Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Dec 23, 2009 1:23 pm Hi all, I am about to build a new house in South East QLD. The covenant requires 1 plant that is 2 metres in height and 5 more that are 1 metre in height, planted in the front yard. To save a bit of money, I wondered if it would be possible to buy a few smaller trees, that would grow to these heights in about 12 months or so, while the house was being built. I don't want them to grow much taller than the single story house (although, I don't really know how high I want them to go.) Are there any natives that would grow well in this time period in a large pot? Is this a more viable option than buying trees at the required height? Has anyone done this themsevles and could provide any advice? Thanks in advance! Regards Alf... Built Hallmark Home in SE Queensland - modified Flair 181 - no A/C: n/e orientation - 9 foot ceilings - copius insulation - loads of windows - fresh breeze - home... Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 2Dec 29, 2009 2:44 am A weed problem! That's what. If something grows to that size in that time it will do one of two things. 1. Be very short lived and last about 1 or 2 years. or 2. Continue growing past 2m and become something you wish you never planted. Lets look at this a bit better. Forget the plant and start looking at the soil. This is the very essence of a successful landscape. Certified organic soils and fresh green mulches from your local tree lopper mob and you are on a great start. Good soil to a depth of 400mm through out the entire bed. The business of digging a hole twice the size of the pot is a poor practice. We need wide shallow well prepped areas that accommodate future root growth for the plant and that in turn allows strong, healthy growth of the chosen plant. Any compromise on that results in a compromise on the results and the environment. Then there is the clipping of the shrub. Very few Horts or Landscapers possess the skills of true topiary or hedging techniques. These are a strong secondary key to excellent growth. regular clipping from the time they are planted will result in an excellent growth rate. Toparious (Homeone member) can be contacted via PM for the best advice and info available in Australia. His knowledge exceeds that you may see on commercial television garden shows, I'll give you the tip Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 3Dec 29, 2009 2:47 am alfabeta Are there any natives that would grow well in this time period in a large pot? No Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 4Dec 29, 2009 2:48 am alfabeta Is this a more viable option than buying trees at the required height? Regards Alf... No Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 5Dec 29, 2009 2:50 am Your best bet being a Queenslander is an easily obtainable Vibernam Emerald Lustre or as i nearly always suggest, Murraya Panniculata. Forget the over rated lily pily or screen master pittos which someone will no doubt suggest at some point Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 8Dec 30, 2009 1:15 pm Fu Manchu Your best bet being a Queenslander is an easily obtainable Vibernam Emerald Lustre or as i nearly always suggest, Murraya Panniculata. Forget the over rated lily pily or screen master pittos which someone will no doubt suggest at some point Ah, the Murraya... Mock Orange, or whatever you want to call the pest! It's about to be a declared pest in South Eath Queensland because of the spreading nature... Birds are attracted to the fruit, and then deposit these everywhere... The only thing that's holding out banning the selling of this plant is the nursery's screaming because they sell so many of them! About the only Lily pilly I would suggest is the mini version... Easy enough to control... Your problem will be that for something to grow to 2m and stay there is will more than likely be a shrub, which means its diameter is going to be about the 2m mark also... This will reduce your yard space considerably... You may want to think about something that grows taller, but only has "trunk" down lower... Electrical Engineer... Don't hold that against me... And keen owner builder... Mainly the building part!! Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 10Dec 30, 2009 7:52 pm If u have the space, I planted pittos hard against the fence that i wanted to some create privacy with the intention to plant something nicer in front of them. Once the front plant is at a height i like i will chop down the pitto and mulch it back into the garden beds. They grow very quick, i planted acemena smithii at the same time (same tub size) and the pittos are nearly double the height. Different scenario as i am in vicco and the lilly pilly's are a lot slower and hedge well out of the tropics. Pittos though go nuts without a huge amount of trimming. Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 12Jan 05, 2010 2:03 pm Or bamboo - but there's quite a few downsides to bamboo. Something a bit more unusual could be to make a light screen and grow passionfruit vines. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 13Jan 05, 2010 4:24 pm alfabeta The covenant requires 1 plant that is 2 metres in height and 5 more that are 1 metre in height, planted in the front yard. When do they have to be that height? Surely it's not expected that you will find the money to buy an advanced plant just when you've got all the expenses of moving, and then it's all wasted if you don't keep the water up to it and make sure it settles in okay. Much as I hate having people in the street who do nothing at all for years and years or who plant totally inappropriate plants, I do wonder about some of these covenants, are they really making the neighbourhood better for everyone? BeatrixKiddo Pittos though go nuts without a huge amount of trimming. All I can say is yes. Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 14Jan 05, 2010 6:56 pm Aah, Murraya ... my favourite ... would always always always replant them, lots of them ... especially closer to doors and windows so you can enjoy them even "remotely" (the amazing perfume) ... only, they are such slooooooooooooow growers !?!?!? One of ours took good 10 years to actually start being a proper shrub!! Love them ! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 15Jan 05, 2010 8:02 pm yep fair call on the Murrayas in SEQ Put it this way if any grower I knew could get a 30-45ltr pot size to have a healthy 1.5-2m plant in it in 12 months they would wet their pants with excitement Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 16Jan 05, 2010 8:14 pm Fu Manchu, Sorry if I am going off topic but why don't you like the pittosporums? I have just planted 6 along our fence and I want them to grow as quickly and as high as possible (new neighbours with children who perch on the rock shelf high in their yard and watch us as we swim in the pool - very unnerving when you are of 'mature' years). They are the James Stirling variety and labelled as having non-invasive root systems. They are close to our sewer pipe. Is there a problem which I should know about? Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 17Jan 05, 2010 8:49 pm Because they are a Mc plant. Also I am yet to see a happy healthy specimen that looks that way for a long time. And I've grown and used a few They get disease easy as especially scale which is bloody hard to get rid of. (visit goodbugs.org I think it is for alternative pest management) I have also had issues with unhealthy root systems on them. So many times they look awful, give the base a shake and there is a root ball the size of a basket ball trying desperately to sustain these huge shrubs. They get messy dropping bloody leaves and stress easy from my experience. No doubt so many of you haven't noticed this or just not experienced this but that is my experience and it is a fair bit of experience too By the way I've grown them in Melbourne and WA. Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 18Jan 05, 2010 10:05 pm Thanks Fu, Doesn't sound positive but at least I can keep a close eye on them for scale and I'll do my best to coddle them so they don't get stressed. At least the reference to the small root ball gives me some comfort as I had visions of them overtaking our sewer pipe. This reply also explains why another neighbour's pittosporum dropped dead virtually overnight. I'll have to show her this reply as I am sure she thinks I had a hand in its demise as it was in a very inconvenient spot when reversing our car. I swear I am innocent. Thank you Fu. Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 19Jan 05, 2010 10:07 pm BTW, what about installing some slat panels at the critical areas and then underplant them with your favourites. You will have instant screening which you can eventually pull out (carefully ), once your plants are big enough. The panels can be made of timber or colourbond or whatever suits your other outdoor theme ... We have the same thoughts and we already decided on panels (well, if only other, more important things would come good ) ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: What bushes would grow in 12 months to 2 metres??? 20Jan 05, 2010 10:10 pm Hmmm, I'm a bit surprised about the pittosporum ... we had quite a big one (about 3m big ball ), and it was on full sun, no protection, and I never noticed any problems at all (for >10 years). Only once it had a few small branches burnt on a 45 degree heat (or more!!), and that's it ... Lucky, I guess My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 21927 Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 6692 |