The Green Thumb Thread

[KichigaiNeko]

Yep...totally new site. establishing trees is the first step. As for "lawn" we are looking towards a very small patch in the 'backyard' mainly because Zen likes grass under his feet. Synthetic Lawn is on the front verge and was part of the "Landscaping Package" from the developer. I can't wait 'til I can replace that ugly Agonis flexuosa with a Sapium sebiferum (Triadica sebifera)

[Whateverist]

Ah hah, so there is an important thread on these forums. Looks like there may be lots of gardeners and hortheads here. Thanks for the tip, Kichi.

Here is a plot plan I drew of our side yard. Our little, 100 year old warehouse is forty feet wide along the street and is tucked into the southwest corner of the lot. The lot is a 100 feet along the street and goes back 120 feet. Not huge but bigger than most in my area. Most industrial buildings around here have much less uncovered ground. I've been making this garden for going on 20 years now, my first and only. I sometimes kid about spending my afterlife as compost. Really, not such a bad prospect I think.




This is the drawing I did centered on our back garden. This is the area I've been gardening in the longest.

[KichigaiNeko]

You have an Outdoor Hot-tub?? Kewl!! Always wanted one of those...never had the space.

All my drawings for our landscaping have just been rough sketches as Zen likes to change his mind ALOT. Suppose I could put pencil to graph paper and do one (or six) Maybe I should stop being slack?? I do have a "Folder" (quaint manual one) that holds all our ideas and what we have done so far, might have something in there.

So alot of Aussie Natives are doing well in your garden??

[Whateverist]

About the drawings, I made them after the fact - not to steer the design of the garden. I'm with you guys on that. Why pin yourself down? No point.

I just got a new shrub from down your way, Acacia merinthophora. The popular name is "Zig zag Wattle". I find its leaves hang down like a Calder mobile. I've also got what we call an Australian Tea tree, Leptospermum laevigatum that was one of the first trees I planted. I suppose most of the southern hemisphere plants I have come Chile and south american generally. The plants from Oz you see everywhere are Agapanthus and Kangaroo paws. The grevelias and others of the protea family are much admired but so hard to grow.

I feel pretty much the same way you do about growing natives, except that many that are from California are new to me anyway. So if they look amazing I'll take them. I consider their being well adapted a bonus but I'm no purist. There are lots of purists around here who think there are moral reasons to grow only natives. I just grow what pleases my eye and I have no xenophobia toward plants from other places.

[KichigaiNeko]

My favourite Acacia is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_podalyriifolia

It's the only one that smells strongly of "Baby Powder" to me and I love it's silvery leaves


Yeah I should get back into the whole gardening plotting and planning thing...summer here has been a great disappointment and right now I am waiting for the cooler weather to do something about it.

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I am to understand that California planted a great many Eucalypts but forgot to devise a Fire plan...it was so sad to watch as Oaklands went up all those years ago.

[KichigaiNeko]

Heartbreaking devastation for the 'flowerbox'

Reworked and hydrated soil later.....

Let's see how we go with less water dependant and more UV tolerant plants....

[Whateverist]

Perhaps succulents? Most pelargoniums can tolerate a lot of deprivation without loss of leaf or flower.

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My favourite Acacia is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_podalyriifolia

It's the only one that smells strongly of "Baby Powder" to me and I love it's silvery leaves


Yeah I should get back into the whole gardening plotting and planning thing...summer here has been a great disappointment and right now I am waiting for the cooler weather to do something about it.

---

I am to understand that California planted a great many Eucalypts but forgot to devise a Fire plan...it was so sad to watch as Oaklands went up all those years ago.

I remember that fire well. Driving back from bicycling with the wife and kiddo it was hard to tell where the fire was. Fortunately it was in the hills and we're along the bay. I remember seeing burning debris wafting down the freeway. Pretty freaky. Good luck with the drought. If things don't pick up here soon, we're going into one too.

[KichigaiNeko]

Honey we have a La Nina here now and will have to delve DEEP through tones of water to find Field Capacity soil!!
Western Australia is still doing what it does best...hot days and clear skies over summer... The UV index is through the roof!! (for this particular garden bed) So now I am going for more sclerophyllous foliage and higher water deprivation tolerance. The poor Lapins Cherry - Prunus avium sp. is suffering badly from sun scorch. Would you believe that the bloody plant is flowering??

Bush fire is a common thing here and yes I have had to 'run the gauntlet' in the 1993? fire that encircled Sydney...scary times but hey ...that is what the Australian bush does best thanks to Aboriginal cultivation practices... since the gods know when.

[KichigaiNeko]

Sorry mate ... your flicka pic won't post?
http://atheistforums.org/thread-11554-po...#pid263621

[zip_ster]

I can do low maintenance plants:

sunflower hybrid

coneflower

iris