Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Mar 22, 2010 7:43 pm Fu, I am wondering about this whole full sun part shade business. I inherited a mature garden in parts and I have plants defying their growing habit like japonica camiellias in 10 hours full sun including arvo sun, and new ez growing well in full shade/dappled shade. Obvoiusly plants adapt eventually but I am wondering if our light in southern oz packs more of a punch than closer to the equator? Constantly I find plants saying full sun just getting butchered through summer, surviving but looking pathetic. Put them in mostly shade and they are fine. So having said that take citrus for example, they need 6 + hours of sun a day, would they fruit well on less light down south? It feels like our sunlight is a two for one compared to say qld, for example in summer u start getting sunburnt in around 15-20 min in melb without protection. Cheers, B Re: Fu, question about light 2Apr 01, 2010 1:18 am Your experiences have many answers. One reason is that Australia is bloody big. I know over here in the West we treat Eastern states info and tags as a bit tongue in cheek What is full sun here is something else all together over your way and something not often considered is soil types as well. There are many plants out there that are not what they claim. This is especially true of many PBR'd varietes we are seeing flooding the market from breeders sometimes a bit too keen to cash in on a plant that maybe needed a better trial time. So many flaxes and Cordies turning to crap on people to the point where I see a strong swing away from them now. Flaxes in particular. Dianellas and Lomandra are rightfully attaining their place as a landscape option. far better choices Sydney offers more favourable conditions for growing in sun than say cities further South. Less ozone layer has a heap to do with it and this is particularly true of WA ie no ozone layer in the South burns the crap out of our plants. Then we get to a big picture topic dear to my heart and that of many key people in Horticulture in many areas. That of urban landscape choices. As we choose to use more syn turf, more pebbles, more paving, more dark roofs and less trees and sparse plantings of a few flaxes and cordylines we are altering our cities climates. It isn't cars etc that offer the change, it is our gardens! Yes we can all make a massive difference! We all hold the greatest chance of changing things. Oh it's just a bit of paving, oh it's just a bit of syn turf, oh it is just one dark roof. It all is adding up to make for hotter cities! Perth is an exceptional example of this. We are changing our summer rain fall and the choices we make in landscaping are having one of and arguably the greatest impact on that. What was info based on 10 years ago is not going be so relevant to now This is why I put so much effort into getting you guys the sorts of info that is years ahead of what you currently read in glossy magazines and in tv shows Re: Fu, question about light 3Apr 06, 2010 8:25 am Thanks for the response, as everyone from southern oz has probably noticed when they are higher is oz the sun is far more gentle than down here. Funny that NZ flax etc do badly considering they are further south than us. I have noticed that certain types of flax preform bad there are some that go quite well. I think a bit of the problem is people see them as no irrigation plants and plop them in and forget about them thinking they are like a native. Hence they look a bit pooy. It is interesting, i think plants further south actually thrive on far less full sun than further north and in turn take way longer to get used our full sun. Re: Fu, question about light 4May 16, 2010 4:43 pm Ok I've got a very stupid question. I've got an area that is next to the northern fence on my block. In winter (i.e. now) it doesn't get much direct sun. In summer, it gets direct sun as the sun is more overhead. How do I classify this area? Full Sun? Partial Sun? I'm thinking of growing fruit trees here (deciduous) - so does it even matter if it's not sunny in winter? Also if the trees are high enough (over 5 foot), they don't get the sun blocked out by the fence. So what's my area classified as? slooi1 Re: Fu, question about light 5May 24, 2010 8:08 pm Hi slooi1, I would classify your area as a southern fence . Some orchardists say it is a perfect location for deciduous fruit trees, in particular those that need a long chill hours (see this link http://www.sandybarnursery.com/choosing-fruit-trees.htm ) to fruit well. The tropical fruit trees need the other fence, ie. northern one . maggie Re: Fu, question about light 7Sep 28, 2010 11:16 pm BeatrixKiddo Thanks for the response, as everyone from southern oz has probably noticed when they are higher is oz the sun is far more gentle than down here. Funny that NZ flax etc do badly considering they are further south than us. I have noticed that certain types of flax preform bad there are some that go quite well. I think a bit of the problem is people see them as no irrigation plants and plop them in and forget about them thinking they are like a native. Hence they look a bit pooy. It is interesting, i think plants further south actually thrive on far less full sun than further north and in turn take way longer to get used our full sun. NZ has some of the newest and most fertile soils in the world. Australia has some of the most ancient. NZ has wonderful regular rainfall compared with us. NZ has more humidity. NZ has a whole bunch of things we don't have here in Aust. That why the flaxes grow well there and not so easily here Bro Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 11696 That was always going to be a challenge and a test of patience. Full marks to your mate. Did you discuss the wet area near the trampoline? 16 17361 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 19987 |