And here is (some of) the canopy of said ficus.
It's hard to grasp its size, but trust me, its huge. Worse still, it's still a baby in ficus terms.
Here is the conifer that is growing less than a metre from the front of our house.
This is a front view. If you look very hard, you can just see the edge of the boys' window behind it.
They are recorded here because today is their last day. The last remaining trees on our property will be cut down today. It's very sad, but they were both utterly inappropriate trees for their location, and they are both still growing. They will need to be replaced (much to the annoyance of my next door neighbour, who doesn't want trees anywhere), but I haven't decided exactly what with.
If anyone out there is a gardener - I need a smallish tree for the back to grow in a raised garden bed close to two houses. I'd really like something fragrant or fruit bearing (citrus doesn't count according to the council's rules). It would be best if it could grow just taller than a 2 storey house. It's in Sydney, in a west facing back yard.
Out the front, I will probably move the tree to the corner of the property, but I have no idea what I want here. Something with a bare trunk and a nice canopy could be a good idea, since the yard is a touch teeny.
Anyway, look for the "after" photos tomorrow or the day after.
Oh yeah, and I'm also looking for a good fencing contractor very, very quickly, so if you know anyone....
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I don't understand what "citrus doesn't count according to the council's rules" means in terms of planting a shrub in your backyard, sorry. If you're looking for something to fill a specific niche, I'd recommend talking to staff at a quality local native-plant nursery.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Lauredhel - I knew what I meant! I am obliged to replace the trees with new ones, and citrus doesn't count as a new one. I can plant a citrus, but it won't fulfill my obligation.
ReplyDeleteI will probably have to hike out to the boonies to find someone to give me useful advice - there are no quality local nurseries of any sort near me.
www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/environment/documents/plantlist.pdf
ReplyDeleteI googled "Native plant recommendtions garden sydney inner west" lots of stuff came up but wading through it all to find just the info needed would be quite a job I suspect.
There are probably people you could contact to ask for specific advice about the raised-garden-bed-west-facing stuff, Mum found someone living a couple of streets over who was a native plants garden enthusiast and he came over and offered advice for free. Maybe though your local council or a local native plant enthusiast group, this lot seem to be a national umbrella group: http://asgap.org.au/index.html
Thanks for that Mim - I've looked at every single tree on that local native list. There is one that will work out the front - Melaleuca linariifolia. It should look good in the corner of the yard.
ReplyDeleteOut the back, though, we won't be able to put in a local native - apparently nothing grows naturally around here that is a shade tree and is a size that will work in that spot. I figure putting in a tree that prevents the use of air con is probably more imperative than choosing a native.
Ironically, the most prevalent advanced trees available are figs...
I don't think I'll be replacing the ficus with a ficus, even a smaller variety.