Burners' Backyards: Veggies, Gardening, Landscape & Design

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
Thought we should have a thread for all the green thumbs on Rotorburn. A place where we can share tips on growing veggies, landscaping projects, fixing drainage problems, how to water your indoor plant on a Saturday instead of a Sunday and not have it die on you, etc.

I'm relatively new to it all as I've just bought for the first time and will be designing what I hope is a productive, largely edible garden (that's also dog proof).

Will be looking for some good native shrubs and ground cover species to plant in an east facing front yard and partly shady west facing backyard, so always open to suggestions and seeing what other 'burners have done with their places.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Can a garden be dog proof?

Every puppy I’ve had has gone through a pretty solid destructo phase.
 

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
Can a garden be dog proof?

Every puppy I’ve had has gone through a pretty solid destructo phase.
That's what I want to know. We've got 2 adult greyhounds, they will dig and tear around the yard wearing in a track. I'm wondering whether I might be best with those raised veggie garden beds like the colour bond ones, although they are pretty pricey.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
I’ve managed to train all my doggens out of it (mostly. The foxy X red cattle was insane. No stopping that little bitch ahaha, always running at 110% untill sleep hit).
The new shitheads just starting to dig but he’s not too bad about it, Catching him in the act and what not, he knows he shouldn’t be doing it now.

But nothing I’ve done to a garden has stopped them from havin a good ol’ chew on that nice shrubbery you just put in.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Best advice I ever got was to walk around your suburb and look at what is growing well and growing badly. Talk to people about their gardens and how much time they spend tending it etc.

I am putting raised beds in but will use second hand timber rather than colourbond etc. I might even raid BIL's place with my chainsaw. My concern is birds. I cannot get any fruit off my Illawarra plums or mangoes so not sure how the rest will cope.
 

LPG

likes thicc birds
I decided a while ago that certain vegies are too much work as they attract insects that eat them and I don't really want to get into pesticides or try and figure out natural remedies and such. I do have plenty of herbs like basil, thai basil, oregano, lemon thyme, rosemary, chillis, mint and tarragon. I also have some citrus trees I planted a year ago (kaffir lime, tahitian lime and lemonade) which are growing well and being citrus arent too difficult to deal with bugs.

I also have a peach or nectarine tree that was here well before us but every year it gets to the point that I decide to pick the fruits the following day and without fail that night the flying foxes come and there is nothing left by morning. I should put a net up next year...
 

hifiandmtb

Sphincter beanie
I lent heavily on the council - became a green grant member & they helped hugely with native tube stock.

Before

353180


353181


After

353182


353183


Even more mental now, have small birds, snakes & lizards all moved in now.

And because native, no need to look after any of it!
 

Cyclomaniac

Likes Dirt
Looks good hifiandmtb, I wish my natives grew that well. I have very poor soils at my place and have have tubestock take years to even reach waist height. I have to dose them with Seasol powerfeed every few weeks to get them to grow. It was getting embarrassing because I am a landscaper!

Elbo, my best tip to anyone would be to get a good compost system going asap. I have six heaps hidden around the garden and they have been great for improving the soil. I am also and growing Lady Finger bananas and the compost has been great for them.
 

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
Best advice I ever got was to walk around your suburb and look at what is growing well and growing badly. Talk to people about their gardens and how much time they spend tending it etc.
That's a great idea. I'm always out walking the dogs, so I will take note of what looks to be thriving in people's yards.

From the limited reading I've done, a good tip I read was to buy a cheap diary and keep notes about your yard, significant weather, how plants are doing, etc, then you can work out patterns or trends or whether something might need to be changed in your approach to get a better result.
 

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
I decided a while ago that certain vegies are too much work as they attract insects that eat them and I don't really want to get into pesticides or try and figure out natural remedies and such. I do have plenty of herbs like basil, thai basil, oregano, lemon thyme, rosemary, chillis, mint and tarragon. I also have some citrus trees I planted a year ago (kaffir lime, tahitian lime and lemonade) which are growing well and being citrus arent too difficult to deal with bugs.

I also have a peach or nectarine tree that was here well before us but every year it gets to the point that I decide to pick the fruits the following day and without fail that night the flying foxes come and there is nothing left by morning. I should put a net up next year...
Having a strong herb selection growing is what I want to do as well. So handy just having them out the back door and being able to throw some fresh stuff into a recipe. Saves you $3 a pop at the supermarket too.

My folks used to net their peaches and almonds. It certainly stops the bats. Just don't leave it on for ages or it'll become a permanent part of the tree like theirs.
 

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
I lent heavily on the council
That looks great. New deck will be the icing on the cake.
I'll have to suss out whether my local council does a similar thing. I recently found out the local botanic gardens sells plants occasionally which is good to know.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
I planted a lot of trees as well. Silky Oaks and Ash (silver, Crow's and yellow or golden) do very well here. Also have some qld maple, white cedar, white beech and several wattles. As hifi said if you stick with natives they can thrive and survive but again just what suits the area. When the back gets darker under the canopy i will give some red cedars a go. I do have a bigger house block though.
 

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
Elbo, my best tip to anyone would be to get a good compost system going asap. I have six heaps hidden around the garden and they have been great for improving the soil. I am also and growing Lady Finger bananas and the compost has been great for them.
Definitely keen to get a compost system going. A friend owns a cafe and uses the scraps and coffee grinds in his compost. It's something like 60-80˚C in there at the moment!
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Anyone want some frangipani’s? I have 9 of the dildo branch looking fuckers and want em all gone, to be replaced with natives eventually. Proper old lady yard at this joint.
 
Top