At my wits end on this topic - please help if you know tropical plants

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by sun burn, Feb 25, 2012.

  1. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    I need to find some tall growing shrubs or other plants that can grow to full height and relatively speedily in the shade.

    I've got a forest and i need to get screening up and going. What i've done so far is proceeding very slowly. So slowly i may have to chop down some trees to give these shrubs a chance to get some height.

    But before i do that, does anyone have any ideas of what else i can plant under a forest canopy that will fill the spaces and stop the public from seeing in to my property.

    Ideas on gingers and that kind of thing
    shrubs
    vines,
    palms

    Will any of them actually grow up in the shade Or do they all need a fair bit of sun to get started.
     
  2. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Clumping bamboo, grows fast, nice screen. Even helps with sound.
     
  3. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Does it have to be productive or anything to fill the gaps?

    Coffee, Sweet Potato, Dragonfruit, Davidsons Plum, Pawpaw (Papaya), native Raspberry, young Bunya Nut trees, Warrigal Greens, Citrus, Banana. I'd hazard a guess that some won't fruit or grow fast enough for you.

    What about your naturally-occurring understory? Some Acacias will happily grow in the shade, waiting for their chance to hit the canopy. Cordylines, lomandra, hoop pines (timber), native gingers, the list is endless.
     
  4. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    Bamboo doesn't grow in the shade, unless it was in there first. Its the same with most things as far as i can see.

    Citrus in the shade - no that will kills the tree if it had been given a chance in the first place. . Ditto all the rest except perhaps coffee. I don't know about bunya nut though. Most trees will not grow up if there's no shade. I had hoped there'd be some shrub ideas.

    I'm not talking about a permie food forest. I am talking about a stand of veyr tall rainforest trees that i planted 20 years ago.

    IT doesn't need to be edible.

    My naturally occuring understory is mostly guinea grass so there's enough light to get that to grown but what else?

    Which gingers?
     
  5. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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  6. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    You can use Bunyas as indoor plants and most often than not, walking around our native areas here will reveal Hoops and Bunyas in stasis in the understory, slowly waiting. Perhaps you could plant up some in 300mm pots in full sun, grow them to 1.5m and move them in. I have a 1.5m Bunya as an indoor tree and it's only a year or 2 old.

    Davidsons Plum is an understory tree also, I believe. If Alpinia fits your requirements (there are 230 types), look at Cordyline rubra (Cordylines in general). Wide leaves, 4m high, easily propagated.
     
  7. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I spoke to a landscaper for you yesterday and he too recommended cordylines - petiolaris to be specific because it has bigs leaves. You can chop it back to make it more dense. Apparently the berries are edible too. Pictures here.
     
  8. Speedy

    Speedy Junior Member

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    I'd plant a large leaved Cordyline fruticosa , they come in many different colours and sizes and respond well to cutting back.
    also, if you can find a large, green leaved one that resists splitting on the ends of the leaves,
    it makes good food wrapping for cooking and storing food , throw-away plates for serving and eating food from.
    the large taproot can be used for emergency food after baking that converts inulin and starch to sugars
    ....can also be used to make alcoholic beverages as was done in the past in Pacific Is.

    Gingers (ones that aren't dry-season dormant, eg. Alpinia spp. Amomum spp.) could be good,
    but may need trimming dead stems out of clumps to keep looking good, if that's a consideration.
     
  9. aroideana

    aroideana Junior Member

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    Transplant some of the Galangal ..and come down for another load of stuff .
     
  10. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    That sounds like a great offer! Pity I'm not just up the road too...
     

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