I have made a really good start to the front yard.
The first step was to actually get some water on the yard, as all the grass was dead and the ground was literally rock hard. I tried digging some holes the other day but the ground was impossible to work with, I have never experienced ground so hard, it was hurting the bottom of my feet trying to use the shovel and I didn't have a pick so I had to rethink this.

Friday night I gave it a good soaking with the sprinkler and started working on it Saturday morning. The ground was still a little hard to dig so I got the hose and just let it slowly trickle away in the hole while I dug it out which worked a treat. Then where I wanted to plant the next plant I let the hose trickle onto the ground while I planted the first plant, the second hole was much easier to dig as the water had time to soak down deep. So I continued this process throughout the day.
I was actually surprised the soil is much better than I anticipated, the soil drains well and looks like a good quality. It has just gone rock hard from lack of water for so long.

The soil up the north of Adelaide can have a higher clay content, but this soil is actually much lower in clay than I anticipated.
I got some gypsum anyway as it's great for breaking down clay, so I put some of that down in the holes I dug for the plants and also sprinkled some over the top of the soil once I filled in the holes. This should break down the soil and make it really nice for the plants.
I also got some blood and bone fertilizer and put a generous serving of this in each hole along with the gypsum. Blood and bone is a fertilizer which the plants will love and help give them a real kick start.

Before I filled in the holes I put a bit of potting mix around the roots of the plants.
I don't like to use to much but I find by adding a little bit extra potting mix around the plant, the roots can grow through it easily and it really helps to jump start the plants growth.

After I fill in the hold I put a generous serving of both gypsum and blood and bone over the top of the soil, this way the fertilizer can soak down into the soil and basically all the roots of the plant are pretty much surrounded by fertilizer.
By doing this I'm guaranteeing that the plants will be getting all the help they need to kick off over the next few months, and because our aussie summers are so harsh this will really help them during the hot days.

The only this left to do now is throw down some mulch.
I had lawn clippings in my green waste bin from when I first moved in, which is not the greatest mulch but it's all I have for now.
By throwing down the lawn clippings around the plant it will help to keep the ground moist during the hot days.
The lawn clippings will also return nutrients into the soil over time as they break down.
As a final touch I had a tub of general fertilizer pellets, which put a whole range of nutrients into the ground. So I finished the planting off with a sprinkle of three teaspoons on each plant.

Waging War Against a Foe Who Does Not Surrender

 
I started to wage a war against a formidable foe.
Tribulus Terrestris, also known as three corner jacks here but you might know them by bindi grass, caltrop, devils weed, puncture vine and a myriad of other names.
I think this plant has to be a gardeners worst nightmare, and if you don't keep on top of it you will be defeated. The plants in my yard are just starting to flower which means I must remove them or in a few weeks there will be a swarm of little spiked landmines hanging off the plants.

I started my war by just grabbing the garden hoe and removing a very light layer of top soil along with the plants, maybe 5 mm of soil as I don't want to remove too much.
I'm just going to chuck them on the corner as over the next two weeks that area will be covered in compost with a think layer of bark chips on top. This should ensure they don't sprout again.

As you can see there is quite a lot of it, which is why I just decided to take of a thin layer of soil.
Luckily the whole lawn is not covered in them, it's only a patch of about 15 - 20 square meters maybe a bit more it's hard to say and I'm not good with those type of estimates.
Over the next week I should be able to get most of it out the ground along with most of the thorns that the plant drops. Then I can cover most of that area in mulch this weekend and the following weekend I will be getting the bark chips. They will just decompose away by doing this and it will give me a significant upper hand in the war against this no mercy enemy.

 

Progress Pics

 
It's remarkable to see how far the front yard has come just by giving it some water.
The soil is starting to look good again and the lawn is coming back again. It's amazing to think it's only been about a week, so I can wait to see what the yard is looking like next weekend. I will keep you all updated with my progress and I will also create a post of the plants I have selected and what I expect the front yard to look like with my plant choices :)

Before

 

After