Native Garden – New Species Part 1
by galen on Aug.22, 2008, under Gardening, Natives
It’s been 10 months since we purchased the house, but I’ve only added to the native garden during winter. Over the next few posts i’ll list some of the introduced species.
| Name | Common Name | Quantity |
| Boronia alata |
Winged Boronia | 1 |
| Boronia megastigma |
Brown Boronia | 2 |
| Boronia heterophylla (and crosses) |
‘Lipstick’ x 1, Jackos Special x 2, Purple Jared x 2 | 5 |
| Eucalyptus torquata |
Coral Gum | 1 |
| Banksia hookeriana |
Hookers Banksia | 1 |
| Kunzea baxteri |
Solomans Pink | 1 |
| Westringia dampieri |
1 | |
| Hakea laurina |
Pincushion Hakea | 1 |
| Grevillea trifida |
1 |
We had a Boronia megastigma in one of my childhood gardens and I can distinctly remember the wonderful spicy smell. I don’t believe I have enjoyed the same aroma since my childhood. Consequently, these were pretty much the first plants that I put in. Hopefully by spring the whole street will be able to enjoy the scent!
The coral gum, with shade at the moment, but this position is mostly full sun.
The Coral Gum is being planted towards the front corner of the garden, on the same side as the existing established Jacaranda tree. My front yard is divided into two pretty distinct sections. Full-Sun, on the western side and part-sun/full-shade on the eastern side under the Jacaranda. From my experience over last summer, the full-sun side gets absolutely baked and i personally worry that even plants labeled for “full sun” wont survive those conditions easily. My plan is to get a fast growing shrub up as quick as possible on the western side to provide some shade.
With the exception of the Boronias, all these plants are pretty hardy and once established shouldn’t require much management, I hope.
B.Megastigma, with a heavy mulch of cardboard, river pebbles and black mulch.
The Boronias on the other hand will be given the utmost TLC. They have been heavily mulched and have even had river pebbles mixed into the soil to help in keeping it cool over summer. A rudimentary “sheet mulching” technique was used with all my spare cardboard boxes flattened out and layered across the existing ‘jungle mulch’. A new layer of black mulch was then thickly layered over the top. Since the Boronias require consistent cool and moist conditions, I hope this heavy mulching approach will pay off come summer.
Boronia patch, having shade provided by either the veranda or the jacaranda most of the time.
Nurseries used:
Lulfitz
Western Flora
Guildford Town Garden Centre
September 16th, 2009 on 10:40 am
Gardening??? When did that happen?
September 16th, 2009 on 10:43 am
Since i’ve been a home owner mate
That post is also a year old, and the whole front yard has come a long way since then. I should do an update.