[Help] Gardeners Question Time.

[Green Cross Code Man]

Amazing stuff. I would imagine that kids visiting would find it exciting to explore.

Yeah that is true! My own kids are now 17 and 19 and have grown up with the whole thing. When they were small they loved introducing their friends to the jungle, always charging about like Indiana Jones or something!

 

[wellquickwoody]

Interesting.

Which plants are you using to create a canopy? I would imaging Eucalypts and Acacia would be suitable for that? Are there any other native plants that would also suit? Grevillea? I would love to grow Grevillea.

Eucalyptus are everywhere and are a major maker of mess so no to that idea. Acacia, Grevillea, couple of smaller palm species, are all in the mix, and a number of tall screening plants around the boundary(Syzygium). Also planning on using some of the tougher Acers too for autumnal interest.

Big, fat tree fern too for a shady corner.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Eucalyptus are everywhere and are a major maker of mess so no to that idea. Acacia, Grevillea, couple of smaller palm species, are all in the mix, and a number of tall screening plants around the boundary(Syzygium). Also planning on using some of the tougher Acers too for autumnal interest.

Big, fat tree fern too for a shady corner.

Do all the eucalpts shed branches? What about smaller species like perrineana? I grew that in Liverpool, it was lovely. Have you any pictures of your garden?

 

[wellquickwoody]

They all shed leaves that are tough as old boots and hang around forever! I will do some before and after pics when I get the planting mostly complete. I need to get most of it done real soon before winter, but some will wait till spring.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

They all shed leaves that are tough as old boots and hang around forever! I will do some before and after pics when I get the planting mostly complete. I need to get most of it done real soon before winter, but some will wait till spring.

Cheers. And yeah, I forgot that the leaves take so long to break down. I have tons of bamboo leaf around bit it's good to talk on and makes an attractive carpet. It takes a long time but nothing like a eucalyptus.

 

[Taybha]

So pond pretty much finished apart from a few flat overlap rocks to be collected , I've got a mixture of 15 Shubunkins and Common goldfish plus a few sticklebacks , would this be about the right amount of fish in a pond that size ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFGe1wzy6wM

 

[Jack Straw]

Anyone know what this is ?

I bought some small random crocus bulbs in the Amsterdam Flower market last year. The small short crocus came and went in the spring, but three of these shot up behind them.

I assumed it was some sort of seed pod, the flowers were covered in a papery membrane containing what looked like seeds. But now its started flowering.

They are about 50 cms high, about the height of a large tulip. You can see an earlier one just behind.

It's beginning to look like a mutant version of the original plant (similar coloured flowers ) or perhaps some random other bulb got mixed in. However they were small crocus bulbs and these are very tall.

View attachment 123881

Try this?
https://awaytogarden.com/nectaroscordum-or-allium-siculum/
Lots of mentions of zones and Humming Birds being an American web site, but the plant is the same anywhere.

 

[Jack Straw]

Is it possible to grow edible mushrooms on the trunk of an elm that died two years ago of Dutch Elm disease?

No. If you want to grow mushrooms, the best thing is to buy a kit and follow the instructions implicitly. Have you heard workers in dispute say they're treated like mushrooms? "Kept in the dark and fed on bull-s**t! There's your growing conditions.

 

[Jack Straw]

So pond pretty much finished apart from a few flat overlap rocks to be collected , I've got a mixture of 15 Shubunkins and Common goldfish plus a few sticklebacks , would this be about the right amount of fish in a pond that size ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFGe1wzy6wM

That's tremendous. It gets even better when you see the mural. Any pond questions, get hold of Jevs, our resident pond guru.

 

[Jack Straw]

There is no such thing as too long a gardening post! If I ever try Albizia again I'll do what you did! Another one I have killed a few of is Acacia baileyana a gorgeous Australian Acacia. I so wish that was hardy. It would most probably be in your garden.

I assume you've considered Acacaia dealbata?
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/24107/i-Acacia-dealbata-i/Details

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

I assume you've considered Acacaia dealbata?
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/24107/i-Acacia-dealbata-i/Details

Yeah. I have grown it and killed it up north. I would however like to grow the silver/blue variety. It is stunning. As with everything, it is space that stops me. The only Acacia I grow now is Acacia pravissima which has very un-Acacia like leaves except when juvenile. It's a lovely little tree which I prune a lot after flowering in consideration of my neighbor and his vegetables.

One year, just after buying my largest treefern, I had about 10 Acacia melanoxylon germinate on the trunk. I grew a couple of them and they attained a decent height until a hard winter saw them off.

The other Acacia I have grown is baileyana, only half hardy again though, I've killed 3.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Yeah. I have grown it and killed it up north. I would however like to grow the silver/blue variety. It is stunning. As with everything, it is space that stops me. The only Acacia I grow now is Acacia pravissima which has very un-Acacia like leaves except when juvenile. It's a lovely little tree which I prune a lot after flowering in consideration of my neighbor and his vegetables.

One year, just after buying my largest treefern, I had about 10 Acacia melanoxylon germinate on the trunk. I grew a couple of them and they attained a decent height until a hard winter saw them off.

The other Acacia I have grown is baileyana, only half hardy again though, I've killed 3.

As someone with a vast amount of experience in this particular aspect of gardening, I do think you are being a little harsh on yourself. Isn't it, as in my case, more 'didn't come to the rescue soon enough' rather than actually killing them

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

As someone with a vast amount of experience in this particular aspect of gardening, I do think you are being a little harsh on yourself. Isn't it, as in my case, more 'didn't come to the rescue soon enough' rather than actually killing them

Perhaps you are right. There again, although I've wrapped Echiums up in an old dressing gown and the like, it is harder to care for a 20 foot tree!

 

[clapham_gull]

Try this?
https://awaytogarden.com/nectaroscordum-or-allium-siculum/
Lots of mentions of zones and Humming Birds being an American web site, but the plant is the same anywhere.

Yep that's it. Easier to spot today because the purple and yellow flowers are starting to show.

What's odd is the ones that came up in spring were very similar flowers but small crocus. Maybe a coincidence or some indication as to how they got mixed up.

It happened to me before when buying lose bulbs in the flower marker in Amsterdam. You buy something but something else comes up.

I also bought some white giant tulips. Boring in the picture, but huge.

They came up in spring huge but with red and yellow flames. Amazing.....

 

[Jack Straw]

Yep that's it. Easier to spot today because the purple and yellow flowers are starting to show.

What's odd is the ones that came up in spring were very similar flowers but small crocus. Maybe a coincidence or some indication as to how they got mixed up.

It happened to me before when buying lose bulbs in the flower marker in Amsterdam. You buy something but something else comes up.

I also bought some white giant tulips. Boring in the picture, but huge.

They came up in spring huge but with red and yellow flames. Amazing.....

It's quite common for the odd rogue bulb to infiltrate the wrong field at the bulb nursery. They only need to get one little bulb sticking to a tractor tyre and it has migrated! I used to quite like finding weird bulbs in some of the schemes I've put in over the years. Just the one or two in a huge batch isn't a problem. It's when there's more than that that it can be a nuisance if it ruins any planned effect. However, it's easy to dig them out and put them elsewhere.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

It's quite common for the odd rogue bulb to infiltrate the wrong field at the bulb nursery. They only need to get one little bulb sticking to a tractor tyre and it has migrated! I used to quite like finding weird bulbs in some of the schemes I've put in over the years. Just the one or two in a huge batch isn't a problem. It's when there's more than that that it can be a nuisance if it ruins any planned effect. However, it's easy to dig them out and put them elsewhere.

My son ended up with a huge Amaryllis along with his cactus order on ebay once. Don't know how that worked but I was glad to find the bulb a few months later!

 

[Coldeanseagull]

I hope the picture will answer the question!



It's weird that many of the exotic plants we grow here have a very hard time in Australia as it's often just too dry and hot. I'm thinking particularly of the somewhat ubiquitous Musa basjoo which struggles by all accounts over there.



There is no such thing as too long a gardening post! If I ever try Albizia again I'll do what you did! Another one I have killed a few of is Acacia baileyana a gorgeous Australian Acacia. I so wish that was hardy. It would most probably be in your garden.

Ah, asplenium scolopendrium, one of my favourite ground ferns. Seeing as my only trunked dicksonia was a squarrosa(multi babies growing after main trunk killed) I can't really stick them anywhere except where they are now!
As for boos, I thought shoehorning eleven varieties in was doing well!

 

[Jack Straw]

My son ended up with a huge Amaryllis along with his cactus order on ebay once. Don't know how that worked but I was glad to find the bulb a few months later!

About twelve years' ago, I removed the grass from a small triangle of land on the north-east corner of St. Peter's Church in Brighton and planted it up with a scheme I really liked after seeing it on many roundabouts in Brittany. Three Trachycarpus as dots, under-planted with Hydrangeas with a border of Agapanthus africanus. I specified blue Agapanthus from the nursery. When the Agapanthus started to show colour in the buds, it turned out that there was a random mix of blue and white. Initially I was a little annoyed, but when all the flowers came in to bloom, it looked superb. Probably looked better than just having blue.
About five years' ago, before work started on the Valley Gardens scheme, I got the bed cleared of plants as I didn't want to see them just dug up and dumped. We divided them to make hundreds of new plants. They were planted in several places in around Brighton and Hove. You can now see this mix of Agapanthus in the bed opposite the Palace Pier, all around New Steine in St. James Street (pictured), Sudeley Place traffic island, Queens Park, Dukes Mound Butterfly Walk, outside Hove Town Hall car park and a few groups at Jevs' Rockery.
What's not to like about blue and white flower beds in Brighton and Hove?

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Ah, asplenium scolopendrium, one of my favourite ground ferns. Seeing as my only trunked dicksonia was a squarrosa(multi babies growing after main trunk killed) I can't really stick them anywhere except where they are now!
As for boos, I thought shoehorning eleven varieties in was doing well!

Haha, I may have got a little carried away with bamboo. That is why, in spite of rhizome barrier around my largest and naughtiest boos, my back is aching from digging up bits and pieces that were escaping everywhere.

And the ferns all self seeded on the trunks. There are several native varieties. I love them!

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

About twelve years' ago, I removed the grass from a small triangle of land on the north-east corner of St. Peter's Church in Brighton and planted it up with a scheme I really liked after seeing it on many roundabouts in Brittany. Three Trachycarpus as dots, under-planted with Hydrangeas with a border of Agapanthus africanus. I specified blue Agapanthus from the nursery. When the Agapanthus started to show colour in the buds, it turned out that there was a random mix of blue and white. Initially I was a little annoyed, but when all the flowers came in to bloom, it looked superb. Probably looked better than just having blue.
About five years' ago, before work started on the Valley Gardens scheme, I got the bed cleared of plants as I didn't want to see them just dug up and dumped. We divided them to make hundreds of new plants. They were planted in several places in around Brighton and Hove. You can now see this mix of Agapanthus in the bed opposite the Palace Pier, all around New Steine in St. James Street (pictured), Sudeley Place traffic island, Queens Park, Dukes Mound Butterfly Walk, outside Hove Town Hall car park and a few groups at Jevs' Rockery.
What's not to like about blue and white flower beds in Brighton and Hove?

Fantastic. Blue and white! Sometimes, happenstance is kind in its actions.