The Message Board

RE: HELP!!!!

Posted 471 days ago

Couple of tips here August

1. Give up on potted climbers. They'll do OK then die on the first summer scorcher. To do well, climbers need to be planted into garden beds, not pots. They're a disappointment waiting to happen.

2. Good plants for pots that can cope with dry conditions start with good old geraniums (actually pelargoniums) if you want something smallish and colourful. Bigger beauties include succulents like agaves and yuccas, but these aren't always cheap. But it is really hard to get any shade going via potted plants.

3. Shading options for renters? Umbrellas aren't too bad if you can live with having to adjust them a few times during the day. Shade sails can be dodgy if the weather changes suddenly, and mounting them securely needs a fair bit of DIY skill to make them safe. Shadecloth is a pretty good option, because it doesn't cost much and only needs to be put up once, and taken down once.

4. You mention the white walls that reflect heat in the morning. Painting them a more neutral colour (such as a medium to darkish green) might help a fair bit. And setting up a row of potted plants against the heat-reflecting wall could also help things a lot. In my Sydney garden, the toughest potted plant I have is a bay tree. It never has any problems and is very leafy. Maybe you could talk to your local garden centre about a cheap, tough, leafy tree that survives well in a pot in your area, then setting up a row of them to stop that wall reflecting so much heat?

Hope this helps

Ozmac
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RE: HELP!!!!

Posted 143 days ago

re help!! i like ozmacs' idea of the shade mesh but you could get a cantilever market unbrella which swishes around without having to undo it and raise it again when you want to move it. i would also paint the white wall in a more subdued colour or drape some hession over it , hessian is about $ 2 a metre .azaleas love to be in pots and i would have some hanging baskets of petunias and other colourful annuals and instead of securing the shade mesh to the railings i would make it so you could roll it up like a blind and lower it to the level where you can still see the view. what's wrong with having a few artificial vines to wind around the posts even if they fade they are cheap to replace next season. paint the table too or varnish it , add a nice vynyl tablecloth and a bowl of a pretty cactus on the table,or fruit and voile !! you have a pretty place to sit.if you have matching chairs give them a paint job and make a few pretty floral cushion . don't sew? well you can make the cushion covers with no sew method. two pieces of fleecy the same size ,but bigger than your cushion is .lay the 2 pieces of fleecy down together on top of each other and cut two inch slits all around the edges .go back and tie knots in the two matching pieces of material which each slit made all around the edges .insert the cushion before the fourth side and complete the knotting. regards....zinnia
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RE: HELP!!!!

Posted 143 days ago

What about lattice for the shade, you could wind the artificial vines thru it. Geraniums are a great idea, espesh with kids, tough and safe. young ones can look really pretty in pots, and there is a huge range of colours.
Maybe some herbs in pots too, strawberries if you can give them a bit of shade will go ok in pots.
If the landlord wont let you paint, you could get a large canvas and paint that and hang it up on the white wall, maybe get the kids to help with this.
Another idea is to get a swinging seat about $300 from Bunnings, which has a shade ontop, and nice way to watch the river in the morning and a great spot to sit with the family.
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