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| Garden Project | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 10 2014, 11:39 AM (289 Views) | |
| Kahu | Nov 10 2014, 11:39 AM Post #1 |
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I've spent some time doing a bit of a clean up around the backyard. Some tree ferns have needed a bit of a cull to allow space for other bush plants ... so my chain saw has had quite a work out. I'm intending to build a simple archway, like a picture frame, using the trunks of the ferns I've cut down. It might seem strange building structures from ferns, but they've been used for ages here ... since pre colonial times in fact. My first structure was a fern fence, now over 30 yrs ago, and still with very little deterioration. Granted, it's not really structural and is only about 1.5m high ... it's still in good nick, and provides growing space for other climbing ferns and dendrobium orchids. I've had to cut down 3 wheki tree ferns, all about 4m high ... wheki trunks have a scaly appearance, where the fronds have dropped off. Mamaku, or black tree ferns, trunks are smooth and the shed fronds leave a recognisable diamond pattern on a smooth trunk. Posted Image Wheki tree fern Posted Image Mamaku tree fern trunks Some of you may be familiar with Pampas Grass ... the photo shows the wheki with native Toetoe behind. Many plants here have relatives in other southern hemisphere countries (Continental drift and break up of Gondwanaland). Toetoe is our tallest native grass at 3m, and is a relative of Pampas Grass ... but there are differences pampas grass leaves snap when flexed toetoe remains strong and there is a distinct mid rib in the toetoe and waxy stem at the base of the leaf. Pampas grass is a declared noxious weed here.
Edited by Kahu, Nov 10 2014, 01:10 PM.
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| haili | Nov 10 2014, 12:50 PM Post #2 |
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Gold Star Member
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Wow. It's a jungle down under! Those ferns must make handy fence posts. |
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| heatseeker | Nov 10 2014, 12:53 PM Post #3 |
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Veteran Member
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Must be wonderful to live in such a climate. |
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| Kahu | Nov 10 2014, 01:15 PM Post #4 |
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The fern trunks can be cut and laid on a sloping bank and if you keep them dampened they'll sprout and grow into the bank making a cheap retaining wall. |
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| Bitsy | Nov 10 2014, 01:18 PM Post #5 |
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Veteran Member
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You have your work cut out for you but your yard is so beautiful that it is worth the effort. |
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| Kahu | Nov 10 2014, 01:18 PM Post #6 |
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Don't get the idea we're always warm ... we're not. We have a temperate to sub tropical climate ... in the far south it can be as cold as in the Arctic (Antarctica) and in the far north it's winterless. |
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| Kahu | Nov 10 2014, 01:24 PM Post #7 |
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I'm a lazy gardener, probably quite the opposite to Durgan, and B/J too for that matter. I don't have a pretty Butchart type garden ... I have a bush (jungle) type garden with niches for fruit trees and common garden vegetables. I don't often weed, except for the areas around the vegetable patch ... I like to leave everything pretty much to themselves. Edited by Kahu, Nov 10 2014, 01:28 PM.
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| Bitsy | Nov 10 2014, 01:41 PM Post #8 |
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Veteran Member
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Yes, but even your limited care, the natural state is beautiful from the pictures you have shared. I have a friend with a similar back yard/garden but he says it requires more work than if he manicured it. |
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| Darcie | Nov 10 2014, 02:55 PM Post #9 |
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Skeptic
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I have never liked the 'organized' garden, like one that looks more like nature itself. |
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| margrace | Nov 11 2014, 01:36 AM Post #10 |
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Gold Star Member
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I have to figure out how to put my garden on here but Darcie you would like it too not very organized either and the flowers really loved this summer, most vegs did not. I would love your garden Kahu |
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| angora | Nov 11 2014, 06:49 AM Post #11 |
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WWS Book Club Coordinator
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That's pretty much the way I garden Kahu. I am a tree and bush woman because they take little care. In fact, that is my criteria for all gardening - the less work the better. |
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| brodie | Nov 12 2014, 01:51 AM Post #12 |
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Small Star Member
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I love your garden too Kahu, never seen such tall ferns, the ferns growing in my garden are at most 3 feet high if measured to the top most tip of any fern. I love things wild and mysterious in a garden but not too controlled. |
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| Trotsky | Nov 12 2014, 01:55 AM Post #13 |
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Big City Boy
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Lovely, I like the idea of not imposing yourself on the landscape and forcing marigolds and chrysanthemums into a wild setting. But I was the opposite (anal retentive) with the 6 inch plants in front of the 9 inch plants in front of the 12 inch plants, etc. Silly, but my plot was always small so "wild" was never an option. Edited by Trotsky, Nov 12 2014, 01:57 AM.
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| Bitsy | Nov 12 2014, 02:53 AM Post #14 |
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Veteran Member
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Wow, well said... I really like that!! |
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| Kahu | Nov 12 2014, 03:44 PM Post #15 |
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The most common fern species is the Black Tree Fern which happens to be the world's tallest, with some specimens reaching 24 metres (80 feet) high. At the other end of the scale are ferns that are only a few centimetres in height. The most recognisable fern is the Silver Fern which is a New Zealand emblem. It is used on the shirts of sports teams including the All Blacks rugby team, Silver Ferns netball team, as well as the New Zealand Olympic team. A koru is the shape of an unfurling fern frond. It is also a New Zealand emblem or symbol and to the Maori. it represents the unfolding of new life. Posted Image A koru Posted Image The Silver Fern Edited by Kahu, Nov 12 2014, 03:50 PM.
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