Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 05, 2010 10:23 am Hi all, I am after some ideas for planting out our garden beds behind our retaining walls, in particular screening plants. What we are dealing with: We have a concrete sleeper retaining wall around the perimeter of the back yard and most of the side way which varies in height up to 1mt at the highest point and it is set in 1.1mt from the fence line so we effectively have app 40mt of 1mt wide raised garden beds to plant. (not the best pic but it gives you an idea) http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv31/snhouse/DSC00238-1.jpg The beds were back filled with the soil from the site cut to about 2/3 of the height then we filled the rest up with compost and added gypsum, zeolite and green bio. Been “trying” to dig it all through but its hard work with the rock hard clay! During the warmer months most of these areas get around 60-70% sun and in the cooler months this drops off to around 40-50% sun due to shadowing from the fence and neighbouring houses. The Look: We want to create a modern/semi tropical look that will require low to medium maintenance. Plants that interest me so far are varieties of cordylines with coloured foliage like Rubra & Cointreau, Cycads, possibly date palms or other type of palm, Liriopes, Tanika, Blue fescue etc. Where I am struggling is trying to coming up with something for screening out neighbours on two sides (up to app 4mt high) whilst keeping in the theme. First instinct was Pitto’s or something like that but I don’t think it would work in well. At the moment I am leaning towards Alphonse Karr Bamboo as it is one of the more upright varieties that grows ok in Melb (so I have read anyway). Although I like the look of the foliage I can’t say I am a fan of the bare woody looking stems at the base so would ideally like to use the plants mentioned earlier staggered in front of the bamboo. So after all of that rambling, my questions are: Does anyone have any other suggestions of screening plants to keep in the theme of modern/semi tropical? Will the plants I have mentioned work in clayish soil and only part sun? And finally, is a 1mt wide garden bed enough space to plant all of this in? I would appreciate any help or advice you can give me. Cheers Re: Planting behind retaining walls 2Nov 05, 2010 11:28 am Your corner is going to look like our - we are in process of getting retaining wall. we are using blocks. We will be doing the same planting for screening. We will be loking at Bamboo (non invastive stuff and or banana palms... Things could change when we go to actually do it but so far these are our plans Re: Planting behind retaining walls 4Nov 09, 2010 9:25 am Anyone else have any ideas?????? Please There are a billion and one pics on the net to give inspiration for the normal garden situation but I am yet to come by much with a similar situation to what i am in. Any help would be great. Re: Planting behind retaining walls 5Nov 10, 2010 8:01 pm hey snhouse where did you get the sleepers??? Re: Planting behind retaining walls 6Nov 11, 2010 11:19 am Got them from http://www.flintstoned.com.au but there are a few places around. Are in in Melb? Also try www.modularconcretesleepers.com.au/index.html. Did it all ourselves! They come up great now just to work out what colour to paint them Re: Planting behind retaining walls 7Nov 17, 2010 11:23 am Are those concrete sleepers in your retaining walls?.. I am looking to do something similar and use it as a veggie patch. I like the way you are raising the height by a sleeper. I have a only a small area though. Looked at the website you purchased them from and noticed each sleeper is like 70kg..Can we DIY? Also, if you don't mind me asking how much does the sleepers cost and how is it holded together..I could see some form of steel poles but might be wrong... We wanted to do the same on the fence side as well as we have timber fence with treated wood... Thanks ... Re: Planting behind retaining walls 8Nov 17, 2010 12:28 pm Hey mishti yeah they are concrete sleepers and are held in place by the galvanised steel columns. Average around $30 each for the sleepers but there are lots of different varieties and sizes around so they vary. They do weigh that much and yes you can DIY, we did but it was very hard work. Re: Planting behind retaining walls 9Nov 18, 2010 2:05 pm Hi, We had a landscape plan done by a landscape architect and for the exact same scenario as you have he has recommended bamboo. Id go to a specialist bamboo place tho as there are so many different varieties that all have different looks and effects. Cass & Dec Santorini 28 - M3tric0n H0mes Springfield Lakes, Brisbane, Qld Blog: http://ournewhomebuild.blogspot.com/ Old Home Restoration / Renovation Hi, just discovered all these junks left behind under the floor. Could any of these be asbestos? Best to leave as it is or clean up? Thank you for your thoughts 0 8070 Render your bathroom walls, two opinions versus the one, makes you wonder. 3 6062 The spacing of the studs looks pretty large especially for a load bearing wall. 3 11116 |