A little green tree frog sheltered by the lemon grass

I was giving the lemon grass a haircut today when I came across a little guest. Most of the time when I am working in the garden I come across cane toads. Especially when I step outside of a nightime, they are all sitting around on the lawn letting the dew settle on them.

This time though, it was a little green tree frog.

Lemon Grass after being attacked with the shears

Reducing the size of the lemon grass

I originally planted the lemon grass because I had read and was told that it helps to keep mosquitos away. Must be mozzies from another country because the ones here in Brisbane aren’t prejudiced toward it at all. Hopefully my little green mate is helping control the mozzies.

Since planting the lemon grass it has sort of grown on me. Originally I got two pot plants of it from a local market. After separating the plants I ended up with about 6 or 7 pieces with roots and planted them. They took off. They are drought tolerant and will grown it clay or poor soil.

I pulled out one of the clumps, pulled it apart and replanted around the house. It was done pretty roughly, no TLC at all and most have survived and will be as big as the original shortly and then slow down as we head into winter.

Lemon Grass Tea

There is another benefit, besides attracting green tree frogs and that is the tea. It’s a really simple recipe. Get a corm, bash it with a meat tenderiser, steep in boiling water and add a little local honey. Very refreshing.

Mulch

Another idea I have is to use it as mulch. Before the haircut some of the grass was six feet high (1.8 mt). I will play around with this idea and see how it goes.