completely and create a series of hard-surface courtyards. March 2017: Before: The drought and the water restrictions of this last summer have ruined this garden. The plants worth keeping would go into the ground. I would replant the potted trees in the garden and give the pots and roses away to neighbours and friends. These pots needed constant care and watering. I decided it was time to let all this weight go. Besides the potted succulents there were also roses, lemon trees, frangipani trees and ferns. I had tiny pots, medium pots and large pots. They grow and multiply and then you will need more pots. Another word of advice: Don’t collect succulents. I had also gone through a phase of collecting succulents.

In this instance, my garden had become the dumping ground for a lot of pots. I’d allowed our garden to become a little like one of those guest rooms that is really a stuff room. Outdoor spaces should add value, not expense. Besides, we don’t have dogs or children, so the myth that they’d need lawn did not apply. The drought meant I could turf it with a clear conscience. Without a borehole on the property, the lawn had to go. The garden wraps around the house on the south and west, and this is where I focused my attention. Our property is 800m 2 in size, half of it taken up by the house and patio. Isn’t the whole point of a garden to spend time there and enjoy the space as an extension of one’s home? I resolved to make changes that would enhance our living experience while positively adapting the space without the need for excessive watering. In no time at all we became indoors people. We had fewer social events at home and spent less and less time in the garden. The desolation that surrounded us every day that summer had far-reaching consequences for our lifestyle. Day Zero was looming large and watering plants and lawn was no longer an option.

It all started when we stared down the barrel of the 2016/2017 drought. Where it all began (or how the drought changed my lifestyle) Working only on Saturdays with my team, it took eight months, but it’s done. It’s like the proverbial cobbler whose children go barefoot. It took me 10 years to get around to landscaping my own garden.

Brett walker window cleaning