The Gardening Blog

Hi guys, I know we have at least a couple of green thumbs so I thought I'd try my luck at tapping into that expertise.

I have a little patch of backyard I want to put a garden into. We want to go for a bit of Bali garden feel, at the moment its just a little patch of grass in between our house and our pool. This is what I want to do.

The little quarter circle garden is shaded for 80 per cent of the day and we've half-heartedly try to grow a few thing in there and they've died. I've got a little brick border that runs around in a semi-circle, which is ugly as hell but I kind of don't know what else to do.

For the fenceline we've bought a Balinese water feature I want to put it in and we want to put it in a garden that at least partially hides the wooden sleeper retaining wall and colorbond fence. There is nothing here at the moment, and I don't have any clue where to start. ie shape, how to do a border, prepare the ground, what plants to put in, etc. I literally have no idea about how to even approach creating a garden, never mind knowing what plants might work. Both me and the missus have black thumbs so we need something low-maintenance!

And as you can see I'm going to try and build a square daybed in the middle of it all, which I'll try my hand at assuming I successfully manage to put in said garden.

Help?

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Replies

1Eyed Eel January 10, 2011 at 12:48am

Also any advice on how much work I need to do for a foundation for the water feature. It looks kinda like this:

If the ground is really solid, do I need to give it a foundation. I assume it would be similar to laying pavers ie road base + sand on top?
1Eyed Eel January 10, 2011 at 12:57am

Cheers, Dr Eels. I'm thinking Bamboo or palms/ferns as the larger plants but that's about as far as I can envisage.
1Eyed Eel January 10, 2011 at 2:56pm

Any plant recommendations Tony?
Sir Col "THE NODDY MUSHROOM" January 10, 2011 at 4:48pm

Perhaps a call to the dood on Better Homes & Gardens

Email to Jamie Drury

Scott Cam from Backyard Blitz

Word your question right and who knows - they may do a freebie and give you 30 minutes of fame on TV.

Apart from that my gardening expertise is - - "If I can't mow it, I don't grow it." lol
Webby January 10, 2011 at 9:13pm

Be carefull if planting bamboo it has a habit of taking over.

Id just lay a small slab under your water feature just board it up and mix in a wheelbarow make sure its all level.
1Eyed Eel January 10, 2011 at 9:40pm

Pool fence is south, fenceline is east. There are trees that overhang the fenceline so in the morning that would be completed shaded. It's not flat, it has a gentle slope running away from the fence and towards the pool fence. I think the soil is not too bad.
EeLmatiC January 12, 2011 at 7:57am

Yeah I was going to say that too! Bamboo grows super fast and can be somewhat of a nuisance.
EeLmatiC January 12, 2011 at 8:13am

Dang! Your house layout is very similar to mine, from the pool to the quarter circle garden, and even the garden with the water feature.. (except I haven't got a water feature)

If you need plans for sewer I can email to ya if you want..

I'm also trying to do some landscaping at my place, so I appreciate this blog!!

Perfecta, any tips on plants around the lower Blue Mountains? I already have a few natives that attract pretty little birds and some parrots at the front of the property, but the back needs some love too... I'm thinking of plants that can tolerate the cold and don't need too much maintenance, plus have some nice colours to bring a bit of life to the backyard...