kingofnobbys
BD.org Sicko
I installed the several beds in my back and front yards over 6 months from July 2019 .
Project 1 - A 6m x 3m two level mega bed using 75x200 hardwood sienna sleepers and steel corner and joiner posts at the front of my house to take about 12cum clay and rock rich fill from escavation work done in my back yard to tidy up and enhance my driveway in prep for installing a free standing carport at the Sth end of my existing double garage .
Big issue - my front yard is not flat or level , so I had to use my engineering / vector calc skills to work out the volume of fill and soil using a numerical triple integral ( and 16 assay measurements taken using 3m spirit levels and string lines ) , I found my land profile E --> W was parabolic and I had a drop S --> N of 20cm . Volume determined I knew how much soil or once I had the fill in the bed and it was levelled = 10 cu m of premium garden soil needed to finish.
Excavator guy wanted $650 per truck load to take the fill away , and when I said no , wanted to spread this muck in the low end of my front yard ( would have created a boggy eyesore ) so I told him to leave it in a pile in the backyard - and decided to use it to create the base for a feature raised bed style garden in front our house ).
Was murder wheelbarrowing it up my steep driveway and took 2 days to do once the sleeper retaining wall in place and the concrete set.
10 x 1cu m bulkabags of premium garden soil on top and levelled in November 2019 , had to leave it fallow as we were in drought and on level 2 water restrictions , seeded with 2 worm bombs in March 2020 (told to leave the bed unused for at least 6 months to let the worms colonise the soil and enrich it and convert the clay under the soil to a rich aerated soil.
Planted nasturtiums in the top half of the bed in November 2020 .
3 JUL 2019 CONSTRUCTION
WANTED TO KEEP GOOD DRAINAGE AND KEEP WHITEANTS AWAY FROM HOUSE FOOTINGS , so note the 20cm wide air gap between back of the bed and my house foundations
ready take fill and top layer of soil
Mt Nobbys in backyard
fill going into big bed 8 Jul 2019
and more on 9th Jul 2019
http
Mt Nobbys is shrinking
ready for 20cm depth of premium garden soil
Filled 11 Jul 2019 waiting for installation of 20cm stepdown at 3m (midway) to make the bed level and flat in both halves.
Used SS step brackets to fix the 3m x 75mm x 3m sienna sleeper as the retaining wall for the top 1/2 of the bed.
Finished bed prior to house paint job
House exterior painted in November 2019 , another reason not to plant anything in the front bed (would have been trampled all over and destroyed by the painters).
Now = 5 Mar 2021 = exterior of house has been pressure cleaned and painted professionally , the lower half is still fallow , top ( southern half ) is growing mixed jewel nasturtions grown from seeds as a ground cover and make the bed look prettier.
Have sown into coir mini-pots the following flowing plants to go into the front bed ahead of some larger native shrubs in the last few weeks :
Phlox ( flowering ) = phlox drummondii
Phalecia ( flowering ) = phacelia tanacetifolia
Dianthus ( flowering ) = diathus chinesis
Lavender ( flowering ) = lavandula augustifolia
Zinnia ( flowering ) = zinnia elegans
Aster ( flowering ) = callscephus chinerisis
Cornflower = centaurea cyanus
Got these seeds for free ( latest Woolworths' giveaways ).
And ordered in some native bush tucker flowering shrub seeds ( BUSH FOODS COLLECTION SEED PK 4 )
Rock Lily = Bulbine glauca ( native flower , borders , rockeries , )
bushy bluebell = Tadgell's bluebell = Wahlenbergia multicaulis ( native flowering herb)
Both are self sowing if the flowers are left on the plant - great insect attracting plants.
Yet to be sowed , need presowing treatments first are :
Running Postman = kennedia prostrata
requires hotwater treatment and soak in water for 24hr presowing.
snow berry = gaultheria hispida
the berries ( edible )
requires chilling in fridge for 3 weeks prior to sowing.
Will likely add a couple of grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea - there are local species endemic to my location and they are available in nurseries as seedlings) https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/grass-trees?gclid=CjwKCAiAp4KCBhB6EiwAxRxbpFCHldAn-tggvpevmAVpI7xbNxx8IqbQLAUseIZAm5Jw4H1LFZ_h6RoCtmUQAvD_BwE
These have edible leaves ( a plus ) and look great in a garden.
Will also eventually put in some smaller Mimosoideae (wattle), Proteaceae (banksia) - likely as seedlings .
And some locally endemic Fabaceae (pea-flowered legumes / vines) and some Orchidaceae (native ground orchids) for structure , native attractants and habitat either as seeds or seedlings .
Might take another year or two to populate my 6x3m bed and the understory under my big gumtree with endemic flowering herbs and shrubs that will be benefical to native bees, insects (beetles, moths, butterflies), birds, reptiles and marsupials ( mainly possums and microbats here ).
I want to stick mainly to locally found (endemic flora) ie found locally and listed here
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/023a4538/files/uploaded/Bell-Hunter-flora-2014.pdf
Project 1 - A 6m x 3m two level mega bed using 75x200 hardwood sienna sleepers and steel corner and joiner posts at the front of my house to take about 12cum clay and rock rich fill from escavation work done in my back yard to tidy up and enhance my driveway in prep for installing a free standing carport at the Sth end of my existing double garage .
Big issue - my front yard is not flat or level , so I had to use my engineering / vector calc skills to work out the volume of fill and soil using a numerical triple integral ( and 16 assay measurements taken using 3m spirit levels and string lines ) , I found my land profile E --> W was parabolic and I had a drop S --> N of 20cm . Volume determined I knew how much soil or once I had the fill in the bed and it was levelled = 10 cu m of premium garden soil needed to finish.
Excavator guy wanted $650 per truck load to take the fill away , and when I said no , wanted to spread this muck in the low end of my front yard ( would have created a boggy eyesore ) so I told him to leave it in a pile in the backyard - and decided to use it to create the base for a feature raised bed style garden in front our house ).
Was murder wheelbarrowing it up my steep driveway and took 2 days to do once the sleeper retaining wall in place and the concrete set.
10 x 1cu m bulkabags of premium garden soil on top and levelled in November 2019 , had to leave it fallow as we were in drought and on level 2 water restrictions , seeded with 2 worm bombs in March 2020 (told to leave the bed unused for at least 6 months to let the worms colonise the soil and enrich it and convert the clay under the soil to a rich aerated soil.
Planted nasturtiums in the top half of the bed in November 2020 .
3 JUL 2019 CONSTRUCTION



WANTED TO KEEP GOOD DRAINAGE AND KEEP WHITEANTS AWAY FROM HOUSE FOOTINGS , so note the 20cm wide air gap between back of the bed and my house foundations

ready take fill and top layer of soil

Mt Nobbys in backyard



fill going into big bed 8 Jul 2019


and more on 9th Jul 2019
http

Mt Nobbys is shrinking

ready for 20cm depth of premium garden soil

Filled 11 Jul 2019 waiting for installation of 20cm stepdown at 3m (midway) to make the bed level and flat in both halves.
Used SS step brackets to fix the 3m x 75mm x 3m sienna sleeper as the retaining wall for the top 1/2 of the bed.

Finished bed prior to house paint job



House exterior painted in November 2019 , another reason not to plant anything in the front bed (would have been trampled all over and destroyed by the painters).
Now = 5 Mar 2021 = exterior of house has been pressure cleaned and painted professionally , the lower half is still fallow , top ( southern half ) is growing mixed jewel nasturtions grown from seeds as a ground cover and make the bed look prettier.



Have sown into coir mini-pots the following flowing plants to go into the front bed ahead of some larger native shrubs in the last few weeks :
Phlox ( flowering ) = phlox drummondii
Phalecia ( flowering ) = phacelia tanacetifolia
Dianthus ( flowering ) = diathus chinesis
Lavender ( flowering ) = lavandula augustifolia
Zinnia ( flowering ) = zinnia elegans
Aster ( flowering ) = callscephus chinerisis
Cornflower = centaurea cyanus
Got these seeds for free ( latest Woolworths' giveaways ).

And ordered in some native bush tucker flowering shrub seeds ( BUSH FOODS COLLECTION SEED PK 4 )
Rock Lily = Bulbine glauca ( native flower , borders , rockeries , )

bushy bluebell = Tadgell's bluebell = Wahlenbergia multicaulis ( native flowering herb)

Both are self sowing if the flowers are left on the plant - great insect attracting plants.
Yet to be sowed , need presowing treatments first are :
Running Postman = kennedia prostrata


requires hotwater treatment and soak in water for 24hr presowing.
snow berry = gaultheria hispida


the berries ( edible )

requires chilling in fridge for 3 weeks prior to sowing.
Will likely add a couple of grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea - there are local species endemic to my location and they are available in nurseries as seedlings) https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/grass-trees?gclid=CjwKCAiAp4KCBhB6EiwAxRxbpFCHldAn-tggvpevmAVpI7xbNxx8IqbQLAUseIZAm5Jw4H1LFZ_h6RoCtmUQAvD_BwE
These have edible leaves ( a plus ) and look great in a garden.
Will also eventually put in some smaller Mimosoideae (wattle), Proteaceae (banksia) - likely as seedlings .
And some locally endemic Fabaceae (pea-flowered legumes / vines) and some Orchidaceae (native ground orchids) for structure , native attractants and habitat either as seeds or seedlings .
Might take another year or two to populate my 6x3m bed and the understory under my big gumtree with endemic flowering herbs and shrubs that will be benefical to native bees, insects (beetles, moths, butterflies), birds, reptiles and marsupials ( mainly possums and microbats here ).
I want to stick mainly to locally found (endemic flora) ie found locally and listed here
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/023a4538/files/uploaded/Bell-Hunter-flora-2014.pdf