Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 19, 2009 10:47 pm Hi all garden geniuses !! I have just about finished a build of a new home, and have a very narrow but long backyard. The house is on a corner and traffic can see into the house/yard pretty easily so I am looking to plant some trees/shrubs along the inside of the fence in a 1m wide garden bed (the space is only 3m deep). Trouble is I want something low maintenance, modern looking, and something that won't drown the space. The fence is 1.8m and I am looking at trees/shrubs that grow to about 2/2.5m adnd nothing wider than 1.2m. The backyard is North Facing and parts get a lot of sunlight, then graduates into a lot of shade (cast from house and fence, going more toward South side of house). I don't mind using a few varieties, I don't mind something that is leaf only or something with flowers, so long as its not too much along the lines of cypress pines or rose bushes (they are pretty, just don't have the time for them!) Any suggestions would be VERY appreciated as I am a little stuck. I have been really thinking about a few varieties and ruled them out now the build is nearly done, I have gone from thinking Bamboo (not really great in Canberra frost if I don't want them too high), Yuccas or Cannas, but ruled out Yuccas as I don't think they will work the best and Cannas because I am worried about them dominating the space (but they are SOOOOO pretty!!). Thank you all in advance Land Settled 02 Oct 11 Final Build contract Dec 11 Pre-Start 19 Jan 12 Construction Licence 25 Jan 12 Still waiting for final plans to go to slab list Blog @ http://nessieshouse.webs.com
Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 2Sep 20, 2009 7:19 am Sorry, one other thing...... Can anyone identify this tree? I think it is soooo pretty and might be a nice tree to go between my house and neighbours house at front (As our houses are crazy close and I want to break them up a little). http://img245.imageshack.us/i/photo038q.jpg/ http://img245.imageshack.us/i/photo039a.jpg/ (Sorry about pic quality.... damn phone camera!!) Thanks again! Land Settled 02 Oct 11 Final Build contract Dec 11 Pre-Start 19 Jan 12 Construction Licence 25 Jan 12 Still waiting for final plans to go to slab list Blog @ http://nessieshouse.webs.com Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 3Sep 20, 2009 8:04 am Leucadendrons- avail in shades ranging from pale yellows to burgundy. gorgeous, long lasting cut flowers too Proteas- look for shorter varieties as some get to 3 m bushes Osteospermums as 'fillers' for the bottom 40 cms of garden bed all are south african 'natives' and do well with native soil in aussie climate. easy to propagate too. Happy gardening Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 4Sep 21, 2009 12:06 am Hi vpande, Thank you very much for that!!! They are beautiful and would suit my yard exactly! I am a little worried that my soil might be too heavy and I might get too much frost (-2 to -6 here in winter) but I am going to start making local inquiries!!! The Leucadendron Winter Gold would be absolutely perfect!!! So again thank you sooooo much!!! Land Settled 02 Oct 11 Final Build contract Dec 11 Pre-Start 19 Jan 12 Construction Licence 25 Jan 12 Still waiting for final plans to go to slab list Blog @ http://nessieshouse.webs.com Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 5Sep 21, 2009 9:59 am Your tree looks like a flowering pear. Absooolutely beautiful decidious trees, often planted as avenue trees in the US. See these images http://images.google.com.au/images?sour ... e&resnum=1 As for leucodendrons, they should cope with an occasional frost, in their native environment they do get frost sometimes. I think the South Africans call them black frosts as grass turns black after it rolls down. Maggie Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 6Sep 21, 2009 2:28 pm Thank you so much Maggie!!! That looks exactly like it! They are such a headturner in full bloom that I thought they might be nice out the front of my house.... nothing like stopping traffic Thanks for the advice too about the leucadendrons, they are so beautiful and perfect for what I want that I am very keen to give them a try (even if it means babying them in the first year or two!! LOL) Land Settled 02 Oct 11 Final Build contract Dec 11 Pre-Start 19 Jan 12 Construction Licence 25 Jan 12 Still waiting for final plans to go to slab list Blog @ http://nessieshouse.webs.com Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 7Sep 21, 2009 9:23 pm Hi nessbrown, Are you in canberra? Here in melbourne I got decent sized leucadendrons (100mm pots) for $6 each. got safari sunset x2 and few proteas. for frosty days they have yates drought shield spray. beside the fence line you might be frost protected too unlike the open empty spaces. Happy gardening! Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 8Sep 21, 2009 10:29 pm I've seen a few in my street so it seems they do okay here. Nice looking plants. I remember researching them and finding out something about . . . soil? Needs good drainage, or fussy about ph, or maybe both? Might be worth checking. Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 9Sep 22, 2009 2:55 am Hi Macy, Glad to know other people have them around these parts! Thank you for that! And yep, it seems they are fussy about both. They need drainage (well drained and preferably sandy but will grow in anything as long as drainage is good) and requires more acidic soil (ph below 6) from what I have read so far. They also don't tolerate nitrates and phosphates. I think I should be able to work with that, I just have to do more research about drainage now and how to prepare the garden bed for them! It also appears now is the best time to buy and plant them..... so I am sooooo happy to have recieved this suggestion and all the great feedback!!!!! Land Settled 02 Oct 11 Final Build contract Dec 11 Pre-Start 19 Jan 12 Construction Licence 25 Jan 12 Still waiting for final plans to go to slab list Blog @ http://nessieshouse.webs.com Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 10Oct 02, 2009 4:15 pm Yep those trees are exactly as Maggie said As for the Leucs I prefer the Leucaspermums to the Leucadendrons. Much better flowers Yeah the drainage is an excellent point. Check these guys web page out for a selection. They supply most of Australia. They are a wholesale only but by viewing the catalogue you can then pick what you want and in what pot size and then go to your local garden centre to order them. http://www.proteaflora.com.au/plant-search/leucadendron and the better (IMO) Leucaspermums http://www.proteaflora.com.au/plant-search/leucospermum Both make great showy hedges that have very little impact on our environment. Being a member of the Proteacea family they will be sensitive to most fertilisers But feed the soil organic material and not the plant and you will have little to worry about They have some excellent info for care and maintenance on the web page too. http://www.proteaflora.com.au/growing-proteas I guess for us West Aussies, just bung them in the ground and water occasionally. Maybe even swear at them when you walk past and they will grow for you. We are lucky here Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 11Oct 02, 2009 7:02 pm Traditional options would be Vibernum Tinus, Murraya panniculata, Heaps of Grevillea varieties, hedge up some Agonis afterdarks even. Vibernum emerald lustre is another, WA Hibiscus varieties like Alyogyne Huegelii or the hakea folia varieties. Albany wooley bushes would be a good go but you may need some gravel or sand in there first. Diosmas can be hedged, the raphs mentioned in that other thread are great as well. Virtually any shrub what so ever can be used. Even in the case of the agonis, a small tree can be hedged. In the past we have spoken about pleaching and espaliering fruit trees to provide a useful screen. Hey why couldn't you even hedge a bunch of citrus trees along there? No reason why not. I hate bloody lily pillys with a passion don't use them Re: Need ideas for plants to line inside of fenceline!!!! 12Oct 03, 2009 11:12 pm Hi Fu, Thank you so much for all that!!! I have gone and had a look at both, but it seems like the leucospermums require a little more humidity and sun than Canberra has they are rather lovely looking. Also looks as though they might get very bushy?? Wider than 1.5-2m?? Have also already gone to protea flower and become a member too!!!! LOL I have looked at some of the other options and believe me... lilly pillies are not anywhere on my list!!! I am not really after any of the traditional looks, as modern as possible but mabe a little pretty would be perfect. I reckon I am now pretty set on getting leucadendrons, Winter Gold and Safari Sunset for along the fenceline and Red devil for out the front to screen the neighbours out! I am pretty jelous they are so easy to grow in WA!!! My aunt grows them and reckons they are rediculously hardy. Hopefully I can replicate the same as I am really excited about getting them now. Oh, as for the citrus suggestion, I have actually been contemplating that with the pinkabelle trees..... I think that would be lovely too, we shall see when the realities of planting/drainage set in!!! Thank you sooooo much for all those posts again Fu!!!! Ness. Land Settled 02 Oct 11 Final Build contract Dec 11 Pre-Start 19 Jan 12 Construction Licence 25 Jan 12 Still waiting for final plans to go to slab list Blog @ http://nessieshouse.webs.com Hi all, Need some ideas for my front yard. There are a few elements where the landscaping needs to take into account: There is a slight slope forward with steps going to… 0 2988 Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 12121 In WA zero lot is actually zero lot. We build 10mm in from the boundary. My house and my neighbours house have garages that sit only 20mm apart. When I had our roof done… 3 7246 |