It is possible to create a garden 26 years ago

[happypalms]

I found some old pictures of the house and garden right from the very beginning at least 30 years back. It took me a few years of building and landscaping before I moved in. I cannot believe all the rocks and the sandy soil it’s amazing when I look back at the tropical garden I have created. Even my garden style was different with low perennial flowers and shrubs due to the heat in summer it was so unbelievably hot. Candles would melt inside the house when we went out and locked the house up. Now 30 years later the garden is 26 years old. One divorce later and a young man back then age about 26, now 56 years young again and still dreaming about the vision of the garden I created. So you can create a tropical garden in a barren hot bush block of land, just add love of palms and a dream to it! 

[Hu Palmeras]

Good start, Richard. Congratulations! Now you're in the future, with more palm trees around you.

[JohnAndSancho]

Hell yeah, Toyota power 

[Harry’s Palms]

So cool to look back. We just recently went through some photo albums . I haven’t taken any film photos in many years. Thank you for sharing . Harry

[happypalms]

41 minutes ago, Hu Palmeras said:

Good start, Richard. Congratulations! Now you're in the future, with more palm trees around you.

It was a vision I had nos iam looking at that vision.

[happypalms]

31 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Hell yeah, Toyota power 

The good old Toyota Camry, it was a good car back in the day. The garden is still going but the camry went to the car wrecking yard!

[happypalms]

3 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

So cool to look back. We just recently went through some photo albums . I haven’t taken any film photos in many years. Thank you for sharing . Harry

I was amazed at all the rocks. There still there and more of them rocks hidden by the garden. Totally amazing when I look back, the ex wife gave the pictures to me today. We created the dream together, through a lot of hard work and love we got there. Unfortunately we went our separate ways 5 years ago, but she is still in that dream just a little bit different now. You cannot tell where life will take you. But the garden is still growing a little bit larger and it’s a lot cooler now with the garden. I could have planted a native garden or a cottage garden but my dream was a rainforest garden. Dreams do come true.

Richard

[Hu Palmeras]

I'm sorry, Richard, but you're a great person. I wish you had all the palm trees in the world, because you're a great collector. Your private collection of palm trees is very large. You're good at doing big things, not small ones. Botanical gardens, books, illustrated encyclopedias, daycare, local and international sales of palm trees and seeds, talks, exhibitions, teaching in the classroom and at the university.

[SeanK]

A bit of grading work was done prior to planting it seems.

[JohnAndSancho]

56 minutes ago, happypalms said:

The good old Toyota Camry, it was a good car back in the day. The garden is still going but the camry went to the car wrecking yard!

I'll bet if you changed the fluids and put fresh gas in it, it'd still run. 

[happypalms]

2 hours ago, SeanK said:

A bit of grading work was done prior to planting it seems.

Just a tad bit of work with a bulldozer. He hit a rock shelf and there was nothing else he could do in the way of bulldozing for the house site. Even iam amazed at the photos not seeing the pictures for 30 to 26 years later. Incredible amount of rock it just goes to show what can be done!

[happypalms]

2 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I'll bet if you changed the fluids and put fresh gas in it, it'd still run. 

Do t even do that just top em up, that’s just as good as an oil change🤣

[happypalms]

2 hours ago, Hu Palmeras said:

I'm sorry, Richard, but you're a great person. I wish you had all the palm trees in the world, because you're a great collector. Your private collection of palm trees is very large. You're good at doing big things, not small ones. Botanical gardens, books, illustrated encyclopedias, daycare, local and international sales of palm trees and seeds, talks, exhibitions, teaching in the classroom and at the university.

There are other gardens and collections out there far greater than mine. I know of 5 local  gardens that are a lot better than my garden. And there’s some pretty big collectors in Australia who don’t muck around when it comes to collecting plants. I just have a passion for gardening and palms just like the rest of us on this forum. It’s about the love of palms, gardening and sharing on this forum. 

[JohnAndSancho]

35 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Do t even do that just top em up, that’s just as good as an oil change🤣

I used to have an Isuzu Pup. Oh my god that thing was so slow, I think it had 83hp. Lol the speedo went to 120 and it wouldn't go that fast if you dropped it from space. Anyway it had a main seal leak that was so bad I just added a quart a week. The oil was always fresh. 

[happypalms]

32 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I used to have an Isuzu Pup. Oh my god that thing was so slow, I think it had 83hp. Lol the speedo went to 120 and it wouldn't go that fast if you dropped it from space. Anyway it had a main seal leak that was so bad I just added a quart a week. The oil was always fresh. 

The old saying in Australia yer I changed the oil I topped it up a week ago!

[JohnAndSancho]

25 minutes ago, happypalms said:

The old saying in Australia yer I changed the oil I topped it up a week ago!

We're just trying to keep the filters out of the landfill. 

[Jonathan]

Great that you're still on good terms with your ex...a sign of maturity in a world run by imbeciles! An incredible amount of hard work has gone into that garden Richard, more power to you!

[happypalms]

2 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Great that you're still on good terms with your ex...a sign of maturity in a world run by imbeciles! An incredible amount of hard work has gone into that garden Richard, more power to you!

Yes still a good friend after 24 years in with someone. You spend that much time with someone you cant not be a friend. When I was handed the photos I was amazed at how it has all grown. To think it was an Australian bush block of land, sandstone and sand and heat in summer, iam proud of my achievement, it just goes to show what can be accomplished in time. 
Now iam doing a second garden in the garden concentrating on understory and doubling the original garden. All those plants you see iam growing guess where there going (and dont say Tasmania) in my new garden, but the best of the best this time round with hindsight! 

[gyuseppe]

I remember when I got married my garden didn't even have a single plant! Now there are so many that I don't even have room to walk anymore.

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

I remember when I got married my garden didn't even have a single plant! Now there are so many that I don't even have room to walk anymore.

It’s amazing what time does. 
I could imagine you’re garden we both would have had the same dream of planting palms and other such exotic plants.