Black Magic Makeover

Black Magic Makeover

Don made over the front garden of a Sydney cottage using a dramatic mixture of black and yellow foliage plants. The wonderful thing about foliage plants is that they look good all year round, even when there are no flowers, because they have interesting leaf colours, shapes and textures. Our foliage colour palette ranged from black, purple-black and green-black, through to lime green and chartreuse yellow (see plant list below).

Before work could begin, something had to be done about the area underneath the house, which formed an ugly backdrop to the main garden bed. Scott Cam, the builder from 'Backyard Blitz', was called in to screen the brick piers and pipework using timber decking boards.

How it was done

The first step was to remove the existing azaleas in the garden bed. Azaleas transplant readily and winter is a good time to move them, so Don carefully dug them up and saved them for use elsewhere in the garden, or in pots. Next, the site was cleaned up and a stack of old timber removed from under the house. Scott painted the brick piers and the white pipe black. This toned them down and made them fade into the background. Treated pine battens were attached to the sides of the brick piers. This was done by using a masonry bit to drill 6mm holes through the battens into the brickwork. 6mm spaghetti was pushed through the holes, then cut off flush with the timber. The battens were then attached to the brickwork using 100mm galvanised nails hammered through the spaghetti. Scott attached treated pine decking boards to the battens, using stainless steel decking nails with a rib shank. Gaps were left between the boards to allow for air movement under the house. This helps prevent mould in the house. To keep the gaps even, he cut a 50mm timber block and used it as a spacer when placing and nailing each board. The timber screen was finished off with a coat of Wattyl 'Dark Green' exterior gloss, to match the existing colour on the house. Don roughly marked out the edge of the new garden bed using a can of yellow spray paint. He then removed the grass with a sharp spade, and dug over the bed with a garden fork to aerate the soil and prepare it for planting. Next, a quality garden mix was incorporated to enrich the soil and raise the level of the bed about 300mm (18") above the surrounding area.

The garden was edged with bushrock, but the rock was not concreted in place. Each rock was simply positioned on the ground so that its most attractive face was visible. Don carefully planted the elephant's ears at the back of the bed. As they are brittle and inclined to sag, some of the leaves were tied to black-painted, bamboo stakes. Elephant's ears are swamp plants and need to take up water to stay upright, so Don watered them in straight away, rather than waiting until all the planting was completed. The rest of the plants were positioned using the 'put and look' method. When that was done, the plants were mulched and watered in thoroughly.

To continue the light-dark theme, the herb trough beside the steps was planted with golden marjoram, chocolate mint, oregano and Vietnamese mint. To finish off the makeover, two large black pots on the verandah were planted with dark-leafed, weeping figs (Ficus'Midnight'). The pots were placed on pot feet, so that they would drain freely. As a centrepiece for the table, a small, glazed black bowl was filled with black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus'Nigrescens') and mulched with glossy black pebbles.

Foliage colour palette for the garden bed

Blacks:

Black cordyline (Cordyline fruticosa 'Nigra')

A multi-branching, upright shrub with distinct dark foliage, which intensifies during winter. It costs around $14 for a 150mm (6") pot.

Bromeliads

Don filled pockets between the rocks with cymbidium orchid mix, then planted several dark-leaved neoregelias, including 'Silverado' and 'Vulcan' x johannis hybrids. They cost around $30 each.

Black leaf elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic')

These elephant's ears have elegant, black leaves to 60cm long. They form clumps to 1.5m tall x 1m wide (5'x3'). They will grow in full sun to shade in a moist, enriched soil. A 300mm (12") pot costs around $39.60.

Purple blacks:

Cherry pie or heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens 'Plum Pie')

An evergreen, soft-wooded shrub with rich, purple coloured foliage. It produces fragrant purple flowers from late spring to autumn. Expect to pay around $13 for a 150mm (6") pot.

Ajuga (Ajuga reptans 'Catlin's Giant')

This excellent groundcover has metallic, shiny foliage and spikes of blue flowers up to 20cm (8") high. We used a 150mm (6") pot size, priced at around $12.

Green blacks:

Cordyline glauca

This plant has green, upright foliage with a black reverse on the new growth. We used a 300mm (12") pot for $45.50. 200mm (8") pots cost about $22.

Elephant ear or taro (Colocasia esculenta 'Fontanesii')

Black-stemmed elephant's ears with dark green leaves. 250mm (10") pots cost about $18 each.

New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax 'Yellow Wave')

This is a variegated form of flax with creamy lemon and green striped foliage. 300mm (12") pots cost around $45.

Chartreuse yellows:

Fuchsia 'Blue Wren'
'Blue Wren' has gorgeous, limey-green foliage. 150mm (6") pots cost $7-$16.

Further information

Timber screen:

Treated pine decking boards cost about $2.20 per metre. 6mm spaghetti is available from your local hardware and costs around $8 for 5m. Decking boards were painted with Wattyl Exterior Gloss 'Dark Green', costs about $34 per litre.

Garden:

The plants we chose for our Sydney cottage makeover will also do well in temperate coastal areas in NSW and Qld, and around Perth in WA. Most prefer a position in shade to semi shade, but will also tolerate some sun. If you live in cooler climate zones, ask the staff at your local nursery to advise on dark foliage and limey contrast plants suitable for your position and climate. If your local nursery does not stock the plants they can order them in for you. If you have trouble finding the elephant's ears contact the grower, Colourwise Nursery, for your nearest stockist. Phone: (02) 4566 6177.
(Note: elephant's ears die down in winter in some areas. Nurseries would be most likely to stock them in the warmer months, when they look their best.) We used premium garden mix from Australian Native Landscapes, phone (02) 9450 1444. Cost - $44 per m3. Granite bush rocks cost about $50 per m2.

Potted plants:

Ficus 'Midnight' costs about $65 for a 300mm (12") pot. Pot feet are priced at around $1.45 each. Black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') costs around $12 for 150mm (6") pots. Black pebbles for mulching cost $9 per bag from Freedom Furniture. Pots were purchased from The Pottery Shack, Princes Highway, St Peters (large black pots, $93 each; small glazed bowl, $20). 100mm (4") and 150mm (6") pots of herbs for the herb trough cost $3.50-$4.50.

Further reading

This makeover is in the August edition of the Burke's Backyard Magazine, available at newsagents and supermarkets for $4.95.

Copyright 2002 CTC Productions