As thousands of Queenslanders begin the long, slow clean-up following flooding devastation in the south-east of the state, fixing up a muddy garden may be the last thing on their minds.
But for many gardening enthusiasts, it's their sanctuary and something that they will be looking to restore in the coming months.
But if your garden has been absolutely pummelled in the floods and rain bombs, where do you even begin in trying to bring it back to life?
"Though there are [obviously] big-picture challenges, the garden does give us so much respite," Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis said.
"And a little bit of work out there, while you're doing the other stuff, can just mean that you're not looking at that and thinking, ‘Oh God, I might get to that at some point'."
Waterlogging and contamination
Costa said there was some garden work required early to stop certain processes that may have begun with waterlogging a key risk.
"[With] waterlogging in the soil, what happens is that the water replaces the oxygen, and the pores of the soil basically get no oxygen, [or] the oxygen gets forced out.
"Because of the disturbance under there, the imbalances often trigger many root diseases."
Costa said it was also important to consider contaminated water affecting food in the garden.
"It's generally full of all sorts of pretty nasty raw sewage and industrial run-off and oil and pollutants," he said.
"So you don't want to be eating any of the food — leafy greens, any soft fruits like berries or melons, [really] anything that you eat raw, you just can't touch."
The state government reiterated guidelines on food safety in weather events online, stating that produce that has come into contact with floodwater should not be eaten.
"It may take a month before the produce is suitable for eating again due to contaminants in the soil," it said.
Residents rush to save flooded garden
Around a metre of water flooded Eleanor's garden in Toowong and remained there for many days this week.
The now receded floodwater left behind a thick sludge of mud covering the garden, and collapsed vegetation.
"We've got mud everywhere. Do I try to dig it in, do I scrape it off?" she said.
Horticulturist Annette McFarlane said it was ideal to remove as much of the mud as possible by scraping it away from roots, trunks and shrubs, or using a high-pressure water cleaner.
"You've just got to do the best you can and what you can't get rid of, you're going to have to cultivate in and put lots of compost again into your garden to compensate for that very, very fine silt of mud that you've got there," she said.
Ms McFarlane urged people to be careful when cleaning up their properties and to wear adequate personal protective gear including waterproof footwear, waterproof gloves, and other PPE to avoid the risk of infection and injury from floodwater.
"You really do need to be careful when you're cleaning up your garden because, apart from the risk of general infection, there really is something you need to be aware of," she said.
Long-term effect
Costa said, for some plants, the flooding might have already triggered "the beginning of the end".
"Particularly if plants were older and maybe stressed, and if any diseases kick in and get hold … you may see this play out over the next couple of months," he said.
"Make sure if you're doing anything out in the garden at this time, you have gloves on because you just don't want to get any little cuts and expose yourself to any of it, particularly if you're sponging things down and you've got water over your skin."
Costa said it was important to clean the plants down so that plants could start photosynthesising again.
