Hi Lea,

You really cant go past local knowledge, so I'd strongly suggest that you take a good look around gardens in your area. Nurseries are also helpful, but you have to balance their advice against their profit motive - the good ones will make recommendations based solely on the best possible outcome for you. I also look at council landscaping - the plants might be doing it tough, but its surprising to see how well many species perform in the harshest of conditions.

My current block has the same characteristics you've described, without the advantage of North-South orientation. My experience has been that the following do well in clay, and will be excellent foundation plants within 2-3 years of planting (from a 6" pot):

- Xanthostemon Chrysanthus (Golden Penda) : takes the brunt of the afternoon Rocky sun and just looks sensational, even without flowers. Not so much as a single pest, despite the exotic Syzygium opposite being regularly gnawed on :)

- Syzygium Australe Southern Form (Aussie Southern) : all LillyPillies arent the same, and this has a fantastic growth rate. I also like Wilsonii and a host of others, but this is the pick for a site such as yours, IMO.

- Murrayas : both exotic and the local species - fast growers, tough-as-nails and great foliage / scented flowers.

Others might suggest wattles, palms etc as pioneer plants - again, you need to see what works in *your* location. Be very careful in your choices re large trees - in addition to issues with roots and falling branches, I'm coming to the realisation that too *much* shade might be just as difficult a challenge as having too little. Having stood in a baking 40deg backyard 18 months ago, this was inconceivable, buts its definitely an issue with the new block.

I'm also going to try wire trellis and climbers at the new place : my lone Pandorea Pandorana was never given the start it deserved here, but has hung in there magnificently. There are a host of exotic climbers, too - my personal preference is for natives where possible.

Speaking to a local gardener recently, I was reminded of the importance of regularly checking the acidity of your soil - I started at 6.5, but all the compost, fertiliser, watering etc is bound to have an impact. He told me of a mate who grew 5 acres of lucerne purely to provide compost to his own garden - thats one serious gardener :)

I believe that the main challenge facing all mainland gardeners at the moment isnt soil, plant choice or orientation - its rainfall. I remember Coffs as a lush, subtropical paradise with abundant rain - I sincerely hope that remains the case while you establish your own oasis.

Cheers,

Artie

I would definately recommend planting some clumping bamboo particularly "Ghost" bamboo(Dendrocalamus minor var Amoenus),It will give you shade and height in your garden very quickly (around 2 years)and will allow future underplanting.
Good luck

Can I add Bambusa Oldhamii to Richard's recommendation ? The only thing you need to be aware of is that many bamboos, even the clumping variety, can grow very tall and throw a *lot* of shade. I dont think I really grasped just hw big 7 metres is until I saw a 7 metre-high clump of bamboo - the vertical habit of the plant really drives home just how tall it is :)

Oldhamii is certainly a potentially large bamboo,i have seen some that would be approaching 15 meters in height.Ghost however generally only reaches about 6-8 meteres which i reckon is great for the burbs.

Hi Richard,
I notice you are Brisbane, where can I get some of the ghost Bamboo around here? Do you also know how much it costs?

A friend got one from Bamboo Down Under near Mt tambourine recently she paid $55 for a 200mm pot.
I think thats a good price.
Cheers

Thanks for the suggestions,hadn't considered bamboo (had a bad experience once with black bamboo-I planted it!)Do the clumping types spread much?Have already got a penda and lilly pilly,and your'e spot on artie, they are real troopers.I have a murraya koenigii,do you know if they like the same amount of sun as the paniculatas? Havent been game to plant it out as it is doing well in the pot so far.

The spread for clumping bamboos varies depending on the species but Ghost and Oldhamii can be kept easily in around 1 square metres ground space .

I dont have any Koenigii, sadly, but my gut feel is that they need a little more shade than Paniculata - at least in the Qld Sun - check with your local nursery people for the best aspect in your area.