A.B's Plot

Discussion in 'Members' Systems' started by Australian Beekeeper, Sep 2, 2014.

  1. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Logo needs a carbonaria spiral.


    How are you watering and how often? What's the nutrient regime on the veg as they look nice and green?


    Plant has the same flowers as one of my Crotalaria. Watch the seeds form to see if they form the "rattlepods".


    Try some Casuarina and Allocasuarina amongst your borders for a good windbreak, the gardens looks a little exposed.
     
  2. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Hmmm good thinking. Trying to keep it stamp able so will have to keep it simpleish.

    Veg I just water by hand (tank water) twice a week or so - only a few mins. Have had a lot of rain lately so haven't even done that. I want to set up drippers but haven't done it yet. I don't know a lot about irrigation to be honest so something I need to learn more about.

    I started by digging in a lot of manure early on to help make/mature the soil. Since then have added composted chook poo sporadically, not much though. Moving fowared I am making compost and hope to get the chook pen going. I also pick up 20kg or so of coffee grinds a week from my local coffee shop which I use directly on trees or put in compost/worms. The worms love the stuff.

    The legumes do have rattle seeds. They are everywhere.

    Good thinking with the wind break. There isn't excessive wind here (low, up a hill on one side and bush on the other). I kind of planned to do that with the pigeon pea too but having trouble until it warms up.
     
  3. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Crotalaria ssp. then. From memory, cowpea inoculant may work with them. If they are working for you, keep them, as most are beyond weed status and naturalised mostly now. You can chop the flower spikes off to keep the seed load down obviously. On all those spots from your photos I would let them go, just think of the roots inside the soil building OM. Not sure if you are planning grass or herbs.

    I'll throw in some Allocasuarina tubes with your Basil if you'd like. I'm a bit low on small trees at the moment, I have some Syzygium luehmannii which is a native edible and bee 8m tree but other than that, not much in the nursery. I have some sad Acacia fimbriata that you can consider.
     
  4. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    They are welcome to grow everywhere. I should look at the roots for nodules. Cheers mate, may well do that. There are some kind of casuarina in the bush across the road. I should go and collect some seed!
     
  5. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Well they had nodules :)
    [​IMG]

    Also lately, this is how close I came to losing one of my low chill apples (damn pup). Luckily there was a bud between the break and the graft!
    [​IMG]


    Yesterday I got in and finished the trailer with help from pop (the trailer donater) and my dad. This will primarily be for bee moving but will also serve me well in all areas when a trailer is useful. Also going to make a canopy for camping :)
    Cut the old mounts/tray off
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    New mounts made and fitted.
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    Good to go :)
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    Today I visited a member here and was blown away and inspired by what he has been doing. He also gave me a couple of seedlings to help my system along which was great :)

    And I'll finish off the post with what is one of my favourite and probably most useless plants (It wouldn't even survive if I put it in the ground). The Albany pitcher plant Cephalotus follicularis. The natural history of the plant just amazes me (it is not even closely related to ANY other carnivorous plant) and the pitchers are obviously quite intricate and beautiful.
    [​IMG]
     
  6. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Super sexy trailer. If you could get the sides a little higher, it would be an absolute manure/mulch machine!

    Casuarina are easy to propagate, use the "bog method" once you collect the seed of the tree just as it opens (requires visits to check). Google it, it's a tray resting in water.

    You should have native rhizobia existing in your soil which the exotic Crotalaria will bind to. Check your nodules with a thumbnail for a red colour, it's allegedly a test for good nodulation. Any nitrogen-fixer I grow here, including the ones before I added the wood mulch would nodulate in clean potting mix, whether or not it's actually working, who knows.

    Prune that jagged branch off your Apple down to where it splits in two and then prune it back to the active growing node when the tree decides where it's going to put the energy.
     
  7. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Will do regarding the apple and I'll check what's in the nodules tomorrow. Really looking forward to getting into the propagating/setting up the nursery too. Lots to play with!
     
  8. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Took a few pics around the joint today. I have planted a lot of support species recently but in the pics they are too small to show up and so I haven't labelled them. There are also other fruit trees or shrubs that were just too small to see clearly in the pics or were just out of shot. Everything around the house is obviously not included and also the non road side banana and pawpaw area isn't included. Why? I don't know, I forgot to get pics.

    Beside the driveway, some natives
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    front. More natives and then into fruit trees
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    Corner. Jackfruit is to be the eventual focal point of the corner.
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    back along the side from the corner
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    road side
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    more road side. This is the wettest area of the yard and so I use it for vetiver propogation.
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    back corner road side.
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    back corner non road side
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    Non road side
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    Front fence and cocky's gate. The gate in the side of the driveway was an idea to allow planting along the front fence. It would be fine if I didn't need access for the eventual shed and to use the trailer all the time. Unfortunately I do need those things and so I am going to make the fence solid down the drive and put a gate in the front fence. I will move one of the front posts over to make it a wider access point.
    [​IMG]
     
  9. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    From a street tree planter's perspective, I would move each tree if you want long-term viability. Give your driveway a minimum 4m from the tree if you don't want it lifted. And, since your strips are so wide, move the trees back into the strip about 1.5-2m from the edge. You will get a better purchase with the structural roots, less potential lifting of the kerb and road, less pruning/butchering of the tree to clear the roadside and better resistance to windthrow.

    I know the Council/developer probably put them there, but trust me, they aren't arborists and probably never spoke to one either. It's going to be hard with every other tree visible and close to the kerb, but if you can manage it, it will benefit you in the long run.

    Just a thought.

    And it's "truncheons" for truncheon cuttings.


    That garden is going to boom one day, that's precisely how I started on mine, except I use woodmulch in 1m circles, and then joined them as I could afford it. I haven't mulched mine in 3 years but you can't see much soil any more. The Austromyrtus dulcis is a good edible shrub to put around between the trees where it will get sun. Melastoma affine, Pig Face etc. Any time you use a Lilly Pilly or hedging plants, swap it out for Jaboticaba they are just as good in the long run but a little slower. A good stagger with Syzygium and Jaboticaba could be a good method to get two hedges going at once then remove the Syzygium for mulch.
     
  10. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Thought my spelling was off. I googled to get correct spelling but didn't find anything, now I know why! I wasNt even saying it properly!

    Yeah the developers put the trees there and I thought it might be an issue. The two things stopping me from moving them back are the developer and that I don't know where the water, electricity and fibre is. I will look into it and get it done if I can. Thank you for the experienced advice there.

    Really looking forward to it maturing as yours has :)
     
  11. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    DBYD. https://1100.com.au/

    Make an account, lie if you have to to complete the registration (from memory you won't have to), then point out your property on the map and wait for the emails to come in. Just put manual excavation for tree planting as the reason.

    The inspection pits will be obvious and they follow a pattern in most developments these days. Right hard up against your boundary with lines heading out to the lights. Gutter will have a stamp where it crosses over.
     
  12. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Excellent! I didn't know such a service existed, thank you :)

    Actually while we are talking about it, move the bottle tree further away too? It is about 2-2.5m from the drive way. I know they have smallish root systems but got me thinking now.
     
  13. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Based on anecdotal evidence through my observations spotting Bottle Trees here, there and everywhere, I would hazard a guess that you would be OK.

    There are some huge ones planted on kerbs and driveways, never seen an issue. I wouldn't move it but if it's just been planted, maybe? I wouldn't, you will be right (not a 100% guarantee).

    Street trees, particularly Eucalypts and some other species, tend to travel along the surface as the ground out there is highly compacted. To make things easier on them and to prevent surface roots, decompact the planting areas with a broadfork, or fork, once a year for 3 years in increasing radius each year. Like my street trees, increase the mulched area to go with it.

    I planted a lot of street trees and I get to drive past a lot of them randomly, not many have performed as well as mine and that came from watering during the dry first two years (20L when I remembered), one forking (didn't own a fork), lots of woodchip (fungus decompacts), and native grasses (also decompacts).
     
  14. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Dbyd was a fantastic service. I'll mulch a larger area when I get some mulch. Will eventually plant native grasses/flowers around and in front.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Perfect effort. Better than the guys I work with.

    Come Summer, fork around the outside of that area, add more mulch and then repeat the year after increasing in size. Don't fork where there is traffic (like postie or foot) as it compacts twice as hard, just slightly encourage traffic into one path with mulch and plants without causing obstruction or something to complain about (old people). Dianella caerulea (slightly spreading) or Dianella brevipedunculata (clumping) or Pintos (spreading) could be a good edition. Pintos has the ability to, if low-foot traffic, becoming your turf or at least joining in. A no-mow path is a dream of urban living.
     
  16. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Cheers :) will do. Very keen on pinto after seeing it in person.

    Helped my pop cut up and move fallen trees all day yesterday. Cut myself two straight sections of iron bark. Today I dug them in and set up for dragon fruit. I'll add pics tomorrow.

    This afternoon I started work on the chook pen. I went to borrow dads old stake driver but it has dissapeared at some point and so we knocked up a new one from some scrap. About an hours work.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It is a decent size and weight so packs some power.
     
  17. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    It's supposed to be a banana for scale, not a beer bottle!
     
  18. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    I used what I had at hand :) besides I felt the beer played an integral part in the making!
     
  19. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Made the chook pen yesterday and today. Started with some boxes.
    [​IMG]

    Then built a shed and fence. Just needs gate. The shed is made with hardwood stakes left behind after the street trees in my area no longer needed them. The colour bond was scrap from when my roof was done.
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    Gate done. I did some tidying and cut the poles even etc after this pic.
    [​IMG]

    The gate is intentionally wide so I can get a barrow in. I'll get pics up of the new additions when I can :)
    I also have the obligatory black mulberry to plant in the pen but I am reluctant to plant it as the pen is nearish the neighbours fence and he has planted some ornamental flowering thing there. My dad has a black mulberry and the thing is gigantic.
     
  20. Australian Beekeeper

    Australian Beekeeper Junior Member

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    Welcomed four Rhode Island Red hens to cluckingham palace today. Young so a while until we get eggs.

    [​IMG]

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    And quick home made pvc feeder. Took all of five minutes.
    [​IMG]
     
    grantvdm and mischief like this.

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