As you all know, I'm living in a unit and don't have much of a garden. My backyard is small and doesn't get much sun. It kind of has a lawn but it's mostly weeds. I plan on trying to revive it if possible. I don't use the yard much so I keep my plants out the front. I currently have a few pots with cacti and succulents and one with some parsley. I want to add a few big pots either side of my lounge room window. It faces North/West, so gets afternoon sun (when we get it). I want something I can 'finger prune' for my birds. They also can't get too big as they are in pots and in the main driveway. Any ideas??? Peppermint tree, Bottlebrush, gum???? I'm hoping to be able to get dwarf varieties but any help would be great :hap:

Plant birdseed and grow millet. You can also plant silverbeet in pots, carrots for the greenery to feed the birds. Sunflowers...etc

Yep... good ideas, but wouldn't mind some nice natives too, as they look nice and can be given to the birds. I'm big on natives but would like ones with 'multi purposes' I'm going to get some small trays for my bird seed too, so they can be rotated.

Here is a comprehensive list I found Plants Safe/Unsafe

Callistemons are nice Maesie. I have two different colours. The white flowering one is nice, it is called Anzac, but the red flowering one is nicest, called Hannah Ray. Callistemons, unlike grevilleas, have more flexible braches that tend to weep - think weeping willow. This means that they fill out the area they are on, overlapping more, and they do look "stringy" or skeletal, like a a gevillea.

 

I prune mine regularly and the birds love them. They prune the leaves off, chew on the branches, and then love playing on the brahces, hanging upside down as the springy branches bounce up and down. At times I think of removing the branches as they look no where near as attractive without the leaves, but then I see an older bird you never thought you would see swinging up and down, having a great time. I only remove them when I put new ones in.

 

Bottlebruses look awesome when they flower, but they take so long to gorw.

 

I would say if you want a good looking native, the red callistemon, Hannah Ray, is the way to go.

Excellent everyone... thanks so much. I'm off to the nursery today and am thinking I'll get some natives, herbs and I wouldn't mind an inside plant. I'll also get my 'seed planting' gear. Will have to see how far the budget stretches

okay... so I went to Bunnings and spent 3 hours there... I LOVE BUNNINGS!!!!!

 

I bought some weed and feed, lawn repair (to fix my weedy, overgrown,compacted and dead back lawn), a small hose, a funky wall tile, some black pots for my new indoor plants: Peperomia SILVER HEART. I also have some hanging pots from home, which I'll plant my new: Lemon Thyme, Parsley, Corriander and Oregano. These will be hung from my 'broken' outside blind bracket. It's nice and sunny and they'll be easy to look after. Then, I already have a selection of cacti and succulents which I have in terricotta pots. I may leave them or shift them somewhere else?!?! Now... I have a carport opposite where my front door is (photos later when it stops raining). I have a few options which I'm trying to decide between. I want to put a big heavy pot at each corner and fill with one of the following:

1. Native plants- Callistemon/Grevillea or something similar
   
2. Climbing plant to go up and over the carport. I'm thinking again something colorful and possible fragrant
   
3. Fill them with a selection of cacti/succulants... possibly the ones I already have and some more. (If I go with this one I'd like to add some grasses too, or on the other side below my lounge room window I'd like some long planters for grasses, such as mondo grass, black mondo grass etc...
   

It's so hard to decide!!! For this reason, I only got my herbs and inside plants today as I didn't want to get carried away as I'm not sure what to do. I will however get before and after photos of both the front porch area, carport and backyard.

 

I forgot to add, I also bought three shallow black trays to grow some seed and millet.

Edited August 31, 200816 yr by maesie
Added more!

Sounds like you had a fun day,once i finish the aviary my next project is to make a vegie garden and grow some herbs.

that is awesome, you will have to show us pics onces everything is arranged .

I want to grow plants too I can only grow weeds and grass :hap:

 

The climbing plants look soo nice but be weary of spiders ( Learn t that the hard way at the old house :hap: )

 

I am a huge fan of Natives - I love kangaroo paw my fav :hap:

 

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/native.htm < -- Here is som good info on them and what you can plants in pits and etc :hap:

sounds like you had alot of fun picking out all your plants (l'm just like you, l love getting plants in the springtime too). l can hardly wait to see your pictures.

Edited September 1, 200816 yr by birdluv

Pics yet Maes ????

Maisie, could I ask you that once you have this all together would you mind submitting something to the FAQ about this? I know this is a question we get alot .

Thanks guys... and Neat, I'm not 100% happy with it yet, so you'll have to wait for pictures! :sad:

 

Will do Elly... perhaps 'Gardening for Budgies' would be a good topic heading. I'll get something started and add to it as I go.

Thank you that would be awesome!

Last weekend Dad and I had a working bee in my backyard... The plan was:

 

• Prune back the trees (we did them when I moved in and they came back very well)
  
• Dig up the remaining dying/dead weeds
  
• Lay weed mat
  
• Cover with Mulch (bought some Easy Wetta Mulch blocks)
  

Over the past few weeks I poisoned the weeds and they were dying... slowly! Here are some before photos:

 

 

 

 

After a few hours of work... we had it looking like this:

 

 

 

 

Whilst doing this work we had the Mulch Block soaking in water. It did expand... but no where near as much as expected and covered very little... and at $15.00 per block it was going to be a very expensive chioce... So... we had some lunch and thought about our options...

 

1. Mulch- I have no access to the backyard, other than though the house. There is no where for it to be delivered either... Mulch was going to cost between $120-$250. The guy was spoke to was also not very nice and over quoted us as I don't believe we needed as much as he thought... but you get that.
   
2. Pea Straw- this would be bought in the bale, and spread out. A much cheaper option at $10.20 each and only 3 needed.
   

Needless to say, I chose the later option. Much easier and better on the purse! It is all done and looks great but I forgot to take photos. I will take some this weekend... as I plan to move my herbs and perhaps plant some veggies too...

Last weekend Dad and I had a working bee in my backyard... The plan was:

• Prune back the trees (we did them when I moved in and they came back very well)
  
• Dig up the remaining dying/dead weeds
  
• Lay weed mat
  
• Cover with Mulch (bought some Easy Wetta Mulch blocks)
  

Over the past few weeks I poisoned the weeds and they were dying... slowly! Here are some before photos:

 

 

 

 

After a few hours of work... we had it looking like this:

 

 

 

 

Whilst doing this work we had the Mulch Block soaking in water. It did expand... but no where near as much as expected and covered very little... and at $15.00 per block it was going to be a very expensive chioce... So... we had some lunch and thought about our options...

1. Mulch- I have no access to the backyard, other than though the house. There is no where for it to be delivered either... Mulch was going to cost between $120-$250. The guy was spoke to was also not very nice and over quoted us as I don't believe we needed as much as he thought... but you get that.
   
2. Pea Straw- this would be bought in the bale, and spread out. A much cheaper option at $10.20 each and only 3 needed.
   

Needless to say, I chose the later option. Much easier and better on the purse! It is all done and looks great but I forgot to take photos. I will take some this weekend... as I plan to move my herbs and perhaps plant some veggies too...

 

Hi Maesie, lots of cool things for budgerigars you can grow in pots or in a small space. Endive or chickory can be picked leaf by leaf, silver beet and the other beets. My favourite native for my birds is lemon-scented ti-tree. I've never had to grow it in a pot but I imagine it would be okay. I've seen them pruned and shaped in gardens. Mine just grow like Topsy and I keep cutting branches to put into the aviaries where they love to chew the bark and strip the leaves (supposedly a natural wormer). Eucalyptus also consider but probably too big for small spaces - plus there's plenty available just growing wild in reserves etc. I tried millet etc in shallow trays but shifted to deeper pots because there wasn't sufficient root space to support growth and the trays dried out too quickly once the plants started to grow. Jaz

Hi Maesie,

 

The garden is looking great. Another option for the mulch is sugar cane mulch - it comes in bales just like the pea straw but lasts much loner and doesn't sprout little plants all the time. Good luck with the plants. I admit my budgies always get some natives and love fresh growth on eucalyptus branches and acacia.

 

Chrisg