The sky is blue and the ground is brown - gluggy brown in some cases - where what were bright autumn leaves have turned to mush.
Canberra's lawns are mostly brown now, too, and not a gold-brown either. So what can cheer up a gluggy garden?
Rake, to begin with. Leaves piled up around trees look like mulch, not mess. Just don't put piled-up leaves within 30cm of the trunk of any tree or shrub, or they may be the trigger for rotting bark.
Now for the lawn. It is possible to have a green lawn in our cold winters. We have a large area where I am forbidden to plant any more trees. It's a patchwork of grass types, and some of those patches are green.
The secret to having green grass all winter is to "over-sow" your lawn with an annual or perennial ryegrass. Over-sowing is easy. Buy or make compost; sprinkle thinly on the ground - about as thin as icing sugar sifted on a cake. Now scatter the seed, water and wait 10 days, then gently water again.
The new shoots will be green, and the other grass species in your lawn will hopefully turn just as green in spring.
There's no need to water your lawn too much or too often to keep it green in summer, no matter how parched and hot this summer becomes. Take an empty honey jar and place it near the sprinkler. When the jar is full, the lawn has been watered enough. Do this once a week, and your lawn will stay lush.
Try to remember to feed your lawn this spring, too. Add a nitrogen-rich fertiliser in spring - think "spring up" - and a phosphorous-rich feed in early autumn to help keep the grass in top condition. An iron-rich feed will green up your lawn in summer, too.
Always water fertiliser in well, for lawns as well as flowers and vegies.
Once the grass and lawn weeds begin to grow, put the mower on "high". Short grass browns faster and also puts more strain on the roots, with less photosynthesis for the leaves. Blokes especially seem to love giving grass an even shorter haircut than their own, assuming that a "close to the ground" mow will mean they needn't mow so often.
Sadly, the opposite is true: short grass grows faster, and less evenly, and goes brown more quickly too. Unless your lawn is totally even, you may also shave off not just grass but roots and a bit of soil too, leaving ugly brown patches.
You don't need short grass for your lawn to look neat, just even grass, with the tops of the weeds chopped off too, as they grow faster and taller than grass. Regular mowing is often enough to keep a lawn weed free, or even kill the ones that are there. Grasses evolved to be chomped short. Weeds are weeds because nothing around here eats them. Most don't survive regular beheading.
If you've let your lawn turn into pasture, don't chop off too much growth at once, as you'll tear it and it will look ragged. Don't mow when the grass is wet, either, not even moist from the dew, or once again you'll have uneven edges. Sharp lawn mower blades also help keep the grass looking properly even and lawn-like.
If you are a "green grass" fanatic, don't resort to fake grass under any circumstances. Fake grass sours the soil below, killing soil life. It's hot and unpleasant to sit on and smells of petrochemicals, not soil and growth.
The scent of grass and soil literally makes humans happier. You want happy kids? Rip up that fake grass.
Ryegrass and fescue soon go brown in hot summers, so go for a mix of grasses. We have a couple of native grasses here, as well as common couch grass. They survive summer well with a weekly water. Unfortunately they rarely get it.
Once your lawn is greening again, clean the paving. Use a scrubbing brush and a bucket of water with a biodegradable soap - not detergent, which may brown your grass on a hot day. Always rinse paving well, then water the grass where the soapy water has run off, too, to dilute it and ensure there's no damage.
A pressure hose does the job well too, with no soap needed. Borrow one, hire one, or put it on the list for Santa Claus. Brick and stone homes can also be washed - you may decide your home doesn't need repainting after a good wash.
Now add flowers. I'm feeling smug with a supply of decades-old camellias and hardy jonquils and daffs that have survived both heat and cold for decades too, but a row of pots or hanging baskets by the front door, filled with good potting mix and whatever you can buy reasonably cheaply at the garden centre, is enough to make your garden cheerful. The human eye usually looks at the front door, unless you have an orange tree in full fruit or some other attraction at the edges
You could also go for two calamondins, also known as "Aussie cumquats", although they aren't cumquats, and which fruit for at least six months of the year, unless the possums get to them. Once possums get a taste of cumquats or calamondins, it can be difficult to lure them away.
Possums also adore bottle brush, so grow lots, enough for you and the possums.
If you are really desperate, make a "possum tray" placed up out of rat reach, with foraged branches of young gum leaves if you can find a good source, and small amounts of celery leaves, chopped raw carrot, broccoli, zucchini or cooked sweet potato - never raw. Avoid fruit as it can give ringtails fatal bloat.
Which brings me to the final way to enjoy your winter garden. Head out at night with a torch and look up at the stars in our clear sky, and then use the torch to hunt for possums, to giggle at their indignation as you interrupt their breakfast.
Tell them a few minutes of humans being peeping toms is the fee they pay for being provided with a delicious garden, rich in tree hollows or solid branches for their nests, and even possibly your roof space, nicely heated for them in the winter. Any brown grass and gluggy leaves will be invisible in the dark.
