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Old 17-01-2008, 05:36 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

I got some of our fragar peaches before the bats this morning. Rich,
aromatic, sweet and juicy, two vanished very quickly before I poured my
cornflakes. Juice, and probably some saliva, was running down to my elbows.
There is just no comparison with store-bought because they tend to be picked
under ripe.

For those who haven't tried a properly ripened peach or nectarine, even if you
have room for only one fruit tree in your yard plant one.

David


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Old 27-01-2008, 11:58 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
I got some of our fragar peaches before the bats this morning. Rich,
aromatic, sweet and juicy, two vanished very quickly before I poured my
cornflakes. Juice, and probably some saliva, was running down to my
elbows.
There is just no comparison with store-bought because they tend to be
picked
under ripe.

For those who haven't tried a properly ripened peach or nectarine, even if
you
have room for only one fruit tree in your yard plant one.

David


well we've been trying to join you, but having a few problems & having to
eat the peaches not-quite-ripe! it is a bit frustrating. something is
stinging the fruits so they have brown rotting patches as they ripen. still,
the edible remainders are pretty good. those which don't have fruit-fly,
that is ;-) i was also getting mad at the birds for getting into them, until
dh pointed out that the birds aren't causing nearly as much damage as the
bugs are. good point.

i'm hoping that next year we'll be having more fruit with fewer problems
(getting informed might help, eh.)
enjoy your peaches!
kylie


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Old 28-01-2008, 02:29 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

We have had a 2 apricot trees for a few years. Believe it they grew from
seed. Honestly.

However we have yet to enjoy any fruit as they drop before they get to a
good size.

Do you think it is lack of water that's doing that? I know the birds come
and could knock them down, but so many?

thanks
Katherine

well we've been trying to join you, but having a few problems & having to
eat the peaches not-quite-ripe! it is a bit frustrating. something is
stinging the fruits so they have brown rotting patches as they ripen.
still, the edible remainders are pretty good. those which don't have
fruit-fly, that is ;-) i was also getting mad at the birds for getting
into them, until dh pointed out that the birds aren't causing nearly as
much damage as the bugs are. good point.

i'm hoping that next year we'll be having more fruit with fewer problems
(getting informed might help, eh.)
enjoy your peaches!
kylie



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Old 28-01-2008, 02:31 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

0tterbot wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
I got some of our fragar peaches before the bats this morning. Rich,
aromatic, sweet and juicy, two vanished very quickly before I poured my
cornflakes. Juice, and probably some saliva, was running down to my
elbows.
There is just no comparison with store-bought because they tend to be
picked
under ripe.

For those who haven't tried a properly ripened peach or nectarine, even if
you
have room for only one fruit tree in your yard plant one.

David


well we've been trying to join you, but having a few problems & having to
eat the peaches not-quite-ripe! it is a bit frustrating. something is
stinging the fruits so they have brown rotting patches as they ripen. still,
the edible remainders are pretty good. those which don't have fruit-fly,
that is ;-) i was also getting mad at the birds for getting into them, until
dh pointed out that the birds aren't causing nearly as much damage as the
bugs are. good point.

i'm hoping that next year we'll be having more fruit with fewer problems
(getting informed might help, eh.)
enjoy your peaches!
kylie



Kylie, I wonder if making muslin drawstring bags to hang around the
fruits might work? Muslin would allow the light and air in to swell the
fruits, but would keep out all but the tiniest of creatures. You'd
probably have to put the bags on while the fruits were still small and
green: that is, before the insects got a whiff of them.

I dunno... I've never grown stone fruits, but it might work?

Do you have a Spotlight nearby? They keep muslin of different weights
and also some of the sew-in interfacings would do just as well.

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 28-01-2008, 04:17 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling


"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...
well we've been trying to join you, but having a few problems & having to
eat the peaches not-quite-ripe! it is a bit frustrating. something is
stinging the fruits so they have brown rotting patches as they ripen.

still,
the edible remainders are pretty good. those which don't have fruit-fly,
that is ;-) i was also getting mad at the birds for getting into them,

until
dh pointed out that the birds aren't causing nearly as much damage as the
bugs are. good point.

i'm hoping that next year we'll be having more fruit with fewer problems
(getting informed might help, eh.)
enjoy your peaches!
kylie



Kylie, I wonder if making muslin drawstring bags to hang around the
fruits might work? Muslin would allow the light and air in to swell the
fruits, but would keep out all but the tiniest of creatures. You'd
probably have to put the bags on while the fruits were still small and
green: that is, before the insects got a whiff of them.

I dunno... I've never grown stone fruits, but it might work?

Do you have a Spotlight nearby? They keep muslin of different weights
and also some of the sew-in interfacings would do just as well.

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia


We tried paper bags this year. The organic growers society recommended them
as they are cheap and you use no insecticide. The idea is you bag the fruit
just after it sets and it keeps out the fruit fly, birds and bats. I was
sceptical but the bags last fairly well, only now are they starting to rot and
fall off having been on for 4 months, with much rain in that time.

As for keeping out the vermin, two out of three might be good for some
purposes but not this one. We have no fly or bird loss. The bats however are
no respecter of paper bags. They are smart enough to drop by and check on the
bags from time to time as the fruit develops - they know there is fruit in
there. As soon as their cute little noses tell them it is ripe their cute
little teeth go straight through the bag and into the fruit. Bless their
little fructivorous instincts.

So we have just bought a roll of netting and I will be constructing polypipe
igloos over the winter to hold the net. Hopefully next year we will get all
the fruit instead of about one quarter.

We had some cheapo nets as a stop gap but as expected they didn't last. While
releasing one of our cute little furry guests I got to check out his cute
little toothy pegs. Don't let anyone tell you that only carnivores have
dangerous teeth. In proportion to their size a bat has teeth better than a
cat or dog and needle sharp. After they have been in a net for a few hours
they will bite anything that comes into range.

So I don't know if cloth bags will work if you have bats. Have you though of
knitting them out of barbed wire?

David




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Old 28-01-2008, 04:51 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

David Hare-Scott wrote:


We tried paper bags this year. The organic growers society recommended them
as they are cheap and you use no insecticide. The idea is you bag the fruit
just after it sets and it keeps out the fruit fly, birds and bats. I was
sceptical but the bags last fairly well, only now are they starting to rot and
fall off having been on for 4 months, with much rain in that time.

As for keeping out the vermin, two out of three might be good for some
purposes but not this one. We have no fly or bird loss. The bats however are
no respecter of paper bags. They are smart enough to drop by and check on the
bags from time to time as the fruit develops - they know there is fruit in
there. As soon as their cute little noses tell them it is ripe their cute
little teeth go straight through the bag and into the fruit. Bless their
little fructivorous instincts.

So we have just bought a roll of netting and I will be constructing polypipe
igloos over the winter to hold the net. Hopefully next year we will get all
the fruit instead of about one quarter.

We had some cheapo nets as a stop gap but as expected they didn't last. While
releasing one of our cute little furry guests I got to check out his cute
little toothy pegs. Don't let anyone tell you that only carnivores have
dangerous teeth. In proportion to their size a bat has teeth better than a
cat or dog and needle sharp. After they have been in a net for a few hours
they will bite anything that comes into range.

So I don't know if cloth bags will work if you have bats. Have you though of
knitting them out of barbed wire?

David



Hmmm... Bunnings sells a wonderful wire netting called petnet (or
similar... I disremember the exact name). It's designed for screen doors
up which your cat climbs or through which your dog scratches holes. We
had both problems, but the petnet fixed it quick-smart! It's got a light
metal base (dunno how they achieve it), comes in black or dark green and
the sharpest animal claws and fangs won't rip it. Our bull terrier has
been busily scraping away at the back screen door for years now, with
nary a mark in the petnet! I can also say it keeps out mice (we had a
wild Dark Mouse creeping into our mouse cage and violating all my lovely
pedigreed girls!!!) and, as an aside, insects.

I reckon you ought to try just one (1) cloth bag, just so we can all
know whether bats can smell and/or gouge their way through cloth. In the
interests of furthering scientific knowledge, you understand...

I have to say, I do have a soft spot for flying foxes, but how
profoundly I do wish they'd stop shitting all over my dog, who is white,
and who heartily dislikes me scraping melted-caramel, sour-smelling
batshit off her back! I can't say I'm that overjoyed about them dropping
the foul stuff on my washing, either. Or the duco of my car. But hey!
Live and let live, I say!

You should be careful if handling a bat! They can be carriers of a
really nasty disease called Lyssavirus, so make sure you use stout
gloves if you absolutely need to handle one. If you get bitten, it'd
certainly be worth getting it checked out by a doctor. Lyssavirus can be
fatal.

Before I shuddup, can I ask how you plan to make your nets? Will you be
netting the whole tree (some local people have done that, successfully,
it seems), or just the clusters of fruits? I'm interested in how you
plan to construct the net...

Best of luck, anyway. Do let us know how you get on! :-D
--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 28-01-2008, 01:13 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling


"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...

So I don't know if cloth bags will work if you have bats. Have you though

of
knitting them out of barbed wire?

David




I reckon you ought to try just one (1) cloth bag, just so we can all
know whether bats can smell and/or gouge their way through cloth. In the
interests of furthering scientific knowledge, you understand...

I have to say, I do have a soft spot for flying foxes, but how
profoundly I do wish they'd stop shitting all over my dog, who is white,
and who heartily dislikes me scraping melted-caramel, sour-smelling
batshit off her back! I can't say I'm that overjoyed about them dropping
the foul stuff on my washing, either. Or the duco of my car. But hey!
Live and let live, I say!


Well I must be a softie too 'cause when the the little bugger couldn't get off
the ground after he was free I went and picked him up again and threw him up
so he could fly off and then return to steal my nectarines the next night.
The prevailing wisdom here is you free them from the net (and this vale of
tears) with a spade.


You should be careful if handling a bat! They can be carriers of a
really nasty disease called Lyssavirus, so make sure you use stout
gloves if you absolutely need to handle one. If you get bitten, it'd
certainly be worth getting it checked out by a doctor. Lyssavirus can be
fatal.


I wore really heavy leather gauntlets and my offsider distracted the patient
by letting him bite on a stick during the operation.

Before I shuddup, can I ask how you plan to make your nets? Will you be
netting the whole tree (some local people have done that, successfully,
it seems), or just the clusters of fruits? I'm interested in how you
plan to construct the net...


The whole tree or row as the case may be. I will make a frame out of bent
polypipe mounted on waterpipe stakes. The net will be pegged over the frame
to the ground. I have seen nets just hung over the tree and it really doesn't
work.

David


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Old 31-01-2008, 11:41 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...

Kylie, I wonder if making muslin drawstring bags to hang around the fruits
might work? Muslin would allow the light and air in to swell the fruits,
but would keep out all but the tiniest of creatures. You'd probably have
to put the bags on while the fruits were still small and green: that is,
before the insects got a whiff of them.

I dunno... I've never grown stone fruits, but it might work?

Do you have a Spotlight nearby? They keep muslin of different weights and
also some of the sew-in interfacings would do just as well.


mmm, i love spotlight :-)

yes, next year we are going to do SOMETHING about the bugs. for this year,
our main aim was just to see what kind of fruit each tree has (the fruits
didn't make it last year), what diseases have carried over, etc. any fruit
we get is just a bonus for now! they're all going to be severely pruned
after fruiting, as they are a mess all around.

have been cleaning up & bagging the fallen fruits in the sun, to try to
limit the fruit-fly invasion. this is my children's job; it makes them very
cross ;-)
kylie


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Old 01-02-2008, 12:03 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

0tterbot wrote:
"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...


Do you have a Spotlight nearby? They keep muslin of different weights and
also some of the sew-in interfacings would do just as well.


mmm, i love spotlight :-)


Don't tell me you sew??? How remarkable! When people ask 'where did you
buy that?' and I tell them I made it, they look at me funny. My
favourite is making kid's school uniforms for $16 when they cost $74 to
buy in the shops! LOLOLOLOL!

yes, next year we are going to do SOMETHING about the bugs. for this year,
our main aim was just to see what kind of fruit each tree has (the fruits
didn't make it last year), what diseases have carried over, etc. any fruit
we get is just a bonus for now! they're all going to be severely pruned
after fruiting, as they are a mess all around.

have been cleaning up & bagging the fallen fruits in the sun, to try to
limit the fruit-fly invasion. this is my children's job; it makes them very
cross ;-)
kylie



Ah, I envy you that! (The fruit, not the cross children). Our block is
very poorly drained and so far, any fruit trees I've tried to grow have
drowned. We're hoping to do *some*thing to fix the drainage problem, but
not sure what... Main push at the moment is to get rid of the 'lawn'. I
have learned that lawn is a very overrated phenomenon and I no longer
want any.

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 03-02-2008, 11:30 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...
0tterbot wrote:
"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...


Do you have a Spotlight nearby? They keep muslin of different weights
and also some of the sew-in interfacings would do just as well.


mmm, i love spotlight :-)


Don't tell me you sew??? How remarkable! When people ask 'where did you
buy that?' and I tell them I made it, they look at me funny.


nobody has ever asked me where i got anything, ever. perhaps i am doing
soemthing wrong :-)

My
favourite is making kid's school uniforms for $16 when they cost $74 to
buy in the shops! LOLOLOLOL!


i have been a negligent in my sewing activites lately :-( but i still love
spotlight!

Ah, I envy you that! (The fruit, not the cross children). Our block is
very poorly drained and so far, any fruit trees I've tried to grow have
drowned. We're hoping to do *some*thing to fix the drainage problem, but
not sure what... Main push at the moment is to get rid of the 'lawn'. I
have learned that lawn is a very overrated phenomenon and I no longer want
any.


that is bad news (about the drainage). whenever i see those diagrams of "how
to make drainage trenches" in books, i feel very sad for anyone reading them
with a special interest. jackie french (rather typically!!!) breezily writes
that one can "plant them on mounds" if drainage is bad.

our drainage is not so good, either, & we've lost a few from waterlogging. i
spoke to dh about not letting the holes be "glazed" and too smooth when
planting them in. he did that a few times & i think that didn't help the
problem whatsoever.
kylie




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Old 03-02-2008, 12:28 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

0tterbot wrote:

snip

nobody has ever asked me where i got anything, ever. perhaps i am doing
soemthing wrong :-)


Maybe I was just lucky? Most of my sewing has been to dress a
late-in-life daughter who happened to do dance as well. I pulled out all
the stops for her, while the early-in-life son only got practical stuff.

i have been a negligent in my sewing activites lately :-( but i still love
spotlight!


Yeh! My fantasy is to get locked in there over a long weekend. Three
things I love to shop for: haberdashery, stationery supplies and
hardware (in that order). I've got an Australian botanicals quilt
rolling around in my mind for this year. I'd like to work a whole lot of
lesser-known native plants (not your basic waratahs and grevilleas etc)
into a very large appliqué and embroidery project. Only thing is, if I
think too hard, I convince myself I'm not clever enough to do it right.

Can you picture an appliqué jobbie that has a large spotted gum tree up
one side with embroidered blossoms and highly textured bark? The leaves
would be a challenge, but done correctly I think it'd be really
spectacular. OR (light bulb moment) a Red-Flowering Ironbark!!! Ooo! I'm
loikin' what I'm thinkin'...

Ah, I envy you that! (The fruit, not the cross children). Our block is
very poorly drained and so far, any fruit trees I've tried to grow have
drowned. We're hoping to do *some*thing to fix the drainage problem, but
not sure what... Main push at the moment is to get rid of the 'lawn'. I
have learned that lawn is a very overrated phenomenon and I no longer want
any.


that is bad news (about the drainage). whenever i see those diagrams of "how
to make drainage trenches" in books, i feel very sad for anyone reading them
with a special interest. jackie french (rather typically!!!) breezily writes
that one can "plant them on mounds" if drainage is bad.

our drainage is not so good, either, & we've lost a few from waterlogging. i
spoke to dh about not letting the holes be "glazed" and too smooth when
planting them in. he did that a few times & i think that didn't help the
problem whatsoever.
kylie


We've thought about it for fourteen years and *this* year, we're going
to bite the bullet and plant serious trees - probably casuarinas for the
grass repelling and the parrot-feeding cones and the gorgeous sound they
make in a breeze. I thought if we used River Oaks, then they'd be able
to cope with the seasonally boggy soil. D'you reckon? I'd have loved to
put in some Buckinghamia and Hymenosporum for the blossoms, but I don't
think either would last five minutes through the winter. Ah well. And
then, of course, some raised beds for the veggie garden of my dreams.

Do you have any good ideas for protecting Blue Tongues? Our dog has
found out she can kill them and despite some pretty hairy bellowing at
her, continues to do it. I thought, maybe some pipe of some
description... But how to keep it clear of soil and teach the blueys to
use it?

The other battle is with the #)%*%^^&#^ veldt grass that's taken over
the place. It looks fabulous left to its own devices, but it's nearly
two foot tall now! The frogs and blueys are loving it, but it gives me a
pain in the face: when you mow, the cables just rise up like spikes and
refuse to be squashed!

Ah, the problems of the flustered gardener! :-D

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 04-02-2008, 12:05 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...
0tterbot wrote:

snip

nobody has ever asked me where i got anything, ever. perhaps i am doing
soemthing wrong :-)


Maybe I was just lucky? Most of my sewing has been to dress a late-in-life
daughter who happened to do dance as well. I pulled out all the stops for
her, while the early-in-life son only got practical stuff.


aha. dancing daughter. aha. (i haven't got one of those!)

Yeh! My fantasy is to get locked in there over a long weekend. Three
things I love to shop for: haberdashery, stationery supplies and hardware
(in that order).


gasp me too!
in fact, i clearly remember when hardware warehouses were invented & we went
on our first trip to home hardware in ashfield. it was a wonderland! i
couldn't get enough of it!!!!!!!! then bunnings came along & ruined
everything for me.

I've got an Australian botanicals quilt
rolling around in my mind for this year. I'd like to work a whole lot of
lesser-known native plants (not your basic waratahs and grevilleas etc)
into a very large appliqué and embroidery project. Only thing is, if I
think too hard, I convince myself I'm not clever enough to do it right.

Can you picture an appliqué jobbie that has a large spotted gum tree up
one side with embroidered blossoms and highly textured bark? The leaves
would be a challenge, but done correctly I think it'd be really
spectacular. OR (light bulb moment) a Red-Flowering Ironbark!!! Ooo! I'm
loikin' what I'm thinkin'...


that would be very spectacular! although i must admit i like quilts & things
heavily traditional. so maybe ask someone else :-)

We've thought about it for fourteen years and *this* year, we're going to
bite the bullet and plant serious trees - probably casuarinas for the
grass repelling and the parrot-feeding cones and the gorgeous sound they
make in a breeze. I thought if we used River Oaks, then they'd be able to
cope with the seasonally boggy soil. D'you reckon?


ah, yes!

although - and not to be provoking aus.gardens to rise as one in an angry
mob or anything like that - but i love willows. i'm pretty sure that's what
_i'd_ be planting. you could make "rooms" out of pleached willows!!! it
would be so beautiful!!!!

I'd have loved to
put in some Buckinghamia and Hymenosporum for the blossoms, but I don't
think either would last five minutes through the winter. Ah well. And
then, of course, some raised beds for the veggie garden of my dreams.


you could also make raised beds along a suitable edge for dwarfed,
espaliered fruit-trees too, because then the beds would not have to be big.
regardless of teh blithe j. french, "mounds" are troublesome because they
eventually are not big enough & then you can't water the tree properly when
you need to (which is bound to happen eventually) - it just runs off & away.
this i know because we have some fruit trees on "mounds". pah.

you could also raise a few areas up (in an aesthetic manner) for smaller
plants which don't like bogs, too. and of course grow celery & mint to your
heart's content elsewhere :-)

Do you have any good ideas for protecting Blue Tongues? Our dog has found
out she can kill them and despite some pretty hairy bellowing at her,
continues to do it. I thought, maybe some pipe of some description... But
how to keep it clear of soil and teach the blueys to use it?


no idea. my dog kills them too (he thinks lizards & snakes are the same
thing, unfortunately). at the end of the day, the few blue-tongues which are
foolish enough to hang around our yard have to protect themselves. my
reasoning is that they have a great deal of room away from the yard (47
hectares). clearly that is where most of them live out long & alarm-free
lives. i just go out & try to rescue whatever it is that he's bailed up when
he does his "snake bark" (does not happen much any more). the blue-tongues
just don't come around so much any more. they seem to be fast learners ime,
so perhaps you could train them into pipes with fruit or meat - you just
don't want to be encouraging a difficult situation though where you're just
luring them to their deaths. ;-)

The other battle is with the #)%*%^^&#^ veldt grass that's taken over the
place. It looks fabulous left to its own devices, but it's nearly two foot
tall now! The frogs and blueys are loving it, but it gives me a pain in
the face: when you mow, the cables just rise up like spikes and refuse to
be squashed!

Ah, the problems of the flustered gardener! :-D


it never ends!!
i'm a fan of letting things work for themselves though - fighting it
constantly is just never going to work. when you decide how to work with
what you have & what you want within those limitations, it will go really
well, i am sure. for e.g. i spent some time frustrated beyond belief with
all the rocks we have. then i decided the rocks are a resource, not a
"problem". the soil is still full of rocks, but it no longer bothers me. :-)

otoh, it breaks my heart we can't have a peppercorn tree, because it gets
too cold here. i love peppercorn trees insanely. but there you have it!
kylie


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Old 04-02-2008, 02:15 AM posted to aus.gardens
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0tterbot wrote:
"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...


snip

I'd have loved to
put in some Buckinghamia and Hymenosporum for the blossoms, but I don't
think either would last five minutes through the winter. Ah well. And
then, of course, some raised beds for the veggie garden of my dreams.


you could also make raised beds along a suitable edge for dwarfed,
espaliered fruit-trees too, because then the beds would not have to be big.
regardless of the blithe j. french, "mounds" are troublesome because they
eventually are not big enough & then you can't water the tree properly when
you need to (which is bound to happen eventually) - it just runs off & away.
this i know because we have some fruit trees on "mounds". pah.


I've seen fruit trees doing well with tractor-tyre collars. I've always
thought that would be a very easy way to raise a bed for a single tree,
but sadly I have no tractor tyres!

you could also raise a few areas up (in an aesthetic manner) for smaller
plants which don't like bogs, too. and of course grow celery & mint to your
heart's content elsewhere :-)


Our block becomes like sponge in the wet winter weather. I've found I
can't grow anything much except native violets and even they will drown
if kept wet for long enough. The lane behind our house was tar-sealed
and the camber has caused water to rush down the slight tilt onto our
block and just drown it. Most of our neighbours have put in concrete and
pavers and had professional drainage done. Can't afford that, buggerit!

I *so* love your idea with the willows and that was my first thought.
However, fancy putting willows cheek-by-jowl with town water and sewage!
Brrrrrrr!!! Doesn't bear thinking about! I figured casuarinas would be
the nearest native alternative and I do love them too.

(he thinks lizards & snakes are the same
thing, unfortunately). at the end of the day, the few blue-tongues which are
foolish enough to hang around our yard have to protect themselves. my
reasoning is that they have a great deal of room away from the yard (47
hectares). clearly that is where most of them live out long & alarm-free
lives. i just go out & try to rescue whatever it is that he's bailed up when
he does his "snake bark" (does not happen much any more). the blue-tongues
just don't come around so much any more. they seem to be fast learners ime,
so perhaps you could train them into pipes with fruit or meat - you just
don't want to be encouraging a difficult situation though where you're just
luring them to their deaths. ;-)


Yeah, I take your point. Our dog thinks exactly the same thing. We had a
Red Belly living under the house for nearly two years (didn't see a
single mouse in all that time), but sadly, the dog got him in the end.
(Actually she got him in the middle and for the life of me I can't see
how she didn't get bitten!)

The other battle is with the #)%*%^^&#^ veldt grass that's taken over the
place. It looks fabulous left to its own devices, but it's nearly two foot
tall now! The frogs and blueys are loving it, but it gives me a pain in
the face: when you mow, the cables just rise up like spikes and refuse to
be squashed!

Ah, the problems of the flustered gardener! :-D


it never ends!!
i'm a fan of letting things work for themselves though - fighting it
constantly is just never going to work. when you decide how to work with
what you have & what you want within those limitations, it will go really
well, i am sure. for e.g. i spent some time frustrated beyond belief with
all the rocks we have. then i decided the rocks are a resource, not a
"problem". the soil is still full of rocks, but it no longer bothers me. :-)

otoh, it breaks my heart we can't have a peppercorn tree, because it gets
too cold here. i love peppercorn trees insanely. but there you have it!
kylie


Yes, I thought the same thing about the recalcitrant grass. I'm going to
try to reduce the lawn area by putting 'things' in at the edges and
hoping some casuarinas will deter it a bit as well. Beyond that, it can
just grow! ;-D

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  #14   Report Post  
Old 04-02-2008, 05:22 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Peach drooling

"0tterbot" wrote in message news:lJgpj.10637
"Trish Brown" wrote in message


i have been a negligent in my sewing activites lately :-( but i still love
spotlight!


I hate the one that you and I would have access to. There are only about 3
decent staff in the place who know anything about fabric and I hate most of
the fabric they have because the quality is almost universally lousy.

I went in there to buy some japara that I'd seen a week before and of couse
they'd done a rearrangement and I had to go through 5 staff before i found
one who even knew what japara was.

that is bad news (about the drainage). whenever i see those diagrams of
"how to make drainage trenches" in books, i feel very sad for anyone
reading them with a special interest. jackie french (rather typically!!!)
breezily writes that one can "plant them on mounds" if drainage is bad.


It works for Paul D. who has the mudbrick house and the trout ponds outside
his balcony as that is how he plants his trees.


  #15   Report Post  
Old 04-02-2008, 05:41 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Posts: 438
Default Peach drooling


"0tterbot" wrote in message
...

Our block is
very poorly drained and so far, any fruit trees I've tried to grow have
drowned. We're hoping to do *some*thing to fix the drainage problem, but
not sure what... Main push at the moment is to get rid of the 'lawn'. I
have learned that lawn is a very overrated phenomenon and I no longer want
any.


that is bad news (about the drainage). whenever i see those diagrams of "how
to make drainage trenches" in books, i feel very sad for anyone reading them
with a special interest. jackie french (rather typically!!!) breezily writes
that one can "plant them on mounds" if drainage is bad.


The soil at my place is about 15cm of silt on top of solid plastic clay.
Every time I read about some new fruit or vege that I am thinking of trying it
says "requires good drainage". Grrrrrrrrrrr

One thing that helps is the main paddock is slightly sloping. When I do plant
in raised beds I allow the rows to point slightly down slope, not on contour,
this means that when the rain stops the bed drains between rows and the rows
drain downslope. So far this has saved most things.

our drainage is not so good, either, & we've lost a few from waterlogging. i
spoke to dh about not letting the holes be "glazed" and too smooth when
planting them in. he did that a few times & i think that didn't help the
problem whatsoever.
kylie


For trees I don't plant in holes. Holes become ponds in the underlying clay.
I built up a mound of topsoil and amendments (manure, compost, gypsum etc) and
plant into that. Even so you cannot spend your whole life building hills.

Of course trees will get their roots down into the clay eventually but it
doesn't seem to matter, sitting in wet clay doesn't seem to be as bad as in a
pool of water. In fact I am learning to love the clay bed as when it stops
raining, whcih must happen some time, the clay will slowly give up its water
for months and keep the place green.

It's raining again today. This summer we have had:

Nov 194
Dec 117
Jan 144
Feb 73

That's La Nina for you.

I just need a magic bullet for powdery mildew and sooty mould. And the car
has algae. Really.

David



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