Thursday, May 2, 2013

Lilly Pilly Screen

Dan's mum came to visit last week and brought us a couple of lilly pillies. We want to eventually plant a long hedge along the front of our property, probably using lilly pillies, but I want to buy all the plants for that at the same time so they're the same height. I decided to plant these two near Little House, to eventually act as a privacy screen.

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And soon, I have to duck down into Laidley to (hopefully) pick up...drumroll... our new chicken coop! I talked recently about Dan having to build the structures to be snake-proof but we saw some from Mitre 10 come up for sale and decided to buy one to save Dan's time.

We will be building a snake-proof fence around it, however. I am still not ready to meet a taipan when I go down to collect the eggs, thanks all the same (that happened to my neighbour. I think I already mentioned this story and said the snake was a death adder. It was not. Taipans are the most venomous snakes in the world, in case you haven't spend hours on Google researching snakes like I have lately and don't know this.)

Anyone doing anything exciting this weekend? Planting a hedge? Cuddling a taipan?

13 comments:

  1. I'm giggling at your "hedge" ;-) word of warning re lillypillies - they can be short lived, and then you end up with a lopsided hedge. As much as I like them, if I were hedging I would opt for a hardy mock orange (murraya or orange jessamine) and the bonus: they smell divine when flowering.

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    1. Thanks Sharon. I'm with you - I'd prefer a mock orange hedge out the front. I've been talked out of it by a few keener gardeners than I. Will see when the time comes!

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  2. Lilly Pilly's are such fast growers and make a beautiful hedge. My little tree that is two years old that I thought would never grow is now half the size of the existing hedges which is so great. I agree you need to plant them at the same time but as they take a couple of years of growing see if you can move that one up on your list (yeh I know your list is long). A couple hours of work now and in 6 months the plants will be on their way but if you wait 6 months, it's just 6 months of no growing...all in good time but digging and planting a few trees can be done in a day and it does make the place cozy that's for sure. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia

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  3. Arggh! I have the fear of snakes that only a country upbringing can give you. Our cat brought a very cranky taipan into the house up in North Queensland once and had us all shrieking and jumping on chairs while it slithered under couches! Snake proof fence sounds like the go.

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  4. Yep, you'll be wakey, wakey if you see a snakey in the coop.

    The lilly pillies will grow faster with lots of water and native fertiliser and they love a good prune. And when they flower they bring the birds which is a nice thing. xx

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  5. if you plant the right sort of lilli pilli you will also be able to harvest the fruit for jam and jelly and cordial Yummm.

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  6. I agree about getting those little plants in so they can start their growing, wishing I had sorted Betsy's front yard three years ago when we moved in. We are spending the weekend getting the last bits and bobs eg all our clothes out of Betsy and hanging around while the people who bought the kitchen, kitchenette and carport come and remove them all. Exciting stuff! mel x

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  7. I agree-get them planted and growing sooner rather than later. We planted a camellia hedge out the front of our house as one of our first jobs, and they have grown so much in the last 6 months. We almost left it another year, and I'm so glad we didn't! A few hours work, and now we pretty much leave them grow!

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  8. I have an interesting link for you. This is a blogger that lives in Texas and has to deal with snakes too.
    http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/04/23/will-i-fool-the-snake-or-the-easter-bunny/
    It would be great if this works.

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  9. I like lillypillys but have had problems in the past with them finding their way into drain pipes as they love their water. Looking forward to seeing the snake proof hen pen. Only exciting thing that happened here was an escaped 2 yr old agisting thoroughbred in the wrong paddock yesterday evening with 6 of our horses. *Love* stumbling around in 10 acres of dark hilly paddock full of horse manure, tufty grass and tree roots trying to catch a fit, frisky horse who wants to play chasey with you and is not at all interested in the bucket of feed you have! The gates are now chained so "Houdini" stays put until his leaving date next Friday.

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    1. Sounds like a great way to spend an evening... Actually, no. It doesn't at all.

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  10. Just fitting underfloor insulation...

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  11. we will demand progress photos of those growing lilly pillies. patience!
    my weekend was spent at my parents' place, complaining about the frigid hobart temperatures. supposedly it reached 12 degrees on saurday, but i really doubt that...

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