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#1
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
Hi
I finally got someone in to fix the retic in my enclosed garden today. The soil is in bad shape, it's grey sand & is water repellant, & the garden is in a position where it gets a little direct sunlight on summer mornings & no direct sunlight the rest of the year. I started today by cleaning out the leaf litter & bricks, attacking the soil with soil wetter & tomorrow will dig composted mulch and a mix of different animal poos into the soil. I might put the mostly well composted leaf litter back on top once this is done... not sure yet. Does anyone have any suggestions as to the kinds of plants that might do well in the garden? It's already got a couple of medium sized umbrella trees but that's it. Because this garden is visible from the bath, I would eventually like to put some lights in the garden & so I guess some nice looking foliage would be the go... I was thinking of maybe some Clivia or fishbone ferns in the front to cover the view of the paving... How would grasses & Yucca go in this kind of environment? I'm not all that fussed about flowers & leafy green foliage. -- Wanda aka Willow The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances garden gnome http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow ~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~ |
#2
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
"Willow" wrote in message news Hi I finally got someone in to fix the retic in my enclosed garden today. The soil is in bad shape, it's grey sand & is water repellant, & the garden is in a position where it gets a little direct sunlight on summer mornings & no direct sunlight the rest of the year. I started today by cleaning out the leaf litter & bricks, attacking the soil with soil wetter & tomorrow will dig composted mulch and a mix of different animal poos into the soil. I might put the mostly well composted leaf litter back on top once this is done... not sure yet. Does anyone have any suggestions as to the kinds of plants that might do well in the garden? It's already got a couple of medium sized umbrella trees but that's it. Because this garden is visible from the bath, I would eventually like to put some lights in the garden & so I guess some nice looking foliage would be the go... I was thinking of maybe some Clivia or fishbone ferns in the front to cover the view of the paving... How would grasses & Yucca go in this kind of environment? I'm not all that fussed about flowers & leafy green foliage. -- Wanda aka Willow The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances garden gnome http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow ~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~ No Yucca... it likes sun sun and more sun. Mondo grass might survive. Spider plant? Looks nice for the first couple of years if you keep water up to it, but eventually gets icky. Periwinkle? A really bad weed in shaded wet areas, but in an enclosed area this is not a problem. You could go with the water theme and put in a pond with small fountain and goldfish. If I were you I'd probably get a few nice large pots to put amongst the less fancy permanent plantings, and also get a small hand trolley to shift them safely. Then you can rotate nice stuff into view and give the plants a holiday on your back verandah when they get tired. |
#3
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
Thanks. I should have asked about plants that tolerate low light & are
drought tolerant. -- Wanda aka Willow The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances garden gnome http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow ~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~ silvasurfa wrote in message . .. "Willow" wrote in message news Hi I finally got someone in to fix the retic in my enclosed garden today. The soil is in bad shape, it's grey sand & is water repellant, & the garden is in a position where it gets a little direct sunlight on summer mornings & no direct sunlight the rest of the year. I started today by cleaning out the leaf litter & bricks, attacking the soil with soil wetter & tomorrow will dig composted mulch and a mix of different animal poos into the soil. I might put the mostly well composted leaf litter back on top once this is done... not sure yet. Does anyone have any suggestions as to the kinds of plants that might do well in the garden? It's already got a couple of medium sized umbrella trees but that's it. Because this garden is visible from the bath, I would eventually like to put some lights in the garden & so I guess some nice looking foliage would be the go... I was thinking of maybe some Clivia or fishbone ferns in the front to cover the view of the paving... How would grasses & Yucca go in this kind of environment? I'm not all that fussed about flowers & leafy green foliage. -- Wanda aka Willow The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances garden gnome http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow ~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~ No Yucca... it likes sun sun and more sun. Mondo grass might survive. Spider plant? Looks nice for the first couple of years if you keep water up to it, but eventually gets icky. Periwinkle? A really bad weed in shaded wet areas, but in an enclosed area this is not a problem. You could go with the water theme and put in a pond with small fountain and goldfish. If I were you I'd probably get a few nice large pots to put amongst the less fancy permanent plantings, and also get a small hand trolley to shift them safely. Then you can rotate nice stuff into view and give the plants a holiday on your back verandah when they get tired. |
#4
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
"Willow" wrote in message ... Thanks. I should have asked about plants that tolerate low light & are drought tolerant. Sorry, I sorta got the impression you were fixing the water problem by improving the soil etc. I've seen a lot of black pebble mulch recently with clumpy type plants like mondo grass sticking out of it, that's an OK look. You willing to water much while things establish, or does it have to be drought tolerant from day 1? |
#5
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
On Sat, 15 Feb 2003 18:05:00 +0800, "Willow"
wrote: Hi I finally got someone in to fix the retic in my enclosed garden today. The soil is in bad shape, it's grey sand & is water repellant, & the garden is in a position where it gets a little direct sunlight on summer mornings & no direct sunlight the rest of the year. Sounds like it might be a good spot for Cliveas - they like shady dry spots with no frost. Tish |
#6
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
"silvasurfa" wrote in message . .. "Willow" wrote in message ... Thanks. I should have asked about plants that tolerate low light & are drought tolerant. Sorry, I sorta got the impression you were fixing the water problem by improving the soil etc. I've seen a lot of black pebble mulch recently with clumpy type plants like mondo grass sticking out of it, that's an OK look. You willing to water much while things establish, or does it have to be drought tolerant from day 1? Another idea... those self watering pots, so you can have nice stuff without having to water much (but make them plants that can dry out occasionally, to avoid a mosquito problem). I've got a lovelly combo of spider plant and that plant with the leaves speckled with pink that is growing in a self watering pot in south aspected shade. |
#7
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
-- Wanda aka Willow The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances garden gnome http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow ~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~ silvasurfa wrote in message . .. "silvasurfa" wrote in message . .. "Willow" wrote in message ... Thanks. I should have asked about plants that tolerate low light & are drought tolerant. Sorry, I sorta got the impression you were fixing the water problem by improving the soil etc. I've seen a lot of black pebble mulch recently with clumpy type plants like mondo grass sticking out of it, that's an OK look. You willing to water much while things establish, or does it have to be drought tolerant from day 1? Another idea... those self watering pots, so you can have nice stuff without having to water much (but make them plants that can dry out occasionally, to avoid a mosquito problem). I've got a lovelly combo of spider plant and that plant with the leaves speckled with pink that is growing in a self watering pot in south aspected shade. I've never really been all that keen on Spider plants, but I guess I could have a hanging basket with it in since there's a retic drip hanging from one of the rafters in the garden area. I was thinking of putting a fuscia in it, but I'm really after foliage plants rather than flowering plants. I went to the nursery at lunchtime today & had a look around. Seems like most of the suitable plants are leafy green plants. Oh well I might put some variegated mondo grass or fairly lights in to cover the borders & then some plants with nice & colourful foliage behind. I've already got a Moses in the Cradle & some of the pink spotty stuff you mentioned suffering in a pot, I might try them in the garden, or in pots as you suggest & see how they do. |
#8
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
"Willow" writes:
I might put some variegated mondo grass or fairly lights in to cover the borders & then some plants with nice & colourful foliage behind. I've Careful with the varigated plants. They need stronger light than the plain variety to compensate for their patchy chlorophyll. If the area is as low in light as you imply, the plain green mondo (short or ordinary) might do better. Perhaps try both. Just a thought. The black mondo can look nice, in the right setting, but I don't know their light requirements. -- John Savage (newsgroup email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup) |
#9
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
Wanda
aka Willow The missing and definitely not to be taken seriously under any circumstances garden gnome http://www.2000cn.com.au/~willow ~~faeries are able to fly because they take themselves lightly~ ----- Original Message ----- From: John Savage Newsgroups: aus.gardens Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2003 7:35 AM Subject: Low Light, Low Water Plants "Willow" writes: I might put some variegated mondo grass or fairly lights in to cover the borders & then some plants with nice & colourful foliage behind. I've Careful with the varigated plants. They need stronger light than the plain variety to compensate for their patchy chlorophyll. If the area is as low in light as you imply, the plain green mondo (short or ordinary) might do better. Perhaps try both. Just a thought. The black mondo can look nice, in the right setting, but I don't know their light requirements. I was considering black mondo grass, but with the area already shaded & with the soil colour as it is (black with all the compost & poo I put in it last weekend), the grass would fade into significance. I have been considering putting some white gravel down as mulch... so I guess if I did that the black mondo grass would look ok. Does putting gravel down as mulch improve or damage the soil at all? I'm in Perth so the "soil" is grey sand & is already fairly water repellant. |
#10
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Low Light, Low Water Plants
"Willow" writes:
putting some white gravel down as mulch... so I guess if I did that the black mondo grass would look ok. Does putting gravel down as mulch improve or damage the soil at all? I'm in Perth so the "soil" is grey sand & is already fairly water repellant. Ordinary mondo looks nice, even in shade, and it is quite drought tolerant. Here in Sydney I've seen it growing in full Summer sun in obviously unwatered gardens, and while it does brown off, it manages to rejuvenate when the weather cools. I don't know much about stone mulch. But I'd expect it would reduce moisture loss, and would moderate the temperature swing of the soil by interposing a large thermal mass between the soil and the air. After watching Quantum on ABC tonight, I'll add that neither will it fuel spot fires during a bushfire! (Apparently, many homes in Canberra were lost when embers set fire to garden mulch and the mulch channelled the flames around the yard and right up to the house.) On last Friday's Burkes Backyard Don spread white pebbles on top of some potting mix, so I guess you can take that as an endorsement. :-) -- John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n") |
#11
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I assuredly got anyone in to fix the retic in my amid garden today. The soil is in bad shape, it's blah beach & is baptize repellant, & the garden is in a position area it gets a little absolute sunlight on summer mornings & no direct sunlight the blow of the year.
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