Is there no one else from Perth that is a member? I lived in England for 20 years, Sydney for 7 years and remember well the problems in the garden, but i have never ever encountered the sort of problems that gardeners suffer in Perth. Take a bucket of sand from the beach and try and grow a garden in it. That is what the soil is like. It rains a lot in winter, then typically no rain, except for the odd tail end of a cyclone with high winds, from November until April. It is really hard work. I have been here now 22years and I can finally say my soil is now soil (not just sand) and my garden is starting to look good. (with the help of a lot of Salvia) Cath