Welcome to the club, Aggie :)

I have also begun to question my addiction - in addition to buying new plants every week, I have a habit of planting them too closely together, especially with tubestock.

As far as watering is concerned, I have weaned my tubestock from daily watering to once every 3 days or so, and this will probably lengthen to once per week soon. I know what you mean about Summer's heat making you paranoid re watering, but the plant will have to come to grips with a predominately hot, dry climate sooner or later. Nurseries water daily as a matter of course, but my livelihood doesnt depend on my ability to replicate that regimen.

The ability to handle Summer will vary from plant to plant : in my own garden, I have been surprised by the way that rainforest plants such as lillipillies seem to be coping better than some of the 'drought specialists' like Callistemon. The Grevillea I've planted are tough-as-nails, with the exception of Poorinda Royal Mantle - might have to try a tub specimen :)

Ultimately, there are far worse positions to be in than spending a few dollars on a plant each week, even if it means that we need to cull one or two as they take off. I take heart from the fact that many nature-strip plantings are very dense, yet each plant seems to find enough room to grow.

Cheers,

Artie

Artie

Where did you get the idea that Callistemons are 'drought specialists'? They are natural inhabitants of the moister to damp areas of the bush. In fact, they can be used as indicators of where the wetter (lower) spots are in the bush.

Whilw many lillipilli types are able to cope with some drought, but if it persists then they will be weakened and become more susceptible to insect and disease attack.

Agnes

I sympathise with your addiction. Thank god it is not terminal!

regards

Dennis Mc

We actually found than whenever we planted this time of year, our success rate was not that good, and you had to spend every day until the weather cools to keep them alive. We also found that planting in late autumn gave almost 100% success rate. By the time the next summer comes, the plants are reasonably established, and need only infrequent watering. I try to pool my energy into getting rid of the weeds and tending to the garden rather than planting. Its hard, but it is worth it. The garden will come together eventually.

Have you tried those expanding water crystals in the bottom of each planting hole? Some bush replanting mob I saw on TV said that putting these into the planting hole increased the success rate from something along the lines of 60% to 90% (can't recall precise figures, but it was impressive) - and these were plants which were only to receive natural rainfall.

Dennis,

The main reason I have come to regard the humble bottlebrush as a survivor is the locations where I have seen them grimly hanging on where everything else is dying. The most spectacular example is a commercial building in Rocky which has been untenanted for at least 6 months, doesnt appear to have anyone maintaining the landscaping,
yet the bottlebrushes have continued to flower.

Ultimately, no plant can survive without water indefinitely : I guess I'm most in awe of how *good* my lillipillies look in the absence of proper irrigation. One psyllid attack in 12 months, and they left town as soon as I appeared with a spraycan.

Cheers,

Artie

Callistemons are grown widely here in the middle of highways and other such places where they do extremely well on just rainfall. Geraldton Wax is another widely used native along freeways and embankments and the show!!

Artie, close planting is another disease I suffer from ! I just can't imagine my tubestock reaching their full potential of 3m plants ...

My head fully understands that summer is not the time to plant - but its like this obsessive compulsive thing ... I spend the whole day staring (I exaggerate, but you catch my drift) at patches in the garden thinking it would nice to plant x here, or y there ... and then all I can think about is purchasing x and y, then a, b, c and all the others !!

Artie, on callistemons, I have heard that they respond well to watering - when little - I know have 3 fairly large callistemon (about 1.5 to 2.5 m) which do not get watered by me at all anymore. They are fine. But I found with the tubestock under 1.5 feet that they respond well to watering.

So far, no losses. But summer hasn't hit yet. In the meantime, I will slowly try to wean them to watering 3 times a week.

Aggie

Agnes
You are not alone in regard to buying plants. I seem to have plants follow me home, the latest one was a thryptomene..very pretty but I must be mad. I think they could be a bit touchy in this climate (CQ coast) My biggest problem is at times I don't make the hole deep enough, but I am learning because plants cost so much money. We could be doing worse and adopting stray dogs or gambling.

I think I've come to accept that the garden is not going to come together in just a couple of years. I have started now to plant the latger type of shrubs first to get them established, and to see how much room they may take up. Next will be to fill in all the spaces with grasses, daisies and groundcovers. The ultimate goal is not to have any bare patches in the garden, but this might take a while to achieve

Pos02 - I am also trying for the no bare patch look - resulting in probably chronic overcrowding when my tubestocks finally grow. I have found that a really good temporary fix is planting annuals - (a) it prevents me from over-planting with permanent natives and (b) it lets me feel like the garden is really growing.

I am trying to fill in with grasses, daises and groundcovers too - problem is with sourcing grasses in WA. I have relaxed the strict native or edible rule in our garden by planting seaside daisy - there are some great photos of it as an underplanting near gum trees in my native garden book.

Glad to say that other than 3 $1.50 instant colour dhalias, I resisted the urge this weekend ...

Aggie

Hi Agnes,
I was really naughty this week, 2 cycads, a bromilliad and a miniature rose. Am I paying too much though, the cycads were about 2 foot tall $17.50 each, the brom $20 and the rose $8.50 What have other readers been paying for plants?
regards Jan

Jan,

Plant prices do vary greatly from one part of Oz to the next (people in Sydney and Melbourne definitely pay more than those of us in the bush), but anytime you can find a Cycad of that size for less than $20, I believe it to be a good deal. The bromeliad sounds a little expensive, but you dont say what size it was, and I'm afraid I know nothing of rose prices.

Cheers,

Artie

Hi Artiew
I'd say the bromiliad is approximately size of dinner plate and very pretty. My husband wants to know if they can be propogated as he said they'd be nice all around edge of garden. I am sure I have seen advice on propogating these somewhere. The rose prices where I bought mine were $20 for icebergs about 2'6" as standards so I gather $7.50 for a miniature isn't too bad. I get mine at Pickos in Yeppoon. I had an accident with weed eater this morning, chopped off half my new bottlebrush and I can't find my native bauhinia. I am only a novice with weed eaters and I am really upset. I hope the roots are there somewhere and miraculously regrows.
Jan

Dont be too hard on yourself, Jan - even the 'big name' gardeners lose plants. I just take it as part of the experience, and it makes me appreciate the plants which do make it, especially in CQ heat.

Hi Artie
Thank you for your help and words of encouragement.
There is a house near a nursery in Norman Road, Rocky and it always has the most splendid display of petunias, I just wonder if the person clips them back or just makes repeated sowings. It looks beautiful and always seems to do so well. I didn't think they self seeded so what is the gardener's secret, apart from a whole heap of work? Jan

Hi Jan,

I know the house that you mean, but I rarely stop at the Norman Road nursery, as I believe them to be overpriced compared to the (many) others in Rocky. I am often surprised by the 'dress circle' appearance of the houses along that stretch - its clear that being proud of one's garden rubs off on neighbours, although the formality of many of the gardens isnt my ideal, and I have to question the extravagant amounts of water they throw at their lawns. All that aside, its great :)

Hi Artie
I have found some of the plants at our local Mitre 10 are reasonably priced. I bought two ponytail palms approx 12-18 inches for $4.50 and a white plumbago for $5.50.
Jan

I have this addiction too, I go out to pay the phone bill, and somehow find myself at the nursery instead. I only have a smallish yard, yet have bought nearly every species of Banksia imaginable, and Grevillea, and Callistemons, and more...

I can't stop!

Thankfully I live next to Kananook Reserve, where I can plant Banksia Integrifolia & Marginata to my heart's content.

On the subject of Callistemons, I find that they really like the Sun too, and don't fare very spectacularly in the shade.
Planted two Callistemon Citrinus tubestock in the same soil type, they are watered the same amount, yet one is in shade, and one gets good sun. The one in shade is healthy but languishing, yet the one in the "Hawaii" end of the garden is growing like a weed on steroids. Me no complain!

My problem is growing from seeds!!! I've got seeds popping up from bulbs to shrubs, natives and all. I have had such germination as never before. I wish it had happened earlier but I suppose it's by mistakes that we learn.

I think all gardeners have the same problem (there is always room for just ONE more plant!) I have found our local markets have wonderful plants native and exotic at a fraction of nursery prices. I can buy well grown tube stock for $2 and advanced plants about $5. I think I too have planted a lot of my tube stock too close but at least it will make thick cover for the birds.I water in well and then every day for a week in hot weather then weekly for the next month then when I think they are thirsty if it hasn't rained. I will try the water crystals in my next planting. By the way the little callitris seedlings are now 4 cms tall and I am getting my tubes ready. I will plant them into the tubes when they are 8 cms. Does that sound o.k.?

Just bought over 100 plants on the weekend. 30 left to plant over easter - I think I need to go to plant buyers anonymous!!

And the garden just absorbs them all...

Aggie