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My Bit Of Jungle!


Mr Cycad

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Hi group. My name is Kurt.

I love this forum, and as such I'd like to start compiling an online record of my first garden. As you may or may not know, I was lucky enough to secure a block of land in the Daintree Rainforest, in controversial Cow Bay. All blocks that haven't been cleared or built on, or haven't got a current development application, have now been render never to be built on and now so called protected (which has upset a lot of people)! Its been an interesting 4 years - not as 'romantic' as I thought it would be (dealing with relentless growth of feral weeds, the rain, the dry, destruction by feral pigs, and lunacy by council workers)! We moved up from Hervey Bay. I try to get up there once a week, but sometime its more like once a month. Below is a photo from back in July 2007. When we bought the block it had a nice maintained clearing right from the road. I've been in the process of replanting most of it since then. We plan to build in August/September next - I can't wait!!!

DSC02622.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Cool... are you going to put in a pole house like most of the houses in Kuranda?? I always love those timber houses... Unfortunately, can't have it in Darwin, I am too paranoid with termites...

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Cool... are you going to put in a pole house like most of the houses in Kuranda?? I always love those timber houses... Unfortunately, can't have it in Darwin, I am too paranoid with termites...

Regards, Ari :)

I wonder about the termite action too. We're building out of steel with some timber to finish it off.

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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the only timber I have is the merbau decking on the veranda... otherwise all steel. A bit far away from my dream house... but hey, I got just about everything else... Keep us posted... would love to see the end results...

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Here's a photo from the front, March 2008 - previously lantana and wild raspberry everywhere!

DSC03129.jpg

Replanting the rainforest!

DSC03143.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Here's some photo's from down the back (we almost have 5 acres). Lepidozamia hopei among the Licuala ramsayi!!!

DSC04015.jpg

DSC03999.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Things never turn out as they first seemed. You've got to live in a place to really find out what all its idiosynchracies are. Usually that's after you've bought it and it's too late to change your mind. I bought 9.2 hectares (22.6 acres) about 6 years ago with great ideas and plans in mind. Reality sank its teeth into my backside and I haven't been able to sit down and relax ever since. It's a big challenge, an unending challenge. Most of the time I enjoy the challenge, but there are times I just feel worn out trying to push the proverbial up hill with a stick. But then, it keeps me off the streets, and that's got to be good for everyone.

I like the look of the back of your block. Good luck with your endeavour.

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Hello Kurt,

It is great to see another Aussie member posting. Your plantings look great so far but it still looks like you have a lot of hard work ahead of you.

Post more pictures as you continue developing areas in your garden.

All the best

Laura

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Thanks tropicbreeze!

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Here a picture of one of the Normanbya normanbyi I grew from seed (3 years old).

DSC04074.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Things never turn out as they first seemed. You've got to live in a place to really find out what all its idiosynchracies are. Usually that's after you've bought it and it's too late to change your mind. I bought 9.2 hectares (22.6 acres) about 6 years ago with great ideas and plans in mind. Reality sank its teeth into my backside and I haven't been able to sit down and relax ever since. It's a big challenge, an unending challenge. Most of the time I enjoy the challenge, but there are times I just feel worn out trying to push the proverbial up hill with a stick. But then, it keeps me off the streets, and that's got to be good for everyone.

I like the look of the back of your block. Good luck with your endeavour.

Zig,

I didn't know you have 22.6 acres!!!

Anyway, I won't lie to you Kurt... it will be a lot of work. I haven't stop since I built and moved into my place... the hardscaping is nowhere near finished (that is the problem since we decided to put the garden in first... the house seemed to get second priority!!). But I am glad, we did because we can now see the trees growing and everything is greening up. Now, it is time to do hardscaping around the house and make it more liveable... (it hasn't happened yet... everytime we decide to do paving and stuff around the place, we ended up making another garden bed...lol).

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Check out this crazy bendy trunk on the Licuala!

DSC03469.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Anyway, I won't lie to you Kurt... it will be a lot of work.

It's been hard work so far, and no doubt into the future. But like Zig said - its keeps me off the streets!

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Those are some beautiful palms! Sometimes I think about planting my backyard (only 50 ft by 70 ft) like that - except with less tropical species.

Go for it Kathryn!!!

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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More photo's from down the back...

DSC03822.jpg

DSC03426.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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And a few more...

DSC03392.jpg

DSC03429.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Some of the local's...

DSC04676.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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More photo's from down the back...

DSC03426.jpg

That looks like Bowenia spectabilis. I've a little one that's had a rough trip but still hoping it'll come good. I have a larger Bowenia serrulata which is doing quite well.

Ari, Noonamah is minimum 20 acres. Humpty Doo is mostly 5 acres. And Howard Springs is smaller again.

I can't afford to build, but I can afford to garden. biggrin.gif Maybe I'll just end up with a tree house.

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Zig,

You would be surprised that there are now 5 acres block in Noonamah!! A few in fact... They are applying to put in 1-2 acres blocks in Noonamah, I don't think it has been approved yet.

Sorry... Kurt, didn't mean to hijack your thread. Is there restriction on what to plant on the cleared sections??

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Sorry... Kurt, didn't mean to hijack your thread. Is there restriction on what to plant on the cleared sections??

Nope. Its all been map as Non-remnant. I'm going to plant natives though. The back is all Dominant Remnant containing endangered regional ecosystem with some of the new zoning of 'Great Barrier Reef Welands' overlapping.

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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That looks like Bowenia spectabilis.

Yep - that one's a baby up against the golden penda. Check this one out!

DSC04065.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Kurt it looks lovely. You were able to buy what I have spent 13 years trying to create. (and I just have a small suburban house block) Your Normanbya at 3 years is bigger than my 5 year old. I have only just recently germinated many species of cycads so it will be a while ( LONG WHILE) before I can plant them and even longer before they look spectacular. When I first moved to Qld, I bought a big old house on the Darling Downs, a 600 sq metre wreck ! There was 200 hectares of land, so I fenced off one hectare around the house and tried to dig a hole into the solid clay soil. Many truckloads of new soil later, I tried again. I was in Qld so I spent a fortune on tropical plants, only to find a few months later, in winter, that the district gets minus 8 frosts nightly for a couple of months each year. The next year I bought frost hardy plants only to see them die in months of 40+ heat. Now a sensible person would have grabbed a case and fled. Not I. I decided to find out what actually would live there, planted accordingly, then it stopped raining. For the next 6 years....not one drop. I spent a fortune on bores and getting watered carted in, kept it all alive and when it did finally rain, I had a very nice garden but not the tropical one I had moved to Qld for. As one gets rid of an old car in time, husbands go the same way. I moved to the city, a tiny house, WITH TOWN WATER and once again absolutely no gardens. This time I knew that it gets a few cold nights each year and that one can get a frost, but only 3 in all the time I have been here. Do I have my dream tropical rain forest garden ? Well I nearly did...until I joined the IPS and saw pictures of what other people had. So good luck with your venture. btw stay away from those cassowaries..they are dangerous.

Peachy

I came. I saw. I purchased

 

 

27.35 south.

Warm subtropical, with occasional frosts.

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Really nice Kurt, a beautiful place you have.

Matt

Matt in Temecula, CA

Hot and dry in the summer, cold with light frost in the winter. Halfway between the desert and ocean

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Things never turn out as they first seemed. You've got to live in a place to really find out what all its idiosynchracies are. Usually that's after you've bought it and it's too late to change your mind. I bought 9.2 hectares (22.6 acres) about 6 years ago with great ideas and plans in mind. Reality sank its teeth into my backside and I haven't been able to sit down and relax ever since. It's a big challenge, an unending challenge. Most of the time I enjoy the challenge, but there are times I just feel worn out trying to push the proverbial up hill with a stick. But then, it keeps me off the streets, and that's got to be good for everyone.

I like the look of the back of your block. Good luck with your endeavour.

Zig,

I didn't know you have 22.6 acres!!!

Anyway, I won't lie to you Kurt... it will be a lot of work. I haven't stop since I built and moved into my place... the hardscaping is nowhere near finished (that is the problem since we decided to put the garden in first... the house seemed to get second priority!!). But I am glad, we did because we can now see the trees growing and everything is greening up. Now, it is time to do hardscaping around the house and make it more liveable... (it hasn't happened yet... everytime we decide to do paving and stuff around the place, we ended up making another garden bed...lol).

Regards, Ari :)

I seem to have that problem too, Ari!

Kurt!

What a spectacular little hideaway!!

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

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Wow Kurt, the pics in post #6 look as though they are straight out of Avatar! What a spectacular natural garden you have to start with!

Ron

Wellington, Florida

Zone 11 in my mind

Zone 10a 9a in reality

13miles West of the Atlantic in Palm Beach County

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Kurt, I have to say that is an amazing natural setup, having mature L. ramsayi and L. hopei with Bowenias is enough to keep someone entertained for a while.

Christian Faulkner

Venice, Florida - South Sarasota County.

www.faulknerspalms.com

 

Μολὼν λάβε

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Kurt,

It sounds like you have a nice lot to work with and plenty big enough. And it's very cool to have the Licuala's and cycads too. Good luck with the future plantings.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Looking forward to the progress Kurt. Corypha utan is a native, would you consider planting one ?

Happy Gardening

Cheers,

Wal

Queensland, Australia.

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Some of the local's...

DSC04676.jpg

The wildlife is almost as incredible as the jungle!

Nice place,

Jonathan :)

Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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Thanks everyone for your kind replies on my little bit of paradise. Stay tuned - more photo action to follow shortly!

Hi Wal - I actually had planted a small one which I grew from seed which I lost last year after the worst dry season on record.

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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More photo's of some of the re-vegetation works in progress...

Melicope elleryana - Pink Euodia (host tree for the ulysses butterfly). These things power! Planted it out when it was only a flimsy 5cm high.

DSCF8294.jpg

Another Normanbya normanbyi - I've propagated around 300 of these and probably lost a third so far.

DSCF8292.jpg

Kurt

Living the dream in the Rainforest - Average annual rainfall over 4000 mm a year!!!

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Great piece of paradise Kurt :drool: keep us posted as you go.

Bruce

Innisfail - NQ AUS - 3600mm of rain a year average or around 144inches if you prefer - Temp Range 9c to 43c

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More photo's of some of the re-vegetation works in progress...

Melicope elleryana - Pink Euodia (host tree for the ulysses butterfly). These things power! Planted it out when it was only a flimsy 5cm high.

DSCF8294.jpg

Another Normanbya normanbyi - I've propagated around 300 of these and probably lost a third so far.

DSCF8292.jpg

I thought that was Euodia elleryana, didn't know they'd changed the name to Melicope. I see even our checklist has it as Melicope. It's a very nice tree, I should plant some too. Your Normanbya normanbyi is about the same size as mine. I've only the one, in a lot of shade. If it wants sun it'll have to grow through the canopy.

Edited by tropicbreeze
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I planted some Euodia elleryana 3 years ago and they are still not quite 2 metres tall :angry:

Peachy

I came. I saw. I purchased

 

 

27.35 south.

Warm subtropical, with occasional frosts.

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Peachy, they grow naturally all the way down the east coast. Temperatures shouldn't be an issue, but they do like a lot of water. Hmmmm, looks like it might need to be 3010 litres now. wink-1.gif

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I had one... I thought I planted it already, but apparently not :blink: . Oh well...

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Very nice Kurt,

thats a beautilful part of the world, we drove up there last year from Hobart to visit some rellies in Cairns - hope to get back next year. Would be very tempting to stick to indiginous palms, being that close to the Daintree, but I doubt whether I would have the discipline to carry that out - considering all the fantastic exotic stuff you could grow.

Are you familiar with TNQ Palms nursery at Julatten?

Jan has some great plants up there - not far from you as the crow flies either!

My patch of rainforest is embedded deep within my imagination on our flat, dry, sandy 24 acres at 42 degrees south.

Needless to say I'm growing plenty of Rhopalostylis!

Cheers,

Jonathan

South Arm, Tasmania, Australia - 42° South

Mild oceanic climate, with coastal exposure.

 

Summer: 12°C (53°F) average min, to 21°C (70°F) average daily max. Up to 40°C (104°F max) rarely.

 

Winter: 6°C (43°F) average min, to 13°C (55°F) average daily max. Down to 0°C (32°F) occasionally, some light frost.

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You could always just buy a few hectares on the Franklin River Jonathan !! More like snow forest than rain forest but you would get the general effect. I nearly bought a plot up in the Dandenong Ranges rain forest....its so pretty up there but also highly inflammable, so cowardice won the day.

Peachy

I came. I saw. I purchased

 

 

27.35 south.

Warm subtropical, with occasional frosts.

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