Trees
I know M3 is reading this blog and envying me my trees. And they are very nice. This garden dates from 1986, so some of them are getting quite mature. And the garden is getting very shady in summer - so my roses are getting quite straggly.
When I started there were only two trees on the block - a large silky oak seedling from maybe 1975 and a Queensland white cedar from well before 1975 - but it had had wire and chain tied around it, so was suckering from below that, and has never been good. But it is still there.
My best trees are those I put in straight away in 1986 along the front to cut down on the dust. They are now a large crabapple, the smoke bush, a liquidambar, the tulip tree (which is brilliant), a chinese pistachio (not doing well), a kumquat and a silver birch.
Since then I added along the property line a Manchurian pear (getting big), a white robinia (getting huge), another white cedar, a purple ash, a Chinese liquidambar and I think there might be a maple in there. And this is not a large block.
Hang on - then there is that Cratageus that is brilliant in autumn - and the Judas Tree that hasn't read the label about how tall it is allowed to get ......
Add the Bloomfield abundance rose that thinks it is a tree, and some more citrus along the front (also to catch the dust), and it really is an urban forest - and most of that is only on one side of the block. But the autumn leaves are spectacular - especially when we get an early frost.
posted by Linda at 10:30 AM
3 Comments:
You almost have an Arboretum in your own yard. It must be just beautiful in the autumn and I look forward to seeing some photos.
We regret now that we didn't plant more trees when we first moved here 29 years ago. We thought we needed to establish the garden beds, etc. first so that the trees would be in the right places, but that took a long time. We now feel that we should have planted more trees first and then worked around them. They would have been quite large now.
We spent 1993 in England, having arrived in mid-winter when many of the trees were bare. There were so many trees, and so big, that I kept saying to my cousins, "These must look fantastic in the summer", and they did. Then I would say "These must look wonderful in the Autumn", but they were disappointing. I thought the whole of England would look like Canberra on a massive scale but most of the autumn tones were just yellows and browns, scarcely any reds and oranges.
Your trees must provide you with lovely shade on a hot summer's day. Do you give yourself the time to enjoy it?
So, how big is this block, must be an acre to hold all those tree roots, but no fence yet.And where are the absolutely dropdead gorgeous Dogwoods, we always love what we can't grow :)My new garden has a chinese elm which shades the back of the house and most of the garden,as the vendor is going to the sunshine coast, he is leaving a number of freshly painted lge pots with native orchids,didn't notice all of them so they can't have made an impression. Did notice a rhapsis (lady) palm, will be nurturing that in a pot inside.
Street tree is a chinese tallow which has lovely autumn foliage. I don't know anything abt the elm, hope it looses all it's leaves in autumn but I think it doesn't shed them all until new leaves grow it's probably a temperature thing.
You have some lovely trees along the front. Will look like a holiday destination in autumn.
Robyn
Hi Robyn,
It is probably your standard quarter acre block – and I have found a few trees I forgot – one I cannot even remember what it is. Could it be I have a Purple Ash and a Purple Elm??? Oh Dear. And how could I have forgotten the Pink Robinia? Well, it is smaller than the white one. And the second Crabapple – well, it is still small, only seven foot or so.
But the trick is, I have large nature strips on two sides, and a paddock on the third side – so I tell myself that all the tree roots go over there. And all the big trees (or ones that will get big) are away from the house. And I don’t cover up my ground with things like driveways and patios, so when there is rain, it can soak in.
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