Creating a mess

It has been a while since I have added anything to my blog - so to rejuvenate things I have changed the appearance of it. I have become rather annoyed with the  black background and the small area in which the text is displayed. I hope that this new appearance is more appealing - both to you and to me!
Changes are happening in my front garden too. Everything grows very fast here in the subtropical area of Southern Queensland. Trees especially! I have plenty of shrubs in my garden that seem to have "taken over" and swamped the smaller plants and ferns so yesterday I went out with shears and snips and created havoc! Good fun! (I can hardly move this morning, though.)
When I stepped outside and saw the mess that I have to clear up I took my camera out with me. I can show you the disaster zone!

So you can see what I have to do this morning! The plant in the top picture was actually quite easy to prune - the stems or branches are easily snapped so I found it much quicker to put one hand at the place I wanted to break the branches off and with the other hand, pull the branch or collection of branches, towards me. It didn't take very long at all. Putting the stuff into rough heaps took longer!
We have a pretty shrub that is called a "snowball bush" that loves to be pruned and will grow thicker and much more attractive when cut severely. This is where the secateurs came into use and why my hands are quite sore today!
When plants grow so easily it does make me wonder why most of the gardens in this city are devoid of them! The majority of gardens have only lawn and a couple of trees or shrubs. I love colour and the best gift from a visitor is not a box of chocolates, but something I can put in the garden!
AJ

What a difference a couple of days make

A few days ago I posted a picture of the new growth on the cycad plant in my back garden. Today when I went outside I noticed that there was a big difference.
Now we shall have to cut off all the old leaves so that when these new ones open out and drape down around the trunk they will look all fresh and green and not compete with the insect ravaged old leaves for attention.
These Cycads can be found growing wild among the trees of the forests of New South Wales and I have pictures of them among the natural bush of the north Queensland coast too. So they are very wide spread.
AJ