it occurred to me the other day that i have no "grand plan" for my garden,
and i should perhaps therefore stop doing new things until i've thought of
one. but having said that, i'm not good at thinking of things which don't
exist yet, so i'm not quite sure what to do!! i don't object to the basic
layout, but then, maybe that's only because i can't think of anything
better!

is your garden all carefully planned? or would you rather just work with
what is already there? is it perhaps easier and better to think up small
changes as you go, in order to develop a bigger picture of how you would
like it to be? my original idea (cough) was to have "garden rooms" & all of
this, but now i can do that, i can't imagine where to begin!

i think though at this point, after 5 months residence, it's probably a good
idea to stop & take stock over winter. i spent the spring/summer getting the
veggies etc going, putting in as many annual flowers, flowering
ground-covers, & other cheering things in small patches as i could, chopping
down inappropriately-located trees & planting appropriate trees, etc, &
thinking about where i am going with this. but as i said, i can't think up
things which aren't there, so i've reached a standstill. maybe best for now
to work on the beds which are there while i think about things.

any ideas or advice? how do you do things at your place?
thanks!
kylie

G'day Kylie

While my yard had the basic landscaping done when I bought the house, I
did pull lots of stuff out.......eg, LARGE quantities of Dietes which
took over during the second year (back when it used to rain heaps)!! I
keep a clump of these in a pot these days in order to keep them under
control.

What I could see though, was that the landscapers had a basic colour
scheme so I decided to go with this...it also matches the house colours
and is quite a feat at times to find plants in a particular colour,
being burgundy, pink and cream/white. I quite like the challenge of
finding plants in these colours, it's something I haven't done in
previous gardens.

I don't have a 'grand plan' as such and just make changes as I think of
new ideas or see something in a magazine or on TV that I think might
suit, but having said that I did put a lot of thought into a couple of
trees that could be planted, in my now, small back yard. Previous
gardens have been several acres so I used to plant what I liked, found
at a special price or were given by other gardeners whose trees/shrubs
became too large for their space and needed to be moved to a new
location. One of these was a 'very' large cactus collection, with some
being 2 metres tall and with several trunks. An extremely dry area,
where nothing else would grow, was just perfect and they looked right at
home.

Bronwyn ;-)





0tterbot wrote:

it occurred to me the other day that i have no "grand plan" for my garden,
and i should perhaps therefore stop doing new things until i've thought of
one. but having said that, i'm not good at thinking of things which don't
exist yet, so i'm not quite sure what to do!! i don't object to the basic
layout, but then, maybe that's only because i can't think of anything
better!

is your garden all carefully planned? or would you rather just work with
what is already there? is it perhaps easier and better to think up small
changes as you go, in order to develop a bigger picture of how you would
like it to be? my original idea (cough) was to have "garden rooms" & all of
this, but now i can do that, i can't imagine where to begin!

i think though at this point, after 5 months residence, it's probably a good
idea to stop & take stock over winter. i spent the spring/summer getting the
veggies etc going, putting in as many annual flowers, flowering
ground-covers, & other cheering things in small patches as i could, chopping
down inappropriately-located trees & planting appropriate trees, etc, &
thinking about where i am going with this. but as i said, i can't think up
things which aren't there, so i've reached a standstill. maybe best for now
to work on the beds which are there while i think about things.

any ideas or advice? how do you do things at your place?
thanks!
kylie

any ideas or advice? how do you do things at your place?
thanks!
kylie

I suggest that you should do some minimum plan even if you are not a
very plan person. Here are some ideas:

1) Spend several sessions just observing your garden, preferably over
several seasons. Note the characteristics of each area, eg aspect,
view, sunny/shady, damp/dry, good soil/poor soil etc etc

2) List all the things that you want to do in your garden and their
requirements. For example:

- Install clothesline (needs to be easy access to the house, in the
sun and wind if possible)
- Allow kids to play (need grass, otherwise get rid of it!)
- Meditate (quiet)
- Grow veges (good sun and soil, access to water)
- Entertain (shade in summer, flat)
- Sunbake (privacy)

etc
etc

3) Work out where all the activities go and their priority
4) Work out if any earthworks or construction is required, these
generally must happen first, especially earthworks. You may get only
one chance (for example) to bring in trucks and equipment.
5) Start work on priority items and proceed as time and cash permit.

David

"HC" wrote in message
...
G'day Kylie

While my yard had the basic landscaping done when I bought the house, I
did pull lots of stuff out.......eg, LARGE quantities of Dietes which took
over during the second year (back when it used to rain heaps)!! I keep a
clump of these in a pot these days in order to keep them under control.

i just read clive blazey's "the australian flower garden" and boy, does the
"suburban garden" come in for a serve!! he's an old cross-patch sometimes
:-) chez-moi, i think i am trying to do more or less what you are - unless
there's something particularly loathesome or wrong about soemthing, i'd
truly rather keep it & work around it. but that seems to be the limit of my
original design ideas g. i do think though that more ideas will come with
time.

What I could see though, was that the landscapers had a basic colour
scheme so I decided to go with this...it also matches the house colours
and is quite a feat at times to find plants in a particular colour, being
burgundy, pink and cream/white.

i just got a "burgundy lace" ajuga!! (i love ajuga. i don't really know
why).

I quite like the challenge of
finding plants in these colours, it's something I haven't done in previous
gardens.

as my place is a peeling cream-painted shed, i can do anything with
colours... and there are so many beds each could have a theme. this is what
i would like to do. i had a really nifty colour idea (a black garden bed)
but then couldn't fathom where to put it. nor, beyond two things i could
think of, what to put in it :-) sadly, i messed up my theme beds (even
though there's only 3 tiny ones) already because when we first got here in
spring i put nasturtiums everywhere as it was just so bare, & now i'm hoping
some self-seed but hope others don't, as they are now the "wrong" colour now
i've thought about it more. argh!

I don't have a 'grand plan' as such and just make changes as I think of
new ideas or see something in a magazine or on TV that I think might suit,
but having said that I did put a lot of thought into a couple of trees
that could be planted, in my now, small back yard. Previous gardens have
been several acres so I used to plant what I liked

mine is the several-acres variety, and yet we've already managed to make a
couple of mistakes with tree location. i shall have to relocate them before
they get too much bigger. i need to put more thought into this!!!

, found
at a special price or were given by other gardeners whose trees/shrubs
became too large for their space and needed to be moved to a new location.
One of these was a 'very' large cactus collection, with some being 2
metres tall and with several trunks. An extremely dry area, where nothing
else would grow, was just perfect and they looked right at home.

lovely! this is what i meant. i need to be able to "see" where different
types of things will be good but i can't seem to do it. hence even though i
want big "garden rooms" one day, i am alarmed at the thought of just making
a humungous mess by doing things thoughtlessly. perhaps i need to read more.

thanks for your thoughts, bronwyn!
kylie

wrote in message
oups.com...


any ideas or advice? how do you do things at your place?
thanks!
kylie

I suggest that you should do some minimum plan even if you are not a
very plan person. Here are some ideas:

1) Spend several sessions just observing your garden, preferably over
several seasons. Note the characteristics of each area, eg aspect,
view, sunny/shady, damp/dry, good soil/poor soil etc etc

this must be a code for "stop rushing around doing things, & just observe
for a while" ;-)

2) List all the things that you want to do in your garden and their
requirements. For example:

- Install clothesline (needs to be easy access to the house, in the
sun and wind if possible)
- Allow kids to play (need grass, otherwise get rid of it!)
- Meditate (quiet)
- Grow veges (good sun and soil, access to water)
- Entertain (shade in summer, flat)
- Sunbake (privacy)

etc
etc

3) Work out where all the activities go and their priority
4) Work out if any earthworks or construction is required, these
generally must happen first, especially earthworks. You may get only
one chance (for example) to bring in trucks and equipment.
5) Start work on priority items and proceed as time and cash permit.

David

thanks david. i've got the veggies in a good spot (although other veggies
are all about the place, too - not sure if this is convenient or actually
inconvenient - it seems to be both). we did some minor earthworks which have
turned out to be really nice, so that's encouraging - yet at some point, we
need to either expand our house or build a new one, yet there isn't any
"natural" place one would do this. similarly, my clothesline is in a really
weird spot, yet i can't think of anywhere that would be better, despite much
thought. (perhaps i just need a brain transplant).

the kids can play anywhere, so that's cool. i'm trying to involve dh a bit
more, as he has good (if somewhat impractical & rather high-flown) ideas &
we can meet in the middle.

mainly i am going to take on board your advice to settle down & observe
more, & only do things i am sure about. frankly, i need a break anyway - i
think i have exhausted myself with this. :-) ta!
kylie

On Feb 25, 11:54 am, "0tterbot" wrote:

mainly i am going to take on board your advice to settle down & observe
more, & only do things i am sure about. frankly, i need a break anyway - i
think i have exhausted myself with this. :-) ta!
kylie- Hide quoted text -


One other thing just sprung to mind. One reason to observe over
several seasons is to see where and when the sun shines as the seasons
change. There are a number of freeware utilities and web-based
calculators (one called 'ephemeris' by Sachs) that will calculate the
position of the sun for you at any time. Here is one reference, there
are many:

http://www.bythom.com/calculate.htm

From the angles provided using some a compass, stakes, string etc you
can map out where shadows will fall (say in Winter) without waiting
for the seasons to change. This will help you determine the effect of
trellises, verandahs, deciduous trees etc as far as trying to get
shade in summer and sun in winter, or make sure that the location of
the vege garden has sun all year around.

David

wrote in message
ups.com...
On Feb 25, 11:54 am, "0tterbot" wrote:

mainly i am going to take on board your advice to settle down & observe
more, & only do things i am sure about. frankly, i need a break anyway -
i
think i have exhausted myself with this. :-) ta!
kylie- Hide quoted text -


One other thing just sprung to mind. One reason to observe over
several seasons is to see where and when the sun shines as the seasons
change. There are a number of freeware utilities and web-based
calculators (one called 'ephemeris' by Sachs) that will calculate the
position of the sun for you at any time. Here is one reference, there
are many:

http://www.bythom.com/calculate.htm

From the angles provided using some a compass, stakes, string etc you
can map out where shadows will fall (say in Winter) without waiting
for the seasons to change. This will help you determine the effect of
trellises, verandahs, deciduous trees etc as far as trying to get
shade in summer and sun in winter, or make sure that the location of
the vege garden has sun all year around.

good heavens!! the things they have these days. thank you! (naturally the
situation is complicated by living 1/2 way down a valley and with many other
large trees, but i'll get dh onto that when he is deciding where he wants
his hop trellis to go.) might be handy for our new verandah (one day -
snort) too.

we had to cut down a huge tree (it's now resprouting) because it cast shadow
on the solar panels most of the day in winter, i.e. when we got here.

as an aside, it's kind of amazing the things the 7th day adventists have
info on.

as another aside, you would think the solar installer (i know who he is)
would not have made such a ridiculous mistake.

i think that is enough asides now. thanks for that.
kylie

Kylie,
We were lucky to start with over half an acre of blank sheet - apart from a
two year old "native" garden along one fence where the recycled water went.
We started with a nice square corner for the veggie patch - square to
maximise use of the space and make it easy to fence of our dogs decided
digging veggies was good sport (they didn't). We put a row of fruit trees
as a border to the garden and partial screen from the house - also as a wind
break. Next we looked at screening neighbours views into our yard (we have
10 neighbours !!) That involved fast growing hedge type plants and some
creepers on wires extending the height of the fences. We wanted the yard to
have an open feel about it but completely block the pool from neighbours
views - saves buying new bathers each year as the chlorine kills them :-) So
we did strategically placed rows of lillypillys diagonally across the yard
that left the view from the house open, but hindered views across the yard.

Then we went for plant types so that each garden needed the same sort of
conditions. The recycle garden is raised sand and as there are only two of
us here the recycled water does not go far on a garden this size so it has
become drought resistant eucalyptus, and acacia, edged with some tough 1m
high reedy stuff. There is another garden that provides the close in screen
for the pool, it is raised clay (the soil that came out where the pool went
in) it is grevilleas. Along one other fence is a thick planting of
callistemon and another is primarily melaleucas. Under big trees out the
front we planted cordylines and bromilleads the other side exposed to sun
and no water is grey and purple lambs ears, buddleias and gaura.

If you have Google Earth, go to 32 41 45.16 S and 115 38 54.55 E that is our
house, you can see the shape of the yard - the image is a couple of years
old and the lillypillys and callistemon have gone in since then there has
been lots of growth since then but you can get the idea.

Cheers,
Geoff

"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
ups.com...
On Feb 25, 11:54 am, "0tterbot" wrote:

mainly i am going to take on board your advice to settle down & observe
more, & only do things i am sure about. frankly, i need a break anyway -
i
think i have exhausted myself with this. :-) ta!
kylie- Hide quoted text -


One other thing just sprung to mind. One reason to observe over
several seasons is to see where and when the sun shines as the seasons
change. There are a number of freeware utilities and web-based
calculators (one called 'ephemeris' by Sachs) that will calculate the
position of the sun for you at any time. Here is one reference, there
are many:

http://www.bythom.com/calculate.htm

From the angles provided using some a compass, stakes, string etc you
can map out where shadows will fall (say in Winter) without waiting
for the seasons to change. This will help you determine the effect of
trellises, verandahs, deciduous trees etc as far as trying to get
shade in summer and sun in winter, or make sure that the location of
the vege garden has sun all year around.

good heavens!! the things they have these days. thank you! (naturally the
situation is complicated by living 1/2 way down a valley and with many
other large trees, but i'll get dh onto that when he is deciding where he
wants his hop trellis to go.) might be handy for our new verandah (one
day - snort) too.

we had to cut down a huge tree (it's now resprouting) because it cast
shadow on the solar panels most of the day in winter, i.e. when we got
here.

as an aside, it's kind of amazing the things the 7th day adventists have
info on.

as another aside, you would think the solar installer (i know who he is)
would not have made such a ridiculous mistake.

i think that is enough asides now. thanks for that.
kylie

"Geoff & Heather" wrote in message
u...
Kylie,
We were lucky to start with over half an acre of blank sheet - apart from
a two year old "native" garden along one fence where the recycled water
went. We started with a nice square corner for the veggie patch - square
to maximise use of the space and make it easy to fence of our dogs decided
digging veggies was good sport (they didn't). We put a row of fruit trees
as a border to the garden and partial screen from the house - also as a
wind break. Next we looked at screening neighbours views into our yard
(we have 10 neighbours !!) That involved fast growing hedge type plants
and some creepers on wires extending the height of the fences. We wanted
the yard to have an open feel about it but completely block the pool from
neighbours views - saves buying new bathers each year as the chlorine
kills them :-) So we did strategically placed rows of lillypillys
diagonally across the yard that left the view from the house open, but
hindered views across the yard.

Then we went for plant types so that each garden needed the same sort of
conditions. The recycle garden is raised sand and as there are only two
of us here the recycled water does not go far on a garden this size so it
has become drought resistant eucalyptus, and acacia, edged with some tough
1m high reedy stuff. There is another garden that provides the close in
screen for the pool, it is raised clay (the soil that came out where the
pool went in) it is grevilleas. Along one other fence is a thick planting
of callistemon and another is primarily melaleucas. Under big trees out
the front we planted cordylines and bromilleads the other side exposed to
sun and no water is grey and purple lambs ears, buddleias and gaura.

i love gaura (as an aside ;-). i see that you are planting according to
conditions, rather than trying to alter conditions a little...? because i am
entirely mad, i am trying to alter conditions a bit & then design for
aesthetic purposes. :-) (coming up shortly, a frenzy of stone paving &
dry-stone walling for warmer microclimate!!)

If you have Google Earth, go to 32 41 45.16 S and 115 38 54.55 E that is
our house, you can see the shape of the yard - the image is a couple of
years old and the lillypillys and callistemon have gone in since then
there has been lots of growth since then but you can get the idea.

i wouldn't mind a peep! but my slow-dial-up makes it nightmarish so it was
uninstalled posthaste, which is unfortunate, but there you are. i like to
see what people have done, it's always informative. (sometimes horrible
gardens can be even more informative than nice ones which work). i see that
you are using david's method of divining your purpose while planning. i've
been thinking about this a great deal, which is almost as exhausting as
actually doing it. :-) but clearly it needs to be done.
thank you for your input!
kylie