What does it take to NOT end up with a palm hoarder garden?

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

First a disclaimer, please, no one take offense to the hoarding label in the title, it's my own garden I am referring to. The first version of my garden turned into a fruit tree hoarding experiment, and I don't want to repeat that with palms as I tear out a good chunk of my fruit trees.

I had the pleasure of dropping in on Jim Denz yesterday, and walking around in his garden, I was simply blown away by the stunning beauty of his garden. I've posted pictures of his garden before, but every time I visit, I am struck by the absolute perfection of how everything is put together.

What is mind boggling is how Jim has managed to have a collector garden and yet not make it look like a densely packed palm hoarding yard. So I want to ask, how does he do it? From what I can see, Jim has the same hoarder disease I have, getting every palm that you could possibly grow in the Bay area, yet his garden just looks perfect.

I am not going to repost pictures, but instead, I am going to post links to the various photo essays on PalmTalk. Please note that even my pictures were focused on the individual palms, not the overall garden design. The sense of space and place in Jim's garden is better viewed in Glenn's post, that's the first link below.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/30471-jim-denz-garden/

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/37693-bay-area-pra-jims-heavenly-abode/

I am going to try to summarize the elements I saw and I'd love to get feedback from others. These are patterns similar to Christopher Alexander's "Pattern language", but applied to tropical gardens. Jim's done a fantastic job with these.

1) The densely packed jungle is always a backdrop to the living spaces.

There are lots of spaces to inhabit the garden. Jim's garden features paths and other hangout places that are "sacred" in that they are free of vegetation. In other words, you can freely move about in the garden, and the densely packed jungle always takes a backdrop to the living spaces.

2) Repeating botanical themes

Jim's garden comes across like a classical symphony where musical themes re-appear and repeat at different levels of intensity. Jim's not afraid to plant three or more palms of the same species. One of each just doesn't lend itself to a nice landscape, because the eye grows tired quickly. It creates a chaotic energy level and raises the tension. My guess is that this alone is the number one mistake that can ruin a collector garden.

3) Non-competing focal points

Not everything needs to be repeated, and in fact, some things don't want repetition. You need a focal point in places and you don't want to create tension by asking for people to have to divide their attention to multiple focal points. Jim has that element captured very well For example, he has an enormous triple Chinese cabbage palm in his front lawn, and his driveway features an enormous bismarckia. Both of these make bold statements and draw the eye in.

4) Some palms like to be in groves

A number of palms don't like to be solo. For example, king palms like to be in clumps. A lot of the Newcal palms and euterpe also prefer to grow in groups of three or more. Washingtonia robusta is a prime example of a fan palm that just looks much nicer in groups. Jim's got that element covered real nicely. BTW, washingtonia robusta are beautiful when grown and trimmed properly. Jim has some of the nicest washingtonia I've seen around. Again, the one of each mentality here greatly interferes with the desire to plant groves.

5) A garden has more appeal with plenty of foliage contrast

A pure pinnate palm garden is boring, and if there is nothing to contrast palms, it's tiring to the eye. Jim has achieved a perfect contrast of palmate and pinnate. The two really balance each other out. But there is also a nice balance between non-palm and palm foliage, and big versus small foliage.

6) Color, color, color!

It's hard to get the color right in an all-palm garden. Jim has a lot of complementing tropical colored foliage below the canopy using bromeliad and crotons. It's well done! There is perhaps not enough silver foliage in his garden, but he's working on that.

7) Gotta have accessories

What's a garden without accessories? Everywhere you look, there is a little something in his garden, enough to be interesting, but not so much that it clutters the garden. Statues, mini-fountains, it's all there, you name it. He's even got some stairs leading to nowhere to break the monotony of flatness. It's just superbly well done.

These are the main patterns I see. Feel free to add your own patterns.

[MattyB]

I think the biggest requirement for not being a hoarder is to just plant the palms and not have a bazillion of them in pots.

[Justin]

What has helped me is to have a healthy amount of other plants as well - flowering trees, large Ficus, bamboo, etc. These give a varying amount of texture, color, height, etc.

[Hammer]

My answer to have a wife who says 'when'. If you don't have balance yourself, surround yourself with those who balance you.

Also helps to have a kid. I am forced to leave opens spaces for him to play. Helps me remember it isn't all about me and what I want.

[Hammer]

I think the biggest requirement for not being a hoarder is to just plant the palms and not have a bazillion of them in pots.

...or in your case just buy a whole side of a mountain. You wouldn't over plant at your place in two lifetimes unless you start row cropping washies!

[DoomsDave]

Well, a hoarder is someone controlled by what they hoard.

If you can take out a palm here and there, as needed, you may still be nutty. You may still be crazy. Sig-others may still roll their eyes. You may still gaze with a start out every window of your house and see a palm.

But you're not a palm hoarder, if you can remove them when you need to. Alas, the torture isn't over. I've removed many a palm, some that died, some that were so Britishly "inconvenient" and others that were so Americanly "wrong."

So, I'm not a palm hoarder.

I took out a couple of Dypsis onies and donated one. Took out a Majesty palm, off with the head. Removed and sold an Archie myo. Sold it.

[Sabal Steve]

I try to give decent spacing to everything, other than when I cluster a species - like my 3 macrocarpas. Palms are just so much more appreciated, in my opinion, when they have open space surrounding them. Not that I have followed this, but I think a good rule of thumb would be to have palms centered in a space of 100 ft squared, or 10 feet between palms that are centered next to structures. Obviously, large - giant palms need more space. A nice Brahea moorei thrown in underneath often looks nice, and acts as a great accent.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Well, a hoarder is someone controlled by what they hoard.

If you can take out a palm here and there, as needed, you may still be nutty. You may still be crazy. Sig-others may still roll their eyes. You may still gaze with a start out every window of your house and see a palm.

But you're not a palm hoarder, if you can remove them when you need to. Alas, the torture isn't over. I've removed many a palm, some that died, some that were so Britishly "inconvenient" and others that were so Americanly "wrong."

So, I'm not a palm hoarder.

I took out a couple of Dypsis onies and donated one. Took out a Majesty palm, off with the head. Removed and sold an Archie myo. Sold it.

Dave, I use the term "hoarder" rather loosely. I wasn't talking about real hoarding, which is actually a real mental disease. I was talking merely about the collector bug taking precedence over other aspects that matter in the garden. I haven't met anyone in the palm world who'd qualify as a real hoarder.

[Gonzer]

The secret is to be a well-rounded collector/grower/horticulturist with your fingers in a lot of pies.

[Tyrone]

My last garden turned into a nursery. Once I stripped the potted plants out, it worked well.

Your comments are good ones. As I'm constructing my new 6 acre garden at present I went through your points and it's basically what I'm trying to do here. I didn't disagree with any of it. Here in my new garden, the nursery is completely separate and will stay that way and a bit diminished from before. However I may end up starting to sell to the public one day down the track as I have the room now.

[Really full garden]

I think it is important for the palms to be seen .Think about staggering heights and planting the right mix of pinnate and palmate palms. Too many of one just turns out to be a visual mess.

[Cedric]

The secrete is to be a gardener not a collector. Oooops.

Let me qualify. There are plantsmen and there are gardeners. Its rare but not impossible that the two come together in brilliant harmony. Just like there are trainers, riders and owners everyone has a speciality a talent.

Plantsmen see plants not so much as a pallet to create but for the plant itself, its genus its rarity etc they also make excelent nurserymen. A gardener on the other hand sees everything as part of a very broad pallet to design with it doesn't matter how common or rare, if its Dypsis or a Satakentia if it works in their master plan it's good, they are looking for structure, texture, colour, ease of availability.

I think hoarders on the other hand aren't quite sure what to do with their plants, they could happily function in a botanical garden setting where having it is all that counts (very generally).

I don't appreciate collections very much personally as collections but rather as reference works. Even some botanical gardens leave me cold but they are getting better and better at it. For example nothing worse for me than seeing a jumble of epiphytes from all over the world crammed into a collection no matter how skilfully plastered on mossy rock and tree or collections of succulents or palms or anything. For me they are yearning for context be it design or a sense of place. Nor am I very fond of Disney Land like reconstructions of habitat...... this could go on for ever so I will leave myself out of it completely.

Just to say the best way not to be a palm hoarder is to live in Hong Kong, there's nothing to hoard. I'm like the squirrel in Ice Age. It takes a year of planning a round the world trip to get one palm I think would be fabulous just where I want it. Ten years later I remove it because it didn't quite work out? Not on your life! Im a hoarder collector and plantsmen the gardener part well I've cut off my ear a long time ago in frustration.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Cedric

[Alicehunter2000]

This is a great topic. Jim's garden is the primary one I look to for my inspiration. After 1 year here, I think I'm on my way to creating rooms surrounded by dense vegetation. I'm having some difficulties planting groups as the yard size is a definite drawback.

Trying to not have competing focal points is tough too. I'm sure I got too many species that are going too be too huge for the space...but hoping it will create canopy and find room up above. Getting more and more companion plants and dicots so hopefully that point will be covered. Pavers pathways water features will be added as well.

Here's a few shots after 1 year and a brutal winter. Not Jim's yard...... but trying

[LJG]

The secrete is to be a gardener not a collector. Oooops.

Let me qualify. There are plantsmen and there are gardeners. Its rare but not impossible that the two come together in brilliant harmony. Just like there are trainers, riders and owners everyone has a speciality a talent.

Plantsmen see plants not so much as a pallet to create but for the plant itself, its genus its rarity etc they also make excelent nurserymen. A gardener on the other hand sees everything as part of a very broad pallet to design with it doesn't matter how common or rare, if its Dypsis or a Satakentia if it works in their master plan it's good, they are looking for structure, texture, colour, ease of availability.

I think hoarders on the other hand aren't quite sure what to do with their plants, they could happily function in a botanical garden setting where having it is all that counts (very generally).

I don't appreciate collections very much personally as collections but rather as reference works. Even some botanical gardens leave me cold but they are getting better and better at it. For example nothing worse for me than seeing a jumble of epiphytes from all over the world crammed into a collection no matter how skilfully plastered on mossy rock and tree or collections of succulents or palms or anything. For me they are yearning for context be it design or a sense of place. Nor am I very fond of Disney Land like reconstructions of habitat...... this could go on for ever so I will leave myself out of it completely.

Just to say the best way not to be a palm hoarder is to live in Hong Kong, there's nothing to hoard. I'm like the squirrel in Ice Age. It takes a year of planning a round the world trip to get one palm I think would be fabulous just where I want it. Ten years later I remove it because it didn't quite work out? Not on your life! Im a hoarder collector and plantsmen the gardener part well I've cut off my ear a long time ago in frustration.

Haha. Well said.

[Cedric]

This is a great topic.......

.......Here's a few shots after 1 year and a brutal winter. Not Jim's yard...... but trying

That black/red leaved canna is a winner

I've seen it here on PT before used to very good effect with a white clumping dypsis I forget which.

[Alicehunter2000]

Thanks...neighbor gave me an offset a couple of months ago and its gone nuts

[ghar41]

I was just in conversation with a friend about this the other day. I was talking about how many palms I have removed over the years. Some I have replaced, some were replaced by the growth of other palms or cycads around them.

My friend gave it a good term that day when he said palm gardens need to be "edited" from time to time.

[_Keith]

The secret is to be a well-rounded collector/grower/horticulturist with your fingers in a lot of pies.

Pretty concise answer. I like it.

For me, and as Hammer said with my wife's help, insistence, I have forced myself to turn away from a collection of plants towards an artistic expression in the landscape.

[Jim in Los Altos]

First off, Axel, Thank you for the praise. It's one of the things that makes this palm passion worth the trouble. You seem to have grasped the essence of a pleasing palm garden and hit most of the bullet points on target. There are variables, however, and lots of them.

For instance, if you're starting out with an empty canvas, your main objective is getting the "bones" in place. That would be living spaces such as patios, pathways, sitting areas, etc. where they are both practical and aesthetically attractive. Try to keep balance in mind. Picture your whole property and try to keep it from being heavy on one side and light on the other. A big patio, if needed on one side of the yard, can be balanced out with a smaller but matching one on the other side with a meandering path leading to it.

The next part of the "bones" is trees, Get your canopy palms in first. The ones that will eventually enable you to plant lots more palms in the future. You'll have to be patient and always remember, a good landscape is always evolving. It's never really completely finished. If it were, it would become much less interesting and less rewarding to maintain. Also, canopy can be created with broadleaf trees as well. Make sure all your areas are well defined. A path should be a path. And. since the planting beds are likely to have lots of plants, boulders, garden art, etc. keep your paths and other hardscaping clean. Even a gravel path looks shabby if there are weeds and debris throughout it or the gravel is thin in spots. Clean hardscaping allows your planted areas to shine and be framed rather than distracted from.

Have a theme. There are many tropical themes. I personally like old Balinese and Indonesian sculpture. Some like a more Polynesian look. I still have a few remnants of Hawaiian tikis in part of my front yard from when I went through a Hawaiian phase. I still like that but I like the other more.

Don't be scared to have tons of palms of different species. Intermingle fan palms with pinnate ones and large leafed companion plants as well as colored leaf plants. Repeat, repeat, repeat! If you do bromeliads, repeat them in groups throughout the garden. Harmony is the name of the game and you need some commonality in the garden to achieve it. I used red iresine (bloodleaf plant) as a balancer and have large ones throughout my yard roughly 20 feet apart and several group plantings of Archontophonix everywhere. They've multiplied by seed and the groves are pretty dense now. I have 130 different species of palms (300+ total) on less than 1/4 acre and a large patio and 20,000 gallon fish pond and I'm still frequently adding new palms under the older ones so collecting species can be part of a pleasing landscape but I think its the multiple repeats of the king palm groves that helps pull it together.

The one major point I need to make is that you want a flourishing garden. Even the best laid out plan will fail if the plants aren't healthy. It's of paramount importance in my yard and proper irrigation and a healthy, thriving soil do it for me. You can't do much with Mother Nature but you can certainly make your plants much stronger and more able to withstand dry heat or damp cold. Lush, thriving plants look good no matter what.

I'm looking forward to updating photos of the garden later this summer. This has been one of the best growing seasons I can remember because of the warm humid summer.

Have fun

[Darold Petty]

Jim, I think your Prestoea will be fine. We have a P. acuminata v.montana growing well at the Lakeside Palmetum in Oakland.

[Hammer]

For instance, if you're starting out with an empty canvas, your main objective is getting the "bones" in place. That would be living spaces such as patios, pathways, sitting areas, etc. where they are both practical and aesthetically attractive. Try to keep balance in mind. Picture your whole property and try to keep it from being heavy on one side and light on the other. A big patio, if needed on one side of the yard, can be balanced out with a smaller but matching one on the other side with a meandering path leading to it.

Great comments Jim! Thanks. And thanks Axel for starting this thread.

Jim, I bought this place two years ago. I'm curious how you would apply balance to a swimming pool. We have a rather large one. The deck is concrete and very large. Very formal with lots of straight lines.

How do you balance something like that...without spending a small fortune and ripping out all the existing hardscape? I'm hoping for a more informal and Polynesian (South Seas) style. But right now it's all late 70s modern. Thanks!

[Jim in Los Altos]

Jim, I think your Prestoea will be fine. We have a P. acuminata v.montana growing well at the Lakeside Palmetum in Oakland.

Hey Darold, Did I mention my Prestoea in another thread? I can't remember. Anyway, I did plant three very small ones in the shade where they will be kept moist and, right now, they're pretty pale green.

[Jim in Los Altos]

For instance, if you're starting out with an empty canvas, your main objective is getting the "bones" in place. That would be living spaces such as patios, pathways, sitting areas, etc. where they are both practical and aesthetically attractive. Try to keep balance in mind. Picture your whole property and try to keep it from being heavy on one side and light on the other. A big patio, if needed on one side of the yard, can be balanced out with a smaller but matching one on the other side with a meandering path leading to it.

Great comments Jim! Thanks. And thanks Axel for starting this thread.

Jim, I bought this place two years ago. I'm curious how you would apply balance to a swimming pool. We have a rather large one. The deck is concrete and very large. Very formal with lots of straight lines.

How do you balance something like that...without spending a small fortune and ripping out all the existing hardscape? I'm hoping for a more informal and Polynesian (South Seas) style. But right now it's all late 70s modern. Thanks!

Adam, I'd love to see a photo of your yard. I deal with rectangular pools all the time and, sometimes, I stay with the modern theme with its linearity and other times, the planting beds, lawn areas, etc. are gracefully curved to soften the hard edges of the pool and other structures.

[Jim in Los Altos]

This is a great topic. Jim's garden is the primary one I look to for my inspiration. After 1 year here, I think I'm on my way to creating rooms surrounded by dense vegetation. I'm having some difficulties planting groups as the yard size is a definite drawback.

Trying to not have competing focal points is tough too. I'm sure I got too many species that are going too be too huge for the space...but hoping it will create canopy and find room up above. Getting more and more companion plants and dicots so hopefully that point will be covered. Pavers pathways water features will be added as well.

Here's a few shots after 1 year and a brutal winter. Not Jim's yard...... but trying

20140803_192543.jpg20140803_192638.jpg20140803_192649.jpg20140803_192708.jpg20140803_192716.jpg20140803_192749.jpghttp://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif 20140803_192826.jpghttp://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif 20140803_192905.jpghttp://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif 20140803_192922.jpghttp://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif 20140803_192941.jpghttp://www.palmtalk.org/forum/public/style_images/master/attachicon.gif 20140803_192953.jpg

David, Your garden is maturing nicely. Looks great!

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Jim, I think your Prestoea will be fine. We have a P. acuminata v.montana growing well at the Lakeside Palmetum in Oakland.

Hey Darold, Did I mention my Prestoea in another thread? I can't remember. Anyway, I did plant three very small ones in the shade where they will be kept moist and, right now, they're pretty pale green.

They're supposed to be that pale green. Anyway, I think Darold replied to the wrong thread.

[BS Man about Palms]

Just call me by my name.., don't beat around the bush..

[Tyrone]

When I was running my landscape design business, the first thing I'd ask the client is how they wanted to use their land. Did they want an area for a spa, a bali hut, just a sitting area, a bit of grass for the kids to play on etc etc. An area has to have a use defined before you can go ahead and start planting up. Once you have defined the areas required uses, you can start designing. Good landscapers will always use mass plantings of similar things that contrast with other mass plantings in either texture or colour. When you start tropical landscaping you have to think in 3D, starting with the canopy, mid canopy down to the understory. Sometimes this is very hard to get down onto a 2D drawing as who looks at their garden from a birds eye view anyway? I always found it hard to get my visualisation down on paper for the client to understand. I knew how the plants would perform, but getting that through to a client is sometimes like trying to describe colour to a person born blind.

Nature is a great teacher. I always loved going to wild rainforest environments just to soak up what is going on in the natural landscape. It's actually very hard to simulate, but you can do a good job at mimicking it if you try. Again it's all about mass planting. Nature doesn't just plonk one of every species in one small area. But there is no reason why that still wouldn't look good, if the textures or colours of different species matched to make a mass planting. That way a collector can still create a natural looking landscape with a much more species rich pallete than would naturally be found.

Spending time to design it all is time well spent. I would sometimes spend two whole days or more on a clients design. Obviously, once you've defined the look you want to achieve for the area you have, you must match up the species with the aspect that they will handle. There is no point putting a Chamaedorea into full sun, just because you don't want a tall palm in that full sun area. The horticultural and plant knowledge come into play here, as you match the area, (paying close attention to shadow lines through out the day and the year) to the species. Then you have to source the plant and this can be a challenge especially if you want a mass planting of something a little bit rare. Also if something isn't working for some reason, be prepared to change your plan to something that is more likely to work.

In a way, building a tropical landscape is like building a house, except it grows and keeps growing and changing. But everything from initial planning to soil structure and irrigation takes a lot of effort to get right. But at the end of the day it is meant to be enjoyed by the end user.

[Cedric]

Gardening is not a concise art any more than art is itself. New approaches are always exciting and evolving even referenced from the past, . I agree with Jim however continuity is one very important factor to create a whole, as he has done with Archontophoenix in clumps and other planting. Repeat planting weaves the whole thing together and not necessarily into a bland piece of uniform patterned fabric because highlights are then able to shine even better and differences in texture, you need that volume. This also creates that sense of place

This is one of the basics of good garden design, along with things like form, texture, colour, hardscape etc.

Its ideal for hardscaping for example to always look meant whether you are trying to blur it or highlight it in my opinion. This can mean just an incredibly well swept yard of earth as in Bali itself or meticulous edging whatever. Or it can mean hardly any hardscape but just foot paths covered wood-chip and strewn with fallen flowers and leaves, edged with sleepers neatly. As long as its meant and maintained it works. Some fantastic gardens I've ever seen don't have any hardscaping at all, just a beach sand path.

I've never seen Jims garden in person and Im sure it looks better in real life than pictures simply because its so heavily planted but Im almost sure if most of the palms were removed except for the base palm planting of Archontophoenix bare the odd highlight like a "palmate" leafed palm or a silver coloured one it would still look absolutely fantastic because of the repeat plantings of other plants for colour texture and so on are what really make it in his particular case.

I must say Im not much of a theme person, I reckon if you want a Balinese garden move to Bali and etc but that's personal, this would never stop me from having a fantastic piece of Balinese sculpture if it worked or for that matter using Balinese styles as a reference and or even more importantly for me a very much appreciated point of departure. For example I love the dark side to Balinese gardens that mysterious primitive spiritual reference to our alter egos , it sits so fantastically with the frothy frivolity of red hibiscus white bougainvillaea etc those possibilities are very exciting to me, creating definite moods in a garden just for one example of a reference to that style.

Having to edit to incorporate a species or specimen is not gardening thats when your collecting for what ever purpose, could be the gardener down the road gets a seedling eventually or a plant no longer wanted could be just the thing they are looking for too. (:

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Great Thread Axel

When i started my garden 6 yrs ago i wanted defined planter beds using boulders cemented together ( no weeds ) curving around rather than straight and formal .

I have seen about 50 different palm collectors gardens and the ones that really stood out for me were the ones that allowed the mature palm specimen to be admired without a tangled mass of clashing foliage .

Other ideas i have used in my garden are

- The use of rocks rather than blocks for a natural look

- groundcovers like babys tears strategically placed next to colored foliage like Black mondo grass and blood leaf plant .

- Fast growing canopy palms planted adjacent to slow growing palms for a layered affect .

Jim in Los Altos garden was a big inspiration for me and i have used alot of ideas from it . including a floating bamboo planter full of chain of beads ( senecio )

and the use of irisene blood leaf plant .

Pogobob's old garden in San Clemente had the most spectacular backyard for a small yard , the use of hardscaping and a perfect lawn that served as a viewing platform to admire all the mature Oceana palms ( Hedyscepe ,Rhopalostylis , New cal ) I kept the planting distances in mind for this place as my garden is evolving .

I believe Aaron Bagleys (bags ) garden will one day end up like pogos old one . Like me Aaron has a small area to work with but has planned his palm planting well .

[Alicehunter2000]

Landscape gardening is a very high art form......literally. ....if you think about all the variables that go into creating a beautiful garden it is much more complicated than mixing colors on a piece of canvas or shaping things out of a bit of clay. Length, width, height, time (growth rate), form, color, evolution of size, hardscape, use, weather, soil conditions and the biologic / horticultural needs are just some of the " dimensions " we have to think about...I'm sure there are other things not listed.....guess thats why it is so much fun.

[Alicehunter2000]

I have a question......for weather related reason, the repeated plantings are moving towards Cocoid hybrids. Does it matter if they are all strait mules or do you think the nuances of other more unusual hybrids are small enough to use them as a repeat throughout the yard?

Guess this is where the collector/hoarder tenancy kicks in. Want one of each.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

David, the different mule hybrids are close enough that they should work. I am taking that approach as well in my lower garden. I have a regular mule, poni mule, yatay mule and Paraguayensis mule.

[DoomsDave]

A garden is always a work in progress. Even after you die, the garden still grows, unless a meteor hit you and your garden and left a crater.

Palms become wrong or inconvenient for a whole bunch of reasons.

Sometimes I just plant a bunch of things and see what takes. I try to determine ahead of time how big plants will get, but with some of the newer material, you don't always know that.

Part of my front front yard has grown overgrown, and will need to be thinned a bit. This will be a time of moving plants from the ground to pots for rehoming if that's possible.

[Moose]

Just call me by my name.., don't beat around the bush..

Bill - Axel is using the "h" word

[Jeff Searle]

Hoarding....collecting.....it's addicting. Especially when the cost of plants is cheap.

[Cedric]

Great Thread Axel

When i started my garden 6 yrs ago i wanted defined planter beds using boulders cemented together ( no weeds ) curving around rather than straight and formal .

I have seen about 50 different palm collectors gardens and the ones that really stood out for me were the ones that allowed the mature palm specimen to be admired without a tangled mass of clashing foliage .

Other ideas i have used in my garden are

- The use of rocks rather than blocks for a natural look

- groundcovers like babys tears strategically placed next to colored foliage like Black mondo grass and blood leaf plant .

- Fast growing canopy palms planted adjacent to slow growing palms for a layered affect .

Jim in Los Altos garden was a big inspiration for me and i have used alot of ideas from it . including a floating bamboo planter full of chain of beads ( senecio )

and the use of irisene blood leaf plant .

Pogobob's old garden in San Clemente had the most spectacular backyard for a small yard , the use of hardscaping and a perfect lawn that served as a viewing platform to admire all the mature Oceana palms ( Hedyscepe ,Rhopalostylis , New cal ) I kept the planting distances in mind for this place as my garden is evolving .

pOGObob-bkyrd-2.jpg

pOGObob-bkyrd-rhopalostylis2.jpg

I believe Aaron Bagleys (bags ) garden will one day end up like pogos old one . Like me Aaron has a small area to work with but has planned his palm planting well .

I can't believe this is your garden in Tasmania. I went to one of the top nurseries there just outside Hobart (in fact the owner is TV personality on a gardening programme) looking for a couple of palm trees for my Mums birthday and was told no palm trees dont grow on Tasmania beyond Phoenix canariensis!

They cetainly didn't have any either. I wasn't keen on the thorns of the phoenix even though they palm looks pretty when small as my mum is quite advanced and could step into it or something. Anyway I argued and mentioned New-Zealands palms and they shook their heads saying simply no nothing there either i must be mistaken, i mumbled something about what about Rhopalostylis again blank faces......grrrrrrrrr

Is there a nursery selling the cold hardy palms you use? I particularily like Rhopalostylis wish it grew here in our steamy part of the world its such a very lovely thing, even mature it has a very distinct form.

[Cedric]

Landscape gardening is a very high art form......literally. ....if you think about all the variables that go into creating a beautiful garden it is much more complicated than mixing colors on a piece of canvas or shaping things out of a bit of clay. Length, width, height, time (growth rate), form, color, evolution of size, hardscape, use, weather, soil conditions and the biologic / horticultural needs are just some of the " dimensions " we have to think about...I'm sure there are other things not listed.....guess thats why it is so much fun.

I agree with this and thats why plantsmen are so vital for good information too. If anyone has tried gardening in the tropics they will tell you absolutely nothing is static either, not only is it a evolving a living thing but in the tropics things grow so fast go mad or and die so soon there are times when its very easy to just plant for structure/form and texture forget the rest its just so hard to keep pace.

[WestCoastGal]

TassieTroy, I think your garden which is really diverse might make a good feature story for that TV station. Might do a lot to boost cold hardy palm awareness.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

You guys are confusing Troy's garden with PogoBob's garden. If you want to see Troy's garden, see this thread; http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/42112-part-2-tassie-troys-garden/ and many more on PalmTalk.

If you want to see more of PogoBob's garden, see this thread: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/37379-pogobobs-old-garden-revisited-pogopalmcurry-troy-pra/.

Axel

[Tassie_Troy1971]

You guys are confusing Troy's garden with PogoBob's garden. If you want to see Troy's garden, see this thread; http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/42112-part-2-tassie-troys-garden/ and many more on PalmTalk.

If you want to see more of PogoBob's garden, see this thread: http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/37379-pogobobs-old-garden-revisited-pogopalmcurry-troy-pra/.

Axel

Axel you took the words right out of my mouth .

Yes those pics were of pogobobs old place ( Mine in 20 yrs LOL )