30 years of Growth, Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia

[greysrigging]

This year, ( 2017 ) is the 30th year since I started collecting palms and attempted to cultivate various species on my house block in the northern suburb of Leanyer, Darwin. 

I have dug up a few photos of my yard  and the various plantings over the decades. My hobby re palms is one more of ignorance rather than knowledge and to be sure I have had way more failures than sucesses. Darwin, whilst at 11 or 12 degrees south of the equator, might seem like the ideal location for palm cultivation......however we suffer a fairly brutal Wet/Dry Monsoonal climate. And the soils in the Darwin region are relatively poor and require extensive mulching and fertilizing. I average around 1800mm ( 72" ) per annum in my suburb but this falls between October and April. The other 5 months are practically rainless. My house block is on a rocky hill and the soil here is non existant.....we call it coffee rock. 

I bought my house in July 1987 ( the driest month of the year ) and I planted a few Carpentaria  Palms that I had grown from seed. Carpies are a Top End native and in hindsight are the messiest palm known to man ! But they are very fast growers and can handle the seasonal drought. July is not the optimum time for planting.....I had to scratch a shallow hole, fill it with water, let it soak in for a day then scratch some more and soak some more then use a crowbar to get the required depth to plant the new palms. Yes indeed it was mission !

The coconut in the middle of the yard was planted by the previous owners. Its now 40' tall......and fruiting. 

Those first few weeks digging holes was definitely a labor of love.

[greysrigging]

This pic is 18 months later .....yes, the results of ample dry season watering and wet season rain and lots of mulch and a local fertilizer called Tropigrow 10/97.

 

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The view looking east from my front verandah in 1987

View from the same spot 2017

 

 

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Another view from my front verandah 1988

Back yard in 1988

About 12 to 18 months of growth. Golden Canes planted on the front fenceline. The coconut in the center is starting to grow thanks to a lot of watering. The Carpentarias along the driveway are powering along.

This photo shows 2 and a half years growth. 1989

2017

Front yard in 1994. The yellow flowering tree is Cassia Fistula or Golden Shower Tree. The pink flowering tree is a Hong Kong Orchid Tree (  Bauhinia )

Triangle Palms on the nature strip......the wilt got 'em over the years, only 2 survivors in 2017

Before the plantings on the nature strip.

About a year later maybe 1990.

[realarch]

Thanks for the photos, glad you still had them after all these years. The bit of history and info was also interesting. 

Would like to see one of the front of the house today, 40' coconut and all.

Although my garden is only 9 years old, I get a kick out of seeing the 'befores and afters.' 

Tim

[greysrigging]

These photos taken in 1995, growth after 7 or 8 years

Gloriosa climbing lilly on the Triangle Palm.

About 2003

Hidden gems popping up during the 'Wet'

[greysrigging]

10 minutes ago, realarch said:

Thanks for the photos, glad you still had them after all these years. The bit of history and info was also interesting. 

Would like to see one of the front of the house today, 40' coconut and all.

Although my garden is only 9 years old, I get a kick out of seeing the 'befores and afters.' 

Tim

Lots of recent photos on my other thread http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/52987-suburban-block-darwin-australia/

The aforementioned coconut last week..... center of pic

[The Palm Nut]

Great photo's, your garden looks great. What a change from the earlier photos.

Thanks for sharing.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

amazing growth

[greysrigging]

Christmas 1989....nearly 2 and a half years of growth

About 2003/2004

I think its a Washingtonia of some sort. Was one of twp palms in my yard when I bought the house in 1987.

Thats it there on the right in 1987

 

[realarch]

Thanks Doug, wonderful photos. I've seen a couple of 30 yo palm gardens here in Hilo.......they too are jungles.

Tim

Edited March 31, 2017 by realarch
Wrong name

[DoomsDave]

Great pictures!

Love how the old ones have that misty, nostalgic glow . . . .

 

[Palmdude129]

This is amazing and inspirational. I bought my house year ago and I have already planted over 25 palms and dozens of other trees. Thank you for sharing these memories and photos.

[greysrigging]

7 hours ago, Palmdude129 said:

This is amazing and inspirational. I bought my house year ago and I have already planted over 25 palms and dozens of other trees. Thank you for sharing these memories and photos.

Well, I planted with 90% ignorance and 10% knowledge.....but then again I have always thought that gardening at 12*S of the Equator and 72" rain per annum and nil water restrictions in the 'dry season' ( although user pays ).....how hard can it be ?.....lol !

[Tomw]

Thank you for sharing this journey, the pictures are great!

[palmfriend]

What a great documentary and thank you so much for sharing all these beautiful photos!

Best regards -

palmfriend

 

[Yunder Wækraus]

Love it!

[ChrisA]

Great Post!  I know they are not the most popular palms out there, but I couldn't help but notice the beautiful Washy robusta from a young'in in 1987. Although certainly not the most stunning palm in your wonderful collection, I think it adds something quite special to the rest. Thanks for allowing us on your garden's trip through time!

[doranakandawatta]

6 hours ago, Yunder Wækraus said:

Love it!

Yes, I also did, but I can't imagine how I'll be in 30 years at the time I would like to see the palms we planted in Doranakanda gardens: compost !

[doranakandawatta]

18 hours ago, Palmdude129 said:

This is amazing and inspirational. I bought my house year ago and I have already planted over 25 palms and dozens of other trees. Thank you for sharing these memories and photos.

Don't forget to make photographs, and remove the trees as soon as they take too much space for your palms (you'll see, the number of your palms will increase like ...)

BTW : Welcome on Palmtalk , please post 25 pics of your first plants.

[Palmdude129]

What palms impressed you the most in growth over time?

Did you have a landscape design in mind when planting them or did you just want a jungle? Lol I'm starting to think my yard will look a lot like yours in 20-30 years.

[greysrigging]

8 hours ago, Palmdude129 said:

What palms impressed you the most in growth over time?

Did you have a landscape design in mind when planting them or did you just want a jungle? Lol I'm starting to think my yard will look a lot like yours in 20-30 years.

The plan was,,,,no plan !....lol .  I was very dumb at all things gardening although I did have a farming background as a kid.

Many people just assume that growing palms in the tropics is quite easy. In equatorial regions with nice volcanic soils maybe so......however, Darwin at 12*S has an extreme Monsoonal Wet/Dry climate and the low humidity and constant drying south easterly winds of the 'dry' months do take their toll on many species. I shudder to think about the dollars I have spent over the years to achieve the 'jungle' look when really in the Top End true jungle is restricted to Riparian permanent spring fed creeks and waterholes within 200klm of the northern coast..

We have an enormous variety of equatorial, tropical and sub tropical species that can be successfully cultivated in Darwin, however, substantial supplemental watering is necessary for about 6 or 7 months of the year. The City and suburban soils are pretty poor and we need to mulch and fertilize heavily to get that 'tropical' look happening.

Our local native Carpentaria is the speedster for growth. They handle the seasonal drought without too much stress, as does my Alexandra specimans, although I used to water them heavily when they were smaller. Cuban Royals grow very fast in our climate as does the various Caryota species. Any species from Madagascar does well here as does the weed Coconut....lol.    Under our climate my Washingtonia has been a real speedster in fact it towers over my driveway avenue of Carpentarias.  Wodyetia and Normanbya palms thrive in our climate as it is very similar to their natural habitat in tropical north Queensland. Also the tropical and sub tropical Livistonias do well in my garden. Ptychosperma MacArthurii and Elegens grow quickly and seed prolifically, in fact in my understory jungle, Macarthur and Caryota seedlings are the dominant plants along with ( seasonally ) Queen palms. Local bird species love the seeds of these palms and spread the the seedlings accordingly.

Betel Nut does well in Darwin, as does Sealing Wax,but all lowland equatorial species need dry season watering to thrive or survive in Darwin.