Q: I'm starting my garden from scratch. I wish to plant along the boundaries to create privacy and some shade. I am conscious of the water restrictions, as well as complex root systems of large trees. I want to create a low maintenance garden - what would you recommend I plant? Elle, Tarragindi.
A: Your question is a ‘complex’ one to answer…because there are so many variables to consider.
Starting from scratch… I strongly recommend a good depth of ‘good’ soil, meaning a minimum of at least 300mm. The basis of a good garden is good soil. The deeper the soil is, the better the ‘water holding capacity’ that it will have, and of course the better the plants will grow – provided it is ‘good’ soil. What is the soil like in your garden? If the underlying structure is clay or shale or sand, for you to lay out 300mm of imported soil you will need to excavate and dispose of some of the underlying poor soil. This will depend on the layout of your garden. You could possibly excavate only 150mm, loosen up the bottom, and then fill up with a 300mm layer of good soil… thereby raising your garden bed by 150mm. This will give you the required depth of soil, and will still permit good drainage. BUT …you may already have good soil in your garden?
Good soil … if your garden already has a good loam as a soil, you have no problems. If you need to purchase soil, you then need to specify a soil with a good structure and the required content of decomposed organic matter in the mix being purchased. There is an Australian standard for soils, which sets out minimum standards. For GOOD results, one needs to aim higher than these minimum standards. Unfortunately, when purchasing soils from suppliers, just stating a ‘good garden soil’ does not always give one the best product.
Water restrictions…starting from scratch, and if you want a soil that ‘holds’ water for a greater period of time, I recommend that you mix in some ‘hydrocell’ with the soil. This is a fairly new product. It is a ‘crushed styrofoam’ like material, which holds 60 times its own volume of water. This means that the soil mix with hydrocell takes much longer to dry out, and will need less irrigation or manual watering. www.hydrocell.net.au will give you information on the product.
Planting along boundaries to create privacy and some shade… there are so many plants that can be planted along boundaries to provide privacy, but which will create ‘some’ shade or NO shade…depending on the aspect of that particular boundary in relation to your house. If you require an element of permanent shade, there are so many trees that may be used. The species will depend on the proximity of the particular location to your house.
Complex root systems of large trees…yes, some trees have root systems that are more invasive than others. Again, the choice will depend entirely on the particular site AND what you wish to achieve…shade throughout the year, shade in summer but sun in winter, whatever! Please keep in mind the plants that you wish to grow under that tree…is it to be lawn, groundcover plants, shrubs …! Is the tree to be on one of your boundaries…will it cause problems, at some time in the future, for your neighbours!
Low maintenance garden…once again, there are so many plants to choose from. Do you require a ‘native look’, a ‘tropical look’, a ‘dry-land’ type planting, a garden with a lot of colour, and so on!
I do apologize for being ‘so vague’ in my answer, but there is so much to consider…location, aspect, what exactly you would like to achieve, costs of course, and much more. I feel you need to sit down with a landscaper and discuss the whole project.
