Hi Sue

Gosh, half your luck.. I love karratha, we spent quite a few years there and
all three of my kids were born at the hospital there, holds alot of fond
memories. We lived out in the Millars Well area, Shadwick Drive in fact...
my ex used to work on the pipeline there.

Its been about 8 years since I have been there but you will have seen that
most people plant lipia instead of lawn. Its a ground cover that grows with
very little maintenance and it can be mowed like a regular lawn. But other
than that I cant give you much advice as we too planted palms instead of
'mainstream' plants.

By the way, in regards to the calcium in the water...I dont know how it
affects your garden but it sure as hell plays havoc with your kettle
element. I used to boil a diluted vinegar solution, let it cool and the
calcium would come off...but you probably already know that. Another
trick... I never used this but I have a friend who swears by it.... buy a
piece of unsoaped steel wool (about the size of a steelo) and place it in
the kettle permanently... she said is didnt alter the taste of the water but
the calcium would stick to that instead of the element.... and every few
weeks she would discard it and replace with a clean one. I dont know if it
works.. but its worth thinking about.

Also... half way between Karratha and Roeburn there is a little gravel track
off to your left called "Cleaverville"...magnificent fishing spot if you are
into that.

I hope you have a wonderful time there...and I also hope those 747 sized
cockaroaches dont bother you too much!

Happy New Year to you!

Leanne




"Sue" wrote in message
.. .
Hi guys,

I need some help/advice. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to soil
composition and all of that technical stuff but I do love to garden and
have
just left a really wonderful one in Perth to start again in the Pilbara.
The soil here is what they call Pindan it is like a very red heavy clay
when
wet and concrete when dry. Our water is full of calcium and leaves
everywhere white (you may need to know this). I would like to give my
plants the best possible opportunity to grow but there is limited access
to
manure etc due to our remote location, I can only really buy bags of
manure
in the local supermarket!! Would say cow manure be better than chook or
Dynamic Lifter? I intent to plant a heap of palms since they appear to be
the plant of choice up here.

A few more things that might help.

Rainfall - under 300mm per year.
Temp Ave. Summer 35 + Winter 25 - Summer is about 8 months or
more long!!
Access only to what the Kmart sells.
Possible access to some mulch from the tip.
At the moment the garden is in a new home with absolutely no
existing shade.

Positive type advice appreciated, as I am really trying to make the most
of
what I have here and I know its going to be hard going!!

Happy New year all.

Sue
Karratha Western Australia.