Thanh Le

Thanks guys. but do you have gum trees in your garden or actually tried to grow something near one?

Hi Guys,

I'm from Melbourne, Australia - cool temperate (usa equivalent zone 10)
I've finally got wood chips mulch which I'll use to prepare ground for my food forest.

However I would like to plant some screening plants first for privacy - hence can anyone please recommend what type of 'permaculture' tree that's suitable for a suburban & shady area?
The area would be under the shade of a big eucalyptus tree.

Ideally the height should be around 3 metre because our bedrooms are facing the street hence exposed to car's light at night but can be flexible

Thank you for your time & hope to hear from you soon!

Thank you Bryant,

Your suggestion on the grounded sea shell is fantastic - i'm looking forward to this weekend trip to the beach with my young son now.

Thank you for your kind guidance James & Bryant,

I am using only straw and grass clippings (mainly now) as mulch but I don't do them very thick
I read that grass clippings will be matted with thick layer and also release more odors?

It is very popular here in Australia to use sugar cane mulch.
I've yet to read much about that product but I still prefer to re-use the wastes that I produce at home i.e. grass clippings to create the complete cycle.

I would very much like to grow some vines to cover the garden beds to make a cover of multiple function (food + shade), however it also means less flexibility to me now
Hence I am going to do some hoop poly pipe so I can either cover with shade cloth in the summer, or with plastic in winter as a greenhouse.

Finally, i've yet to determine why some of my plants since transplanted have their leaves burnt so I assume it was because of the heat at this stage

pumpkin


pumpkin


shungiku, noted of the burnt tips in grey?


spinach, leaves edge burnt

If you happen to know the cause of these symptoms, please let me know

This bed I prepared with lasagna method since July - not very well aged horse manure + straw + lucern alternating

We  top it off with our home made compost which is not fully cooked as there are still sawdust/straw in there


We did these transplants on 10 Dec, and it is summer. The follow 3 days see from 24-38 deg C with no rain. We water every afternoon 2-1 hours before sunset.

Hi Everyone - hope you guys can help me out

I am living in Melbourne Australia and the past few days have seen temperature soaring up to 38 degree and expected to be higher in January.
I got some spare poly tubing that can be made into cloches for the beds but I need to buy the suitable shade cloth still.

My question is is there any alternative method to provide heat filter for the vegetables?
Would it be ok to plant some sort of low height tree with canopy in middle of the bed ?
Has anyone have the same issue and what's your solution.

Please let me know thank you very much