About a year ago I got rid of half of my (south side) front lawn and planted some natives. Location is inner west Sydney, I've tried to pick as local as possible using council resources. Even though its on the south most of the yard away from the wall gets some sun. I kept some old camellias as a side hedge and on the shaded wall. The trees I planted are mostly doing ok apart from the acacia terminalis, which is flowering but it is much smaller/spindlier than expected.
Anyway the advice I'm specifically looking for spacing for plants to establish an understory, more of a "bushy" feel and encourage smaller birds if possible – I have a bunch of medium sized native shrubs ready to plant : Kunzea ambigua, Bursaria spinosa, Hakea sericea; as well as smaller shrubs/ground cover in Leucopogon juniperinus, Correa reflexa and Scaevola albida. There's viola hedercea doing great in the shade near the wall and under the more shaded Camellias as well, hopefully will spread.
I feel like it should be ok to plant now without messing up the growth of the bigger trees? And also to help suppress the onion weed which is going gangbusters, I need to get out there again this weekend. But I am not that experienced and worried I'll just end up killing them all by planting too close!
Another option is to rip up all the grass on the other half of the lawn and plant that out too. I have an Illawarra Flame Tree growing on that side, it's maybe 3-4m tall, looking healthy although the bag moths found it in the last few weeks. Anyway I'm kind of avoiding that for now since getting rid of the rest of the grass is a huge job, and I know that once that tree really gets going it will be quite shady underneath. Maybe given the relative success of this side it's time to do something else over there too…
by liquefry
3 Comments
Having a bush-like look is wonderful, but a bit of structure will shape the garden better. Start not at plant choice but map out a sketch from front to back, indicating where the tallest bushes should go, then smaller shrubs, then ground covers (either at the front, or mingled).
Then you want may want to determine if you want to add larger landscapes that can complement both bush and birdlike. These may be some larger rocks, entering pavers, climbing sculpture, tree stumps or even a pond if you’re adventurous.
Lastly, you fill in gaps with different textures. These include native grasses. Provide insect havens (good) and provide movement in the garden.
Without a plan it may come off looking a little haphazard. Love the space though!
So long as you aren’t stabbing away at the ground really close to their bases of existing trees you should be all good for weeding and putting in new plants.
You only need to go as deep as the lip of the pot the new plants are in (average pot 140mm), so likelihood of hitting any major roots will be slim to none. Just make sure you scrape your dig spot clean of leaves and mulch to minimise mulch/leaves getting into the hole and causing issues with air pockets and nitrogen leeching near the roots of the new plants. You can bring everything scraped aside back into place once plants are in.
I’ve had Hardengergia before. They take about a year to fully settle in and lock in their root system, then it’s all off to the races with growth and spread.
A fresh layer of mulch would help spruce up the look and help knock down lurking weeds once new plants are in and help with soil temperature comfortable for the new plants now cooler weather is moving in.
Haberfield? I think I recognise your street lol.