Well, my new house is finally finished and we moved in over Christmas....needless to say, it is time to start the new garden from scratch. This is palm garden #5 and will be different from my previous gardens, incorporating some new ideas and also not making the mistakes of previous gardens...

The property is located 15 km from the ocean, and is slightly elevated - 80 metres ASL or approx 250 ft. Rainfall in this area is good, with proximity to the ocean and nearby Mt Tamborine having a good influence on climate. Winters are cool but not cold...summers are warm and humid. Lot size is 3375 square metres, much smaller that the last place (10000) but much easier to look after!

I managed to rescue a few of my smaller in-ground palms before I moved out of my old place, and fortunately most of them survived. Unfortunately one of my most treasured palms didn't (6 metre tall Lemurophoenix ) ...unfortunately it survived the transplant but succumbed to attack by sugar cane weevil borer.

l also moved my potted collection (probably 100+ species) and recently Wal contributed some beauties from his garden when he moved. On top of that I acquired some palms from Andy Green, whose old employer was having a closing down sale at their wholesale nursery. 

In addition to that the rest of the Aussie Ratpack have also contributed some treasures, along with Paul (Comic97)...thanks for all the palms boys!

It is hard not to just go hell for leather and plant them all straight away...but there has to be a plan!

Anyway, I had to get a couple in out of necessity, and couldn't help myself!

 

My climate indicator sacrificial palm...if this gets through its first winter, I know where I stand!

 

Dypsis sp 'Bejouf', transplanted from my old garden and has been happy in a pot for th last 15 months...looks a little scrappy but hopefully a year in the ground should fix that up...iPhone for scale

 

Dypsis sp 213...extremely hardy small Dypsis that takes anything I can throw at it. The entire rootball had separated from pot and potting mix due to bouncing around in the trailer so it was best to plant it straight away. 

 

Looks like you are off to a great start Daryl. That Dypsis sp 213 is a great looking palm! Keep us updated.

Regards Neil

New house looks great mate, congrats. Looking forward to watching the Palm Garden progression!

 

This is going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to watching your new garden develop 

Awesome Daryl!! glad to see You getting "in-ground" again!!  Would love some 213 seed if possible ..  

Well done Daryl, off to a flying start......... You shouldn't have an issue with your Coconut where you are should you?

Great stuff Daryl, off to a good start mate, well have to organize a plant out weekend and a BBQ mate 

Awesome Daryl. How exciting, new house as well.Thats still a huge block of land. 

What a gorgeous place!  

That coconut is the canary in the mine. Very smart. 

 

All the best with your new property. Wish  I was up that way to help you plant it out. 

I admire that you guys can leave such good palm gardens behind to start new ones. I don't think I would be able to bring myself to move away from my loved ones in the ground but good that you can transplant some things.   

Great start Daryl

Excellent that you have all those rare palms from the previous garden still in pots.

Most of us make the mistake of planting small palms too close only to realize many yrs later that they are far too close and conjested.

IS the new garden in an area of higher rainfall ?

Looking forward to seeing the garden progress

 

Troy

Don't forget the Golden Cane and the Flamethrower, Daryl!

Wim.

Looking forward to seeing this garden develop and grow

On 1/22/2017, 3:10:24, BS Man about Palms said:

Awesome Daryl!! glad to see You getting "in-ground" again!!  Would love some 213 seed if possible ..  

No worries Bill, I'll make sure I set some seed aside for you next time it fruits...it may not be long judging by the inflorescence!

On 1/22/2017, 3:39:11, Tropicgardener said:

Well done Daryl, off to a flying start......... You shouldn't have an issue with your Coconut where you are should you?

Andrew, I don't think so, but at this latitude, placement and micro-climate can make or break them! There were two large trunking ones about 900m down the street, on lower ground, and they were fine until one day the owner chainsawed them...don't know why? I still look at them on Google Strret view and shake my head!

On 1/22/2017, 3:51:12, comic097 said:

Great stuff Daryl, off to a good start mate, well have to organize a plant out weekend and a BBQ mate 

Very shortly Paul....the missus just wants to get the house fully sorted first...but I reckon we're right to go!

On 1/22/2017, 3:55:03, Palms4Steve said:

Awesome Daryl. How exciting, new house as well.Thats still a huge block of land. 

Yeah Steve, it's all fun starting with new everything...and a much smaller property won't consume as many $$ either!

I think 3/4 acre is a good size.

19 hours ago, SirOxylon said:

All the best with your new property. Wish  I was up that way to help you plant it out. 

I admire that you guys can leave such good palm gardens behind to start new ones. I don't think I would be able to bring myself to move away from my loved ones in the ground but good that you can transplant some things.   

Never an easy thing to do, especially when you know the new owners don't have the same appreciation and things will die or be cut down...but sometimes it is good to start afresh!

16 hours ago, Tassie_Troy1971 said:

Great start Daryl

Excellent that you have all those rare palms from the previous garden still in pots.

Most of us make the mistake of planting small palms too close only to realize many yrs later that they are far too close and conjested.

IS the new garden in an area of higher rainfall ?

Looking forward to seeing the garden progress

 

Troy

Hi Troy, time will tell as far as rainfall, but I'm pretty sure it is a higher rainfall area. I am only a couple of kms from some pristine rainforest on Mt Tamborine, and there are plenty of palms and rainforest species growing within  a couple of hundred metres of my place. Lots of A.cunninghamiana (a big stand) within 1km, and Calamus muelleri a few hundred metres away...soil is the determining factor...pockets of volcanic red host all of the good stuff, the poorer soils have been dominated by wattle and eucalypt regrowth after a century of clear felling and stripping. The area used to be banana plantations 100 years ago.  So with a little soil amendment and some terracing to catch the rain, all should hopefully be good! I'm pretty certain it has more rain here than the old place.

9 hours ago, wimmie said:

Don't forget the Golden Cane and the Flamethrower, Daryl!

Wim.

Wim, Flamethrower - yes... I have plans for a grove of about 7 plants I have in pots...a nice clump for some impact. What's a Golden Cane? 

4 hours ago, Bill Austin said:

Looking forward to seeing this garden develop and grow

I look forward to it too! And will post updates regularly here Bill.

Aloha Daryl, fantastic to see the new beginning to a new palm garden. Nice property and a new house to boot!

What a great opportunity to create another garden after having learned what and what not to do from trial and error in the past.

Plus you've honed a critical eye over the years as to the focus of a new garden. I often wonder what I would do in the same situation, but no plans to make a move anytime soon. 

We're looking forward to it's evolution and participation of the 'ratpack'.

We plan to return to Australia in the not too distant future and I look forward to catching up with the 'boys' once again.

 

Tim

Awesome start Daryl.... that bejouf looks great, you would never know it got dug.

Enjoy the planning of the new garden, it's the fun part I think

I also forgot to mention the guys who helped me dig and move my palms, in Particular Michael Green (Newcal), Andy Green and Paul (Comic097). It would have been really hard without them helping. Much appreciated...thanks guys

5 hours ago, realarch said:

Aloha Daryl, fantastic to see the new beginning to a new palm garden. Nice property and a new house to boot!

What a great opportunity to create another garden after having learned what and what not to do from trial and error in the past.

Plus you've honed a critical eye over the years as to the focus of a new garden. I often wonder what I would do in the same situation, but no plans to make a move anytime soon. 

We're looking forward to it's evolution and participation of the 'ratpack'.

We plan to return to Australia in the not too distant future and I look forward to catching up with the 'boys' once again.

 

Tim

Tim, you're welcome to drop by when you come over...plenty of other places to explore over here!

 

55 minutes ago, Kennybenjamin said:

Awesome start Daryl.... that bejouf looks great, you would never know it got dug.

Enjoy the planning of the new garden, it's the fun part I think

Thanks Ben. Yeah, I have spent quite a few hours just sitting outside and pondering design... 

 

Hopefully that bejouf gets settled quickly and gets a move on! I think that they are faster once they get to that size...how is yours settling in?

 

Happy days Daryl, pencil, paper cuppa coffee just looking what to do...

I'm imagining one of the best parts of creating!  

I would guess by the time you get to your 5th garden, it's going to be very well thought out.  You've done most of the experimenting already and know what you like and what you don't like. Yet every garden is different, in terms of the setting, or raw material to work with.

I'm curious how you think of your palm selections and placement?  Do you think in terms of small, medium, and large, feathers or fans, color, or layering speedy growers strategically near slow growers?  What will you use in addition to palms?

16 hours ago, Daryl said:

Wim, Flamethrower - yes... I have plans for a grove of about 7 plants I have in pots...a nice clump for some impact. What's a Golden Cane? 

That is -oldfashion- Chrysalidocarpus lutenscens, nowedays Dypsis lutescens. Always nice.

Wim.

8 hours ago, wimmie said:

That is -oldfashion- Chrysalidocarpus lutenscens, nowedays Dypsis lutescens. Always nice.

Wim.

Haha yes, the most commonly grown palm in this city. If i can find another single stem form i may grow it but plenty of other, nicer clumping Dypsis to plant in their place...

18 hours ago, Kim said:

I would guess by the time you get to your 5th garden, it's going to be very well thought out.  You've done most of the experimenting already and know what you like and what you don't like. Yet every garden is different, in terms of the setting, or raw material to work with.

I'm curious how you think of your palm selections and placement?  Do you think in terms of small, medium, and large, feathers or fans, color, or layering speedy growers strategically near slow growers?  What will you use in addition to palms?

Believe it ir not Kim, but in the past I likd to mix it up...shape, size, Pinnate and palmate all together to create a random look. This time, placement will be based on water requirement, solar impact, aspect, window vista and wind tolerance. Palms will not be 'jammed in' so no 'jungle look' this time and less root competition. Some of the more striking species will be planted in groups. Large palms will not be underplanted with small palms. Plenty of other ideas but i wont bore everyone with the details..and i have to abide by my rules!

Here's a couple of photos that show the aspect..this is looking north, the same as looking south from the top half of the planet..

Awesome place Daryl. Congratulations on the new garden! I can't wait to start from scratch again

On 1/26/2017, 2:01:07, palmislandRandy said:

Awesome place Daryl. Congratulations on the new garden! I can't wait to start from scratch again

Thanks Randy! As much as I loved my old garden, I am super excited to get stuck into this one.

 

Daryl

 

On 1/24/2017, 1:14:04, Daryl said:

Here's a couple of photos that show the aspect..this is looking north, the same as looking south from the top half of the planet..

I have to ask. Are coconut palms that large easy to come by? 

That is an excellent sized palm.

23 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

I have to ask. Are coconut palms that large easy to come by? 

That is an excellent sized palm.

Yeah, easy to find here, and come in much larger sizes than this one as well. I bought two of these last year...cost me $36 each. Further north in the state you can find them much cheaper 

 

Daryl

Next planting...start of a Satakentia grove...rescued plants from Wal's garden and my old place, plus a couple of smaller ones to fill in the gaps....these things are so tough when it comes to ripping them out of the ground...

 

 

Awsom spot Daryl, they tough palms alright 

Nice one daryl, looks like a great new spot. Looking forward to the progress shots, i believe you still have some cracking palms to put in