An afternoon landscaping the garden

[happypalms]

Silent the afternoon in the garden doing a bit of landscaping. I had 30 cubic meters of good topsoil delivered, the rocks are free lying around by the tonne load. With a bit of hard work you can create an oasis or a mini rainforest with some nice pathways. I will give the soil time to rest then plant when I get a chance too. I have so many new plants it going to be tough choice as to what plant gets planted in the prime spots. I guess it will come down to each particular palms requirement.

[peachy]

It looks good already.  When I have to get soil for the garden,  I have to buy it in the little bags that I can actually lift up.  I have a little rockpile here that one day will be edging for raised beds and I piled up rocks around the fish pond and am slowly filling up the space between the  pond and the rocks, bag by bloody bag of soil.

Peachy

[Harry’s Palms]

Very nice , I like the stones …..after they come out of the hole I’m trying to dig! I see plenty of nice palm real estate there . Plenty of filtered light and shady spots. With a plant supply like you have, it will soon fill in nicely. It already looks jungley the way it is . HarryEvery stone came from around the yard or dug out of holes where a palm now resides.

[SeanK]

5 hours ago, happypalms said:

Silent the afternoon in the garden doing a bit of landscaping. I had 30 cubic meters of good topsoil delivered, the rocks are free lying around by the tonne load. With a bit of hard work you can create an oasis or a mini rainforest with some nice pathways. I will give the soil time to rest then plant when I get a chance too. I have so many new plants it going to be tough choice as to what plant gets planted in the prime spots. I guess it will come down to each particular palms requirement.

Richard,

Thanks for sharing. Thanks double for photographing a plant that doesn't look "perfect". So many growers worry for the slightest yellow spot or chew mark. Your garden looks very natural.

SK

[happypalms]

9 hours ago, peachy said:

It looks good already.  When I have to get soil for the garden,  I have to buy it in the little bags that I can actually lift up.  I have a little rockpile here that one day will be edging for raised beds and I piled up rocks around the fish pond and am slowly filling up the space between the  pond and the rocks, bag by bloody bag of soil.

Peachy

It was landscaped 25 years ago. As a council regulation for the bio cycle sepitic water. But I  never backfilled it just planted around it. It was for looks for the council to pass the house inspection. I thought I better finish it off finally. Just slowly pick at your landscaping peachy. The bags of soil is a great idea. But bringing in soil is the go, and if you need any rocks I got tonnes of them for you. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Very nice , I like the stones …..after they come out of the hole I’m trying to dig! I see plenty of nice palm real estate there . Plenty of filtered light and shady spots. With a plant supply like you have, it will soon fill in nicely. It already looks jungley the way it is . HarryEvery stone came from around the yard or dug out of holes where a palm now resides.

It’s a great understory section of the garden I couldn’t resist renovating. Plus my nephew is staying with me and he can get of the internet and find out what life is about and do some work outside with his uncle. A nice arenga hookeriana or a dypsis scottiana and a couple of Zamias should work well giving a nice tropical look. Rocks you gotta love em for gardening a real pain in the…. But a great asset keep on digging em up Harry it means your still planting palms a good sign. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, SeanK said:

Richard,

Thanks for sharing. Thanks double for photographing a plant that doesn't look "perfect". So many growers worry for the slightest yellow spot or chew mark. Your garden looks very natural.

SK

We all have plants that look a bit tatty. Nowadays no one post nothing that looks not good it has to be that perfect looking plant. We have all killed plants throughout our gardening days and have plants that struggle in our gardens. I love plants no matter what they look like. I don’t fertilise my garden just mulch it. Ala natural I say just let it grow. 
Richard 

[KrisKupsch]

Richard, looks good, get much rain lately ? We got too much (again), the tropical conditions and soil moisture have made me dig many holes. Recently I planted 9 Lanonia dasyantha from 5L, 8 more altifrons, 1 Licuala sp. Malaysia, 1 Licuala halleriana, 1 Licuala valida, 3 Pigafetta elata, 1 Bactris thornless, Cyphosperma balansae from 500mm, several Calyptrocalyx…everything is going berserk…it’s like a wonderland !

[happypalms]

11 hours ago, KrisKupsch said:

Richard, looks good, get much rain lately ? We got too much (again), the tropical conditions and soil moisture have made me dig many holes. Recently I planted 9 Lanonia dasyantha from 5L, 8 more altifrons, 1 Licuala sp. Malaysia, 1 Licuala halleriana, 1 Licuala valida, 3 Pigafetta elata, 1 Bactris thornless, Cyphosperma balansae from 500mm, several Calyptrocalyx…everything is going berserk…it’s like a wonderland !

Around 150mm of rain. And iam digging holes like bandicoot everywhere. The next step is to buy an auger for my tractor. Then I will plant a stack of palms about half of the stock iam growing in my greenhouse will get planted out in the next five years for a twenty year stint on the garden. How about posting some of those beauties on palm talk?

[tim_brissy_13]

13 hours ago, KrisKupsch said:

Richard, looks good, get much rain lately ? We got too much (again), the tropical conditions and soil moisture have made me dig many holes. Recently I planted 9 Lanonia dasyantha from 5L, 8 more altifrons, 1 Licuala sp. Malaysia, 1 Licuala halleriana, 1 Licuala valida, 3 Pigafetta elata, 1 Bactris thornless, Cyphosperma balansae from 500mm, several Calyptrocalyx…everything is going berserk…it’s like a wonderland !

Need to see photos of that balansae Kris!

[happypalms]

10 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Need to see photos of that balansae Kris!

Don’t worry tim I got some seeds coming if all goes well 

[tim_brissy_13]

6 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Don’t worry tim I got some seeds coming if all goes well 

That was quick! I’ve got some balansae coming too but never had any luck with it from seed in the past. Hopefully this batch is fresh. 

[peachy]

16 hours ago, happypalms said:

We all have plants that look a bit tatty. Nowadays no one post nothing that looks not good it has to be that perfect looking plant. We have all killed plants throughout our gardening days and have plants that struggle in our gardens. I love plants no matter what they look like. I don’t fertilise my garden just mulch it. Ala natural I say just let it grow. 
Richard 

Well I only got about 15 mls of the rain here and I have to fertilise the (insert reproductive word here)out of it at least monthly to keep them alive and well.  I use organic mulch like Lucerne or Sugar Cane to keep the soil reasonably good.

Peachy

[happypalms]

9 hours ago, peachy said:

Well I only got about 15 mls of the rain here and I have to fertilise the (insert reproductive word here)out of it at least monthly to keep them alive and well.  I use organic mulch like Lucerne or Sugar Cane to keep the soil reasonably good.

Peachy

15ml what the that’s agony to watch that much rain all over the place and only get that much. Mulch is the go for your garden lucerne is the best over time it feeds the soil well over time. Most of my garden has an irrigation system but it certainly jacks up the electricity bill with a bore filling the tank and then a pressure pump after that double the cost to irrigate the garden. To irrigate correctly i would need 20 minute shifts daily and with over 30 shifts to manually operate that’s a lot of water and cost not to mention time. To set up a solenoid system run by a computer is the go one day I will get it. It comes at a cost to the environment also the water table the emissions from the electricity I consider the environment we live in, I might just go live on a tropical island in a bark hut to the heck with it all and eat coconuts all day.
Richard 

[peachy]

19 minutes ago, happypalms said:

15ml what the that’s agony to watch that much rain all over the place and only get that much. Mulch is the go for your garden lucerne is the best over time it feeds the soil well over time. Most of my garden has an irrigation system but it certainly jacks up the electricity bill with a bore filling the tank and then a pressure pump after that double the cost to irrigate the garden. To irrigate correctly i would need 20 minute shifts daily and with over 30 shifts to manually operate that’s a lot of water and cost not to mention time. To set up a solenoid system run by a computer is the go one day I will get it. It comes at a cost to the environment also the water table the emissions from the electricity I consider the environment we live in, I might just go live on a tropical island in a bark hut to the heck with it all and eat coconuts all day.
Richard 

Been there and done that with bore and pumps and pressure pumps. Constant nightmare. I am on town water, the bills are hair raising as this new house is on meter instead of a fixed rate. The pressure isnt good either but I divide the yard into small sections and give them an hour each. It drains away so quickly here for some reason and only a very heavy rain period gives it enough to do some good.  Bugger the tropical island.  I want a penthouse on the 50th floor with a huge glassed in terrace full of palms. That is my idea of paradise.

Peachy

 

[Tyrone]

30m3 of soil sounds like a lot but it’s amazing how the garden will eat that and more. Looking awesome Richard. 

[tim_brissy_13]

11 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

30m3 of soil sounds like a lot but it’s amazing how the garden will eat that and more. Looking awesome Richard. 

Even on my standard sized block, I got in about 21m3 of top soil/compost and 7m3 of mulch when I first did the garden, then another 7m3 of mulch again 2 years later. I could imagine how 30m3 would get spread pretty thin in a garden like Richard’s (or yours). 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, peachy said:

Been there and done that with bore and pumps and pressure pumps. Constant nightmare. I am on town water, the bills are hair raising as this new house is on meter instead of a fixed rate. The pressure isnt good either but I divide the yard into small sections and give them an hour each. It drains away so quickly here for some reason and only a very heavy rain period gives it enough to do some good.  Bugger the tropical island.  I want a penthouse on the 50th floor with a huge glassed in terrace full of palms. That is my idea of paradise.

Peachy

 

They call irritation not irrigation when it works it’s great. The day it doesn’t work it’s a headache. I work on 100 acres of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries most under hothouses. Get  a 40 degree day and a problem your in big trouble you have about 12 hours to get up and running again or the lot goes down then it’s a headache. Saved the day many a time while the boss is on holiday. Hmmm the penthouse sounds good to me is that with a personal chef I hope. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

30m3 of soil sounds like a lot but it’s amazing how the garden will eat that and more. Looking awesome Richard. 

It is a bit of soil the hard part is the wheel barrow part. My garden would eat it up like a kilo a prawns at a beach bbq.

[KrisKupsch]

20 hours ago, happypalms said:

Around 150mm of rain. And iam digging holes like bandicoot everywhere. The next step is to buy an auger for my tractor. Then I will plant a stack of palms about half of the stock iam growing in my greenhouse will get planted out in the next five years for a twenty year stint on the garden. How about posting some of those beauties on palm talk?

I’ve a fb page where I post my pics. 

[happypalms]

3 hours ago, KrisKupsch said:

I’ve a fb page where I post my pics. 

Good old Facebook.

[KrisKupsch]

14 hours ago, happypalms said:

Good old Facebook.

It’s a much more appropriate place for flurries of mediocre posts and prolonged rambling chats. Palmtalk for me is for more succinct information from intelligent gurus who don’t often or never use Facebook 

[Tyrone]

On 10/5/2024 at 7:23 AM, tim_brissy_13 said:

Even on my standard sized block, I got in about 21m3 of top soil/compost and 7m3 of mulch when I first did the garden, then another 7m3 of mulch again 2 years later. I could imagine how 30m3 would get spread pretty thin in a garden like Richard’s (or yours). 

Yes, soil improvement is a constant slow process. I’ve actually brought in course sand in large amounts which when mixed with peat becomes a sandy loam which is a perfect mix for palms. All organic matter goes to the chickens which once broken down goes back onto the garden. I could probably do with 200m3 of good organic free draining top soil here, and a Kubota. In any garden it’s all about the soil. 

[happypalms]

6 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Yes, soil improvement is a constant slow process. I’ve actually brought in course sand in large amounts which when mixed with peat becomes a sandy loam which is a perfect mix for palms. All organic matter goes to the chickens which once broken down goes back onto the garden. I could probably do with 200m3 of good organic free draining top soil here, and a Kubota. In any garden it’s all about the soil. 

It’s a challenge understanding what you need. Once you work out what you have to start with it’s easy. I come to the realisation just buy some good soil and do it the best way you can. It certainly helps the plants in the end. Plus iam going for a head start with the new plantings up against time in the years. The kubota tractor I purchased i should have got years ago no hernia later on with that machine.