Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Our Landscaping Story 101Mar 07, 2010 9:22 pm Eager, your gardens are looking great!! I'm really surprised at how the grass looks at the tail end of Summer to how it looked in your last photo's (Winter)!!! Amazing!! Bring on winter i say viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Our Landscaping Story 102Mar 07, 2010 9:24 pm I don't actually mind winter. You can always warm up, but in summer you can't always cool down. If only my plants could look frost in the eye and say "Stuff you!" Geoff - Decophile. Re: Our Landscaping Story 103Mar 07, 2010 9:26 pm Eager I don't actually mind winter. You can always warm up, but in summer you can't always cool down. If only my plants could look frost in the eye and say "Stuff you!" Finally! Someone who understands why I prefer winter to a stinking hot summer! Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Our Landscaping Story 104Mar 07, 2010 9:28 pm And your garden is coming along nicely! I lurve ferns Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Our Landscaping Story 105Mar 07, 2010 9:53 pm I like summer better because my boots aren't full of water and it isn't blowing at 40 knots all the time. Re: Our Landscaping Story 106Mar 07, 2010 9:59 pm Give me a wintry cold blustering stormy day anyday things!! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Our Landscaping Story 107Mar 07, 2010 10:09 pm That is going to be a bloody nice garden in 3 to 7 years Re: Our Landscaping Story 109Mar 13, 2010 11:51 am Just re-read this and had to ask: Fu Manchu Time to bust out some molasses on those plants They'll love it I haven't been to a nursery to specifically ask yet, but what sort of readily available product contains molasses? Does it come in a liquid form or pellets? Is there a common product that has it in it? Failing that, I know that molasses is a by-product of the sugar refining process, so how about I just drink a bottle of Bundy and then pee on my plants? Fu Manchu Eager give the Kangas a cut back to about an inch, that will control ink spotting through winter and spring as well as ensure the plant looks a million dollars come flowering time again. More flower will result I'm a tad confused. Cut the actual flowers in half so they are an inch long, or the stalks that the flowers are on, or give the whole plant a #1 buzz cut? Thanks mate. Geoff - Decophile. Re: Our Landscaping Story 110Mar 13, 2010 12:26 pm Eager ....... I know that molasses is a by-product of the sugar refining process, so how about I just drink a bottle of Bundy and then pee on my plants? Go to your nearest stock and feed place - they'll have molasses. Fu has a thread here somewhere on how to use it.... Here it is: http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=15058 Re: Our Landscaping Story 111Mar 13, 2010 2:05 pm Eager, lop the whole lot. Leaves and all. I have a pic somewhere so might have to upload it for you. I just chuck all the bits back around the plant which returns nutrients back to the soil and the rest becomes part of the mulch As for molasses, well it isn't sold in garden centres and it doesn't appear in any other product. It is most commonly used as an additive to stock feed (as is zeolite) so stock feeders places or agricultural supply places will have it. Sold by the bucket most often. Should pay around the $30 mark. It will last years Just keep it sealed up Re: Our Landscaping Story 112Mar 13, 2010 2:37 pm Like these of mine. They are Anigozanthus Big Red. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ That was on 29th Jan this year The soil is also very rich and friable thanks to the wonderful thick layer of green or fresh tree shreddings. Now broken down the soil is full of worms. It will be replenished this winter and now... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Our Landscaping Story 114Aug 29, 2010 9:53 pm Update time again! One of the lessons that we have learnt in our endeavour to grow an exposed garden consisting of palms in this climate is that it is better to acclimatise new plants before sticking them in the ground. We have had some losses, mainly due to frost, and we know which species to keep away from now. What we do now is buy plants now and then but keep them in pots in our alfresco area until they have had a decent dose of the elements, but sheltered from frost or harsh summer sun. We have built up a bit of a collection over the past few months, bought some more today and re-potted most of them, and will plant them in a month or so. To inform non-Victorians our winter this year was late. We had some awesome mild blue-sky days throughout June, but winter has turned out as wet as the pre-drought years, and the cold weather has continued through to now. It is only from next week onwards that we have a 7-day forecast with daily temperatures consistently over 15! We only had one really big frost, minus 2.7 deg; we had 3 in a row like that last year. A mistake I made with the design of the garden was sticking to symmetry and linearitry. I planted Cocos Palms [Syagrus romanzoffiana] at regular intervals close to the fenceline, and Dwarf Dates [Phoenix roebelenii] in between them. The idea was to have larger plants at the back and smaller varieties such as Lady Palms [Rhapis excelsa], Cascades [Chamaedorea cataractarum], reoportedly a hardy species, and Cycads at the front. This didn't really work because as the sun went down though the summer afternoons no shade was thrown the sensitive plants like the Lady Palms. Since then I have planted some more Cocos' (they grow really well around here) and a few Bangalows [Archontophoenix cunninghamiana] to thicken up part of the garden. Hey, it is a work in progress! This is a pic of most of the garden as it was today: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The Dwarf Dates are a bit of a mystery. Apparently they can be a bit slow to grow until they reach a certain stage, and we have seen some evidence of trunk thickening, but they are still, well, dwarfs! A month ago we bought a couple more that are much larger than we already have, and before that we bought a couple more Lady Palms that have produced some suckers while in their pots. Today we bought a pair of Majestic Palms [Ravenea rivularis] which have a rep for growing very large (up to 20m), but realistically they will not get anywhere near that big around here, and 3 Pony Tails (which are not a palm but should suit the garden) for variety. Here they are. Re-potting is thirsty work! By the way our grass tree is looking real healthy, I was concerned about some black spots on it earlier this year but it all seems good now. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ After re-potting. They will probably all go in the garden in about a month; we also intend moving around a couple of the Cocos' or possibly we will buy some more. Largest to smallest: Majestic Palm, Dwarf Date, Lady Palm, Pony Tail. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Geoff - Decophile. Re: Our Landscaping Story 116Nov 25, 2010 7:40 pm Thanks Dollar! I really should take another progress pic shouldn't I, because most of those potted plants in the above pic are now in the garden. The only plants we now have in our alfresco area is one of the Majestics, one Lady Palm and one Pony Tail. We also have one Giant Pony Tail in the garden now too. I'm wanting to put a couple more Cycads in too, with the idea of putting them in the large pots in the alfresco for a couple of months first, therefore freeing up the above mentioned 3 plants to go in the garden now, but we can't seem to buy Cycads anywhere lately. They must be out of season or something! Geoff - Decophile. Re: Our Landscaping Story 117Nov 27, 2010 9:28 pm You are keeping busy. I think our garden will take months to do. What are those 2 poles on the right against the fence for? Re: Our Landscaping Story 118Nov 28, 2010 8:05 am The concrete ones? Just fence posts. I guess they do look a bit deceiving in that pic! Yes, it takes time to establish a garden. Most of those plants have been in since April last year, and we are still thickening it up bit by bit every now and then. Not all the plants are perfect, you can see in the pic below some frost damage to a Bangalow Palm in the foreground for example. Also for some reason, most of our Cycads have suffered a die-back of their last years growth. We have had a few losses as well - not many people realise how harsh the climate can be around here regarding temperature extremes, by comparison a tropical climate is quite stable and benign. But, at least we're having a go, and we know what plants to steer clear of now, and how to better protect some others. I got around to taking a couple of pics yesterday. The first one shows most of the garden (including the fence posts, Dollar! ), the second one shows what happened to our Kangaroo Paw against the house after some bloke from way over in W.A. who thinks he knows a bit about gardening suggested back in March that we cut it to the ground. Thanks Fu. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Geoff - Decophile. Re: Our Landscaping Story 119Nov 28, 2010 7:44 pm If that ain't the most gorgeous f***en Kangaroo Paw I have ever seen, by goly gosh. Mine are looking pretty snazzy, well I thought so until I saw yours!!! I hacked back my other paw which I thought had died but it's on the mend. Such a gorgeous plant. Yeah now I see that the poles are for the fence. I thought initially you were using them to erect something. Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? Other info is we are 900mm from… 0 8443 We bought land in Tallawong Schofields NSW size 30m X 12.5m and planning to get double story house build around 350 sqm. We are thinking about having premium inclusions… 0 4083 Hmmm, I have checked your past posts and it seems that you are in NSW, not WA as I had thought. It pays to show your State in your avatar. Retaining wall regulations… 5 7846 |