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The Corroboree
bit

bit's garden

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Very nice bit :)

What's the green mesh? Why did you cover some cacti with it and others not?

I thought it was like plastic.... I was just about to ask why though haha

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I thought it was like plastic.... I was just about to ask why though haha

It's a light shade cloth. Some plants have been under a south facing wall for a year or so, don't want them to burn.

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I thought so, but was green color your choice or was just a coincidence?

I read somewhere the the green will absorb the green spectrum of the light! Leaving your cacti hungry for light.

I'm thinking of building a large frame and I'll cover it with a similar mesh to cut off 30% of the sunlight, but I was going to go for a white colored mesh.

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Most shade cloth is green for a very proven scientific reason. The theory you read is incorrect.

The colours you see are a result of reflected light, not adsorbed light. So if you see something green, it's reflecting green (blue+yellow) light back at you but absorbing other parts of the spectrum (red).

That's why a black hole is black - it's absorbing all light, and not reflecting any.

Either way, when you think about it, it's the job of the cloth to absorb damaging light and not let it through. That's what it's there for. Being green means it absorbs some of the spectrum of light (mostly red) which would otherwise get to the plant and possibly burn/damage it.

If you put a red shade cloth over the plant, it's possible that it would even harm the plant more than having no cloth at all, because it wouldn't block any red light, and instead reflect it onto the plant.

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Hi Bit! It´s wonderful how much love and energy you put in your garden! Fantastic! I wish my garden would look like that!

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bit is there any rhyme or reason for the layout youve chosen? Im going to be landscaping up my yards soon as well and i was curious where you are getting your layout ideas. I assume you are taking into account what the plants will look like in 5-10 years and spacing/planting accordingly? Got any tips/advice/info you could recommend I could look at for a well landscaped desert yard?

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bit is there any rhyme or reason for the layout youve chosen? Im going to be landscaping up my yards soon as well and i was curious where you are getting your layout ideas. I assume you are taking into account what the plants will look like in 5-10 years and spacing/planting accordingly? Got any tips/advice/info you could recommend I could look at for a well landscaped desert yard?

I originally thought I'd like to make some sort of sculptured design with them, however after a while I realised that wouldn't really work as it would only look good for a couple of years, and then it would outgrow itself. Plus I don't have lots of the same type and size of cactus to be able to achieve it.

So, I ended up just working with what I had, which was a decent sized area, and some rocks. I only have a vague idea of how they will grow over the next 5-10 years, as there are hardly any in the ground in this city, and certainly I'm not aware of any in the quantity I have planted them! I've allowed a meter or so between them, and anticipate that it should be a good few years before I have to do any decent pruning.

Other than that, I've planted them together as well as I can judge they look good together. Fatty trichs in one spot, margniatus together where they look striking together, that sort of thing. I've got some grusonii I am looking forward to getting into the ground this coming week, and some other decent sized succulents.

On the lookout for a heap more grusonii too, as I really like them.

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Awesome looking garden there Bit. Can't wait to see it in a few years when everything is settled in. The gardener/permaculturalist in me wants to suggest you add some more Cerues sp. so that you can harvest some edible fruit from your efforts. I did notice that you have one or two monstrose Cereus, btw.

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I've never tried cereus fruit! I have tried dragonfruit however, and do approve. Tried to grow some once and failed. Maybe I'll give it another shot :)

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Getting there! Seems never ending but the pile of pots is growing and the legions of potted plants are diminishing!

You should be able to click on the image, and when it takes you to photobucket, keep clicking on the + at the bottom right hand corner to get it to full size.

WP_20140216_19_56_24_Panorama_web_zps399

Edited by bit
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awesum

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