Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 21Nov 20, 2008 8:13 am Thanks for that, gee I thought Agaves stayed small! I think I'll put the Agaves where I had the Yuccas and will need to find a small succulant or maybe even just a small grass for where I had imagined the agaves.
I missed your question before about how long it took... I've been thinking about the plan for the past few days, and we've been to the nursery a couple of times to get an idea of the kind of style that we like - I took pictures but when I got home I didn't know what anythign was, not helpful! I only started putting the actual plan together on Tuesday night and it took me a few hours, drawing some of the little symbols took a while! I had a look at the Cycas thouarsii but it says it gets to 10m and I think that might be too big for a planter box at front of house? I don't know how the planter box will work, but I guess it won't have a bottom, or should it? I guess if it gets too big we could move it, how long would it take to get from say a 1m trunk to 10m? That empire zoysia looks gorgeous, thanks! Can I ask a few more questions pretty please? - What will happen to the Yucca if you don't shape it into a tree? Will it turn into that anywa or will it just keep growing into a big tall succulant lookign thing? - How long would it take to turn a normal looking yucca, eg one stem with leaves, no trunks, into a tree like in that picture I pasted. Or should we buy them slightly more mature with a few proper trunks? We have a year until we'll be using them, should we buy them all small now? - Do you know of a small succulant that looks like an agave but doesn't grow bigger than say 20-30cm diameter? - Hubby says the banana palm is scary (he says it spreads and bats live in them hehe) so I'm thinking of either a lady palm for that spot or maybe a frangipani tree, could those grow in a 60cm deep garden bed? Thank you so so much! Jo, sure thing, I'm an expert now LOL! haha donuts, yeah I noticed that random sago palm, I think I was putting it in a pot out the back to bring something through from the front, maybe on the roof haha Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 22Nov 20, 2008 8:53 pm -Cycas Thorassii, Yeah they get tall but that provides a beautiful canopy for the rest of the garden in about 40-100 million years Not too hard to move if you have a nice sharp spade. over say 7 years they will be about 6 foot but have a small trunk of maybe a foot.
-Yuccas, well the base will still grow and every time you chop it it can potentially shoot more branches, which in turn thicken. I think they make excellent pot specimens. In say a half wine barrel you'd be good for so many years you'd forget when you planted it In the pics you can see the top sections are more like what you might buy in a big pot from your local garden centre. -they can take anywhere between 5-10 years or even maybe as fast as 2 or 3 -No I can't think of a succulent like the agave' that stays small. However, look at other succulents. so many better than what every other person is using Try using Echavarias. They form rosettes and some have the same colour foliage as the agave's you are after. I think they look great. There are big and small varieties of echavaria available. Kalanchoe bronze sculpture or flap jack is the other that maybe worth a look. -Frangipani what a great alternative. should be ok in where you plan. -Or you can just bung in the yuccas and in 20 years dig them out and sell them for a fortune to some posh landscape mob building a resort. -Bananas taste so good, who cares what else loves them, how good are bananas, tell him they will attract monkeys. everybody loves monkeys. Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 23Nov 20, 2008 10:18 pm Rachelle Hubby says the banana palm is scary (he says it spreads and bats live in them hehe) so I'm thinking of either a lady palm for that spot or maybe a frangipani tree, could those grow in a 60cm deep garden bed? Of course, now that I ask I can't find any pictures of one; perhaps it has another name I'm unaware of. --Mike Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 24Nov 21, 2008 5:22 am Thanks Fu, LOL yes, we all love monkeys!!
Thanks for that info, and I love both those succulants you suggested, I found one of the first ones in our garden yesterday and have been tryign to figure out what it is!! Yay! We're off to nursery tomorrow to take another look at different combinations to see which ones work well together, but I htink I'm done! Thank you so much for your help, very appreciated. Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 25Nov 21, 2008 11:37 am To the best of my knowledge, the welcome palm is only a new name for them since going to Bali became trendy. For yonks it has been known as a travelers palm. The flowers are like strelitzias kind of so I guess they might be related? anyway they called them travellers palms because they always grow north south or was it east west? can't remember but that was supposed to show travellers which way was north or whatever. Now the resorts love using them and call them welcome palms with some BS story as well that explains the name in Balinese culture even though they come from Africa or Madagascar somewhere. (that means monkeys like them too ) Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 26Nov 21, 2008 12:32 pm Fu Manchu To the best of my knowledge, the welcome palm is only a new name for them since going to Bali became trendy. For yonks it has been known as a travelers palm. --Mike Everything I know, I learned from SBS. LATEST: Frame Complete http://metricon-mercer.livejournal.com Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 27Nov 21, 2008 5:57 pm Hey Fu Manchu (if you're out there)
I was hoping you could give me some advice about WA Flowering Red Gums. We had one in our backyard but unfortunately (even though we were not planning on this) it was pulled out when our slab was poured. I have absolutely loved them (I'm referring to the Hybrids such as Summer Red) since I saw them on Burke's Backyard. I want to put one in our frontyard once the house is finished. How far away from the house would you recommend planting one? I know that they have been bred for use in home gardens and the one we had was doing really well. Not sure though how far away they should be from a slab. Our old house was on stumps so it never worried me, but not sure how far the root system goes and how it could affect a slab and if there is anything I need to do at the time it is planted to protect the slab and the tree for that matter. If you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated, and any recommendations for other native trees or shrubs suited to a back or front yard would also be greatly appreciated. The only tree we still have standing on our block is a silky oak in the back corner. Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 29Nov 21, 2008 8:33 pm I would get hypnotised and have the tree removed from your memory if you want it anywhere near your house
Even small trees like the hybrid red flowering gums will be a risk in the future and cracked slab = cracked bank account. They will get to around 3-5m and look amazing though so please use one in your new garden.It can be planted closer, BUT IT IS A RISK Aim to have it at least 4-5m from the house. 3m would be a push in my opinion. Plants like palms and Frangipani have soft fibrous root systems that generally are not a hassle closer than that. There are standard weeping Grevilleas available that would knock ya socks off if you need it closer than 3-4m. they wouldn't be too bad at all in that case. Often retail at around $150 and stand about 6 foot and sometimes less. Re: Landscape plan driving me insane 30Nov 22, 2008 11:12 am Hi Fu Manchu
Thanks for that. We have an 7 1/2 metre setback at the front so can probably find a place for it, hopefully because I do love them. We also have 17 1/2 metres of backyard so can definitely hae one in the back so won't be too sad if not in the front. It seems some Council are also starting to have them as street trees, they do look amazing. Will have a look at the weeping Grevilleas. There are so many varieties I hadn't heard of the weeping ones before so off to do some research. Now I just have to get started on a landscaping plan. Thanks again for that. MIght be back with some more questions. Landscape Design Parramatta We have been doing a large amount of landscape design work in Sydney… 0 3 Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24860 Thanks very much! And would the landscaper/contractor generally involve the engineer or is that something the client would do? Thanks for your help 2 10020 |