A Waterwise Garden
Episode: # 29 15/12/07
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
One of the toughest environments to establish a garden in is in a busy commercial driveway and this challenge was put to me some months ago with a garden at the water Corporation in Perth. As the main entrance to an organisation it needed to demonstrate it not only supported water conservation but it exemplified it.
The garden has been installed in stages due to the busy nature of the site. We are up to the irrigation stage and we have used sub-surface irrigation. This irrigation delivers water in the most minimal and efficient manner to the plants, most of which won’t require any supplementary water in the summer once established anyway.
Our landscape team roll out the Miniscape sub-surface irrigation, it works right across the gardens and joins up to black 13mm poly pipe which delivers the water to the inline drippers, right through the Miniscape system.
This system is simple to install and ingenious in its nature. Because it sits under the mulch on top of the feeder roots there’s no waste through evaporation and you deliver precisely the right amount to the plants roots for each drink.
The concept behind the garden is built around portraying an Australian landscape and we’ve used some amazing plants as feature specimens including one very special plant. It’s an extremely rare plant, a mistletoe or parasitic tree, and is very hard to find and they very rarely transplant successfully. The tree is one of the few successful transplants of the WA Christmas tree. In December and January it puts on one of the most spectacular display of flowers and is one of the most impressive native plants you will ever see.
The transplant process is a secret but we can tell you that what has been learnt here is now allowing many more of these incredibly beautiful trees to be saved from destruction as developers clear land.
The palm like plants in the garden are cycads which are ancient plants found across the globe in places where they were once food for dinosaurs. They are not a palm, although they look like it, but are in fact related to conifers. The give away is the flower and the seed which in the case of the Zamia is a giant cone or nut like you’d find on a conifer.
Once we have finished the irrigation system we will be mulching over the top.
The garden will feature mulch that is red pindan dirt atop a good quality soil conditioner which the plants will grow in. Streaming through the red mulch will be course river sand as mulch and the colour contrast will demonstrate the rich diverse colours of the North Western Australian landscape. Most importantly amongst the visions in the garden are examples of ways we can have architecturally beautiful gardens that capture the imagination but are gentle on the environment.
Featured Products:
Netafim Miniscape Sub-surface Irrigation
Drip irrigation is ideal for watering gardens. Netafim's Miniscape is the perfect product for irrigating flowerbeds, vegetable patches or any other sort of small to medium gardens. Due to Miniscape's flexibility and small size, it can be laid in straight runs along the garden or weaved between plants and trees.
For best results both aesthetically and efficiently, the Miniscape should be laid under mulch to reduce evaporation even further. The Miniscape can be easily installed in your garden beds.
Featured Plants:
West Australian Christmas Tree (Nytsia floribunda)
Zamia Palm (Macrozamia reidii)
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
One of the toughest environments to establish a garden in is in a busy commercial driveway and this challenge was put to me some months ago with a garden at the water Corporation in Perth. As the main entrance to an organisation it needed to demonstrate it not only supported water conservation but it exemplified it.
The garden has been installed in stages due to the busy nature of the site. We are up to the irrigation stage and we have used sub-surface irrigation. This irrigation delivers water in the most minimal and efficient manner to the plants, most of which won’t require any supplementary water in the summer once established anyway.
Our landscape team roll out the Miniscape sub-surface irrigation, it works right across the gardens and joins up to black 13mm poly pipe which delivers the water to the inline drippers, right through the Miniscape system.
This system is simple to install and ingenious in its nature. Because it sits under the mulch on top of the feeder roots there’s no waste through evaporation and you deliver precisely the right amount to the plants roots for each drink.
The concept behind the garden is built around portraying an Australian landscape and we’ve used some amazing plants as feature specimens including one very special plant. It’s an extremely rare plant, a mistletoe or parasitic tree, and is very hard to find and they very rarely transplant successfully. The tree is one of the few successful transplants of the WA Christmas tree. In December and January it puts on one of the most spectacular display of flowers and is one of the most impressive native plants you will ever see.
The transplant process is a secret but we can tell you that what has been learnt here is now allowing many more of these incredibly beautiful trees to be saved from destruction as developers clear land.
The palm like plants in the garden are cycads which are ancient plants found across the globe in places where they were once food for dinosaurs. They are not a palm, although they look like it, but are in fact related to conifers. The give away is the flower and the seed which in the case of the Zamia is a giant cone or nut like you’d find on a conifer.
Once we have finished the irrigation system we will be mulching over the top.
The garden will feature mulch that is red pindan dirt atop a good quality soil conditioner which the plants will grow in. Streaming through the red mulch will be course river sand as mulch and the colour contrast will demonstrate the rich diverse colours of the North Western Australian landscape. Most importantly amongst the visions in the garden are examples of ways we can have architecturally beautiful gardens that capture the imagination but are gentle on the environment.
Featured Products:
Netafim Miniscape Sub-surface Irrigation
Drip irrigation is ideal for watering gardens. Netafim's Miniscape is the perfect product for irrigating flowerbeds, vegetable patches or any other sort of small to medium gardens. Due to Miniscape's flexibility and small size, it can be laid in straight runs along the garden or weaved between plants and trees.
For best results both aesthetically and efficiently, the Miniscape should be laid under mulch to reduce evaporation even further. The Miniscape can be easily installed in your garden beds.
Featured Plants:
West Australian Christmas Tree (Nytsia floribunda)
Zamia Palm (Macrozamia reidii)
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