Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jan 26, 2009 8:56 pm The front garden of my house faces west and I'd just like to hear some other people's opinions of what trees and plants would thrive in this difficult, sandy and windy area.
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I've currently got a row of Mexican orange blossoms along the driveway fence line. I love their colour and would prefer to have a lot of green plants and just a few grey foliaged ones. I plan on having 2 trees across the front and 1 in the very left corner around the side of the house. Trees on my shortlist include the Greenback magnolia, ornamental pears and dwarf gum trees. I'd love to hear what has worked well in other west facing gardens especially trees, groundcovers and ornamental plants. Many thanks! Fence, paving, retaining wall - CHECK! Still so much more to do..... Re: Tree and plant suggestions for west facing garden please! 2Jan 27, 2009 10:37 am In your soil I would go for Magnolia Kay Paris or little gem instead of the newer greenback. I think you are going to find the greenback will be bigger than you anticipate
The only real choice for your block in the way of ornamental pears will be the Manchurian (pyrus ussuriensis). The others like Bradford and snow will just get huge especially in your well draining soil which for you is such a blessing in disguise. The dwarf liquid amber would be a ripper there. grows to about 5 or 6 meters. liquidamber orientalis. a bunch of silver birch like Betula alba pendula will look fantastic. you will get that silver colour to the bark of them and in winter, although they have lost leaves, will still look amazing. The claret ash is another tree worth a look. Brilliant red in autumn. kind of a native ash because it was first noted growing by a fella named Ray Wood in SA. hence the name Fraxinus "Raywoodii". Chines Tallow will be a fantastic choice too. beautiful shape to them but by one that the grower has sort of standardised. They can look average with lots of limbs and growth low down. get them with a straight stem cleaned of growth and foliage at the top. from that they are amazing. small growers of 5-10m (yes that is a small tree) For silver foliage look at usingthe cusion bush, Leucophyta brownii (the compact form). also convolvulus cnenorum will do well for you. All you need to do is tap into our WA info because when it comes to gardening in the worlds poorest sands, we do pretty well. check this web page out. http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/wa ... _index.cfm your soil will have similarities to the following areas in WA http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/wa ... unbury.cfm http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/wa ... aldton.cfm http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/wa ... albany.cfm http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/wa ... unbury.cfm and this PDF will be handy;) http://www.watercorporation.com.au/_fil ... h_West.pdf before you plant anything in the garden, do your soil prep using a certified organic soil mix. you will not look back and see growth like none of your neighbors will By doing this you will save on water and on fertiliser because sandy soils a free draining (a blessing) and don't hang on to nutrients well. They also dry out and need wetting agents much more than other areas around Melbourne. The west facing aspect is also going to work well because everything I have mentioned will do fine. Here in WA the westerly winds are prevailing and some of the strongest in the world. (perth being the 2nd windest capital city in the world next to Durban and first is Wellington) Re: Tree and plant suggestions for west facing garden please! 3Jan 27, 2009 12:12 pm Fantastic advice there Fu as usual I am also looking for a tree (and other things!) to plant in our west front garden so this has been very helpful to me too. Re: Tree and plant suggestions for west facing garden please! 4Jan 28, 2009 3:11 pm Thank you so much for that lengthy reply Fu! There's certainly a lot of food for thought in those links you've provided. It might take me a while to get through all of it but it is very useful.
That's a shame about the Greenback magnolia as I still have my heart set on getting one. There's plenty growing around here and as far as I know, they get to about 10m x 5m. There's over 5m between my house and what will eventually be the fence line and I desperately need some decent shade. Guess I need to weigh it all up and decide. I've also been told that the Chanticleer ornamental pear would be suitable for here so I've got those earmarked for the back yard. I don't really like the shape of the Manchurian pear and my dad has told me a firm NO to every other tree you've suggested there. I'll have to see if I can twist his arm and being his only daughter, I might just have a chance! The tree I'd like the most, a pin oak, is just too big for my block. : ( I guess I just need to do a bit more research but then again, there's always the good old eucalyptus tree which I'm liking more every day. I actually live next to a reserve so the dwarf variety would fit right in across the front garden. Those of you who do have a west facing front garden - I'd be very interested to hear and see what has worked for you, especially if you live in Melbourne...can anybody else help me here? Fence, paving, retaining wall - CHECK! Still so much more to do..... Re: Tree and plant suggestions for west facing garden please! 5Jan 28, 2009 10:27 pm well being in Melbourne hit the Flemmings web page. chances are no matter what nursery you buy from it may come from Flemmings. Even if it doesn't it is a good site to perv on trees Re: Tree and plant suggestions for west facing garden please! 6Jan 29, 2009 7:48 am Ooooh yes! I LOVE that website, it's been bookmarked for months! I totally recommend it to anyone considering a tree. Fence, paving, retaining wall - CHECK! Still so much more to do..... It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 19992 The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 18204 ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 15171 |