A pile of concrete greeted me on my return after a recent holiday. 

When I saw my neighbour a few days later, he asked, “Are you happy with the concrete?” What he really meant was, “Were you serious when you said you wanted the concrete if I ever dug up the path to our Hills Hoist?”

I reassured my neighbour that I was delighted with my early Christmas gift and within a couple of weeks it had found a new home beneath my own washing line. Now all I need is some sand so that I can level it when the weather gets a bit cooler.

It takes a surprising amount of brain power to turn a pile of odd-shaped concrete blocks into crazy paving. There are almost limitless possibilities and no wrong or right solutions. It’s even harder when the pieces are all different thicknesses and colours. 

Some people do sudoku or crosswords and go to the gym but I love the satisfaction of having a mind and body workout AND creating a bushfire- and termite-proof path. 

Eventually I also want to replace the remaining railway sleepers with dry stone walls and steps that will provide the native bees and tiny lizards with new homes.

I was thinking that I might ask Santa for another pile of concrete for Christmas – when a friend emailed me to see if I wanted some rocks. (Obviously, I have a reputation for accepting free landscaping materials.) Then I found out that another neighbour is ripping up concrete in his backyard early in the new year – and has sand to spare…

So now I’m planning to ask Santa for a new back fence instead.

Categories: Gardens, Waste

Tags: biodiversity, Christmas, gardens, landscaping, reuse, Waste