Tales From the Box

One of my favourite nursery trips is to the Imperial Garden’s complex in Terrey Hills – which is located about 45 minutes north on Sydney. The complex contains The Buddha Belly restaurant,  Imperial Gardens Bonsai, Imperial Gardens Landscape Design, Mr Bamboo Nursery, Gazebo Direct and Hidden Orient.

I remember treking up to Imperial Gardens bonsai in 1999 as Ken Lamb (Managing director of Imperial Gardens Landscape) was constructing the Balinese pavillions that became Buddha Belly/Imperial Gardens Landscape/Hidden Orient. I usually return once a year and am struck by how authentically the gardens and constructions have aged. The whole area was mostly a dumping area 15 years ago and now feels like a landscape that has been their for 100 years.

We live in the Lower Blue Mountains. That means we travel. Lots. So we are thus used to and experienced in trekking all over to find useful places to source things around our home. I am bringing you some of my favourite and not so favourite garden nurseries from around Sydney.

Thus we traversed the lengthy and expensive toll roads of Sydney’s north to this subtropical seaside suburb of the Northern Beaches. I had previously ran past this on a Metrogaine in 2008 and thought that i should come back. Nearly 18 months later we return on a strikingly humid day too.

What impressed about this nursery is the varied amount of stock on offer and the low prices across their range. I usually steer away from all Flower Power nurseries due their almost default position of doubling the prices relative to what one would reasonable expect from a large chain. Warriewood Flower Power gladly has steered away from this with a generous selection of plants on sale and non sale plants still reasonably priced given their size and health.

Anyway the top 5 reasons that you should go to this nursery are:

1. Tropical style plant stock – good varied ferns, palms, large leafy under storey types.
2. Homewares and outdoor/indoor accessories – most nurseries attempt to have some indoor pots /general nice knick knacks but mostly fail. Not only is the indoor accessories area massive- the homewares are really nicely choosen , stylish and contemporay
3. Native varieties – plenty of choice of varieties and sizes. Different cultivars too – I counted 11 different Lillipilly’s.
4. On sale items – i picked up two 200mm pot banksias for $9.99 each from $19.99 – both over 1metre high. They had 200mm pots of Liriope for $3.25 down from $9.99
5. Lots to see – as nurseries go it is quite spacious, has lots of different areas (natives, formal gardens, tropical/indoor, aquatic, fish, landscape, indoors, mature trees etc)

Photos can only show you so much – so here is a bit of a wander around the backyard (albeit shaky….) looking at what we have done in the garden over the past few years.

My aim has been to create gardens around the house (The Box) that are drought tolerant and bird attracting. When we moved here in 2003, there was three privet trees, two paperbark and one Camphor Laurel as well as six Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus Regnans) in the north east garden (pictured above). Due to their enormous size we had afew of these Eucalypts removed in September 2008. The removal of the trees opened up the yard to more sunlight – most notably afternoon sun. To sit under these huge gums, native flowering plants and grasses filled my creative vision.

I started November 2008, digging up this garden – turning the compacted sandy soils over and mixing in some organic matter to aid in water rentention (given the slope). I let the beds settle for a few weeks- regularly applying a mixure of seasol and nitrosol. In December 2008 planed out the garden with native tubestock. My aim was grevillia’s and banksia’s for the fenceline – with the hope that they will grow taller and add some privacy – and grassy/strappy plants along the garden edge and under the trees. These grasses included Swamp Foxtail Grass, Lomandra Longifolia/Tannika, Diannella, Kangaroo Paw and Gyamea Lilies. The grasses have tripled and quadrupled in size but the grevillas and banksias in particular have been a bit slower in growth rate. However with the advent of summer – they are really starting to thicken up.

Addionally I have aimed to divert water onto this garden by positioning the downpipe from a newly installed roof for our deck directed so it flows directly across the lawn and onto this part of the garden. Also I have actively placed logs and dug small zig-zagging troughs down the slope of the garden to slow down water as it passes runs over the garden.

I am trying to implement a new feature on talesfromthebox – a before and after series. Some might feature the simple before and after – while others might show a gentle progression over many years. Anyway at the moment I am madly in the garden – loving all things backyard focused given the onset of the Christmas and New Year rain and subsequent growth. The new addtions to the yard will be a tropical garden in the lower third of the garden – but more on that later. Today – simply a before and after of the backyard – the first picture taken 5 years ago in January 2005 and the second taken today. You will note the rather clearance of many trees, the oncovering of a new more, new garden beds, a moving shed and new tank and a flush, lush green lawn. It has been a busy few years!

These kangaroo paws were planted as tubes in December last year and in the last few weeks we have been greeted by these five foot high flower stems.

Look I am fan of Don Burke. I was overjoyed when he returned to the airwaves on 2UE about 12 months ago – my Saturdays are spent digging and tending my yard listening to the podcasts of Burke’s Backyard.

Now he is back on the telly. You can watch his segments online here at the Burke’s Backyard website.

I would rather more than the 8 minutes that I get on A Current Affair – but frankly 8 minutes is better than the none we have had for the last 5 years. I think it is his wise yet matter-of-fact approach to gardening & landscaping with a honed focus on the Australian environment (thus Australian natives plants and how best to use them) that makes him so engaging to watch and listen to. I know that his production company CTC was behind Backyard Blitz which had the same authentic knowledge of useful garden bits and pieces. So Yay at Don’s return!

We have had our eye on getting rid on a few trees over the past few
years. Well thanks to a hefty tax bill we went all out and got rid of
the two dead ones at the front and the massive trees at the back.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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There were three reasons I wanted a house as opposed to an apartment.

to mow the lawn

to make a garden

to have a dog

So when we bought our abode in Warrimoo there was some lawn to be mowed, a garden to be tended, and definitely the yard for a dog to run wild and free. However the house on stilts didn’t offer us much protection in keeping said dog inside purchased land.

So we reveled in other people’s dogs – namely our parents. In January my parents bought this gorgeous little puppy Shaogo – who ran amock on our deck and generally caused a bucket full of mischief. The little slideshow is some pics of her looking sickeningly cute. (By the way if you hadn’t noticed – I have fallen in love with this google slideshow – damn you google and your irresistible goodies)

We have found that since our reno – and the addition of the deck (with the soon to be roof – thanks for the donation myles) these flighty green creatures have been paying us a visit. In fact their has been a plethora of birds. But these little fellas were very friendly and happy to eat the seed i scatted on the deck.