Australian Ornamental Grasses for Children’s Play Spaces

Ornamental grasses are a great addition to this whimsical play space.

Children’s playgrounds have come a long way since the lonely metal slides, swings and mown grass that many of us grew up with. Many modern playgrounds include areas that encourage various types of play. This may include: active; free; quiet; social; imaginative; creative; exploratory and natural play spaces.

Increasingly, children’s playgrounds include natural play spaces, offering a blend of natural areas, environmental features and plants. With good design, a variety of play activity can be catered for in an attractive, fun and living landscape. Such a landscape may include boulders, water and sand, gravel pits, quiet social areas, interesting pathways, musical instruments, bridges as well as structured play equipment.

Choice of plants is critical for success when creating a natural play space and the following should be considered:

• plants should suit the soil and climate of the site;
• the playground is a hectic environment and only hardy plants will survive. It follows that plants that are able to regenerate after damage will be useful;
• plants that can be touched, jumped over or occasionally jumped on will not only survive but be ‘well loved’;
• plants with a variety of different textures, scents, colours, forms and sounds will add to the play experience;
• plants with loose parts such as small logs, leaves, seed pods, fruits, cones etc readily available will be incorporated into play;
• plants of all sizes – trees, shrubs, grasses and ground covers can play a number of roles in a play space;
• avoid plants that have poisonous parts or cause allergic reactions; and likewise
• avoid plants with sharp or prickly parts.

‘Lucia’ Dianella amoungst boulders.

Australian ornamental grasses are well suited to natural play spaces and fulfill many of the above requirements.

Dianella varieties are an excellent playground choice for their strappy, arching foliage, purple flowers and bright edible berries. Depending on the variety chosen, their height range of 400 – 700mm make them suitable for bordering play areas and pathways. Dianella’s spread via a rhizome and will therefore recover quickly following damage. Bluedale recommend Dianella ‘Little Jess’ http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ornamental-Grasses/Little-Jess/6/ or ‘Lucia’http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ornamental-Grasses/Lucia/3/ for playground borders, pathways and mass plantings.

Lomandra cultivars with male only flowers (ie non spikey) offer a taller alternative to Dianella and are well suited to natural playspaces. Lomandra ‘Tanika’, ‘Nyalla’, ‘Katie Belles’ and ‘Tropicbelle’ all have non spikey flowers and strappy foliage that can be woven into baskets, platted into rope or generally wrestled in, jumped on and attacked! For more information on Lomandra visit our wholesale website  http://www.bluedale.com.au/our-selection/strappy-leaf-plants/lomandra-varieties or buy online http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au

Ornamental grasses in the harsh play space environment.

Tussock grasses such as Poa and Pennisetum perform well the harsh conditions of any high use landscape. They have fine foliage and soft flowers. Poa poiformis ‘Kingsdale’ and Poa labillardieri ‘Eskdale’ are cool season grasses, looking at their best in Winter and well suited to cooler climates. Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Nafray’, ‘Purple Lea’ and ‘Cream Lea’ are all tall (900mm to 1.5m) warm season grasses. Wind blowing Poa and Pennisetum will add an element of movement to the natural playspace. For more on Bluedale’s ornamental grass selection visit http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ornamental-Grasses/

Australian native groundcovers such as Myoporum parvifolium ‘Yareena’ (10cm tall), Hardenbergia ‘Meema’ (30 – 45 cm tall), and Hibbertia scandens (40cm tall) are all well suited to play space areas. Although they will not tolerate pedestrian traffic, they will recover from damage, are not spikey and have attractive flowers. http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ground-Cover-Plants/

Carex fascicularis would work well in a water feature such as this.

In ponds and creekbeds with permanent water, the soft foliage of Carex fascicularis offers an alternative to other water plants, many of which have spiky or sharp foliage.

For further information on the plants recommended visit our website http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/ and buy online.

Pennisetums ……. Friends and Foes

Pennisetums are warm season grasses that are native to many parts of the world, including Australia. Pennisetum range in form from grasses suitable for lawns ie kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) to medium/large tussocks that have been used in gardening. The Australian species is Pennisetum alopecuroides, and it is a tussock form. Bluedale grow and supply 4 cultivars of P. alopecuroides as well as the common form. We also sell one species from Africa. Let’s call these species Friends.

Now for the Foe. Pennisetum setaceum is from Africa and south western Asia. It is highly invasive and will germinate readily in gardens, bushland, even cracks in the footpath. Not the sort of plant you want to have around! P. setaceum has been declared a Class 5 weed in NSW (restricted weed which must not be sold, bought or knowingly distributed throughout the entire state) and Class 3 weed in Qld (environmental weed). It is yet to be classified in other states.

Native Pennisetums used in landscaping and supplied by Bluedale

The cultivars and common form of P. alopecuroides supplied by Bluedale are regularly used in the landscape industry and include:
• ‘Nafray’ Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘PA300’ http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ornamental-Grasses/Nafray/26/
• ‘Purple Lea’ Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘PAV400’ (see first picture) http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ornamental-Grasses/Purple-Lea/69/
• ‘Pennstripe’ Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘PAV300’
• ‘Cream Lea’ Pennisetum alopecuroides http://www.bluedaleplantsonline.com.au/shop/Ornamental-Grasses/Cream-Lea/64/
• Pennisetum alopecuroides(common form)

‘Purple Lea’ in flower.

P. alopecuroides is known as Swamp Foxtail Grass. Its distribution ranges from tropical Queensland to the south of New South Wales mainly along the coast. P. alopecuroides naturally occurs in moist conditions and boggy areas. Importantly, Harden (1993) classifies P. alopecuroides as a native Australian species, however to confuse the issue, many sources indicate it may not be indigenous to Australia, having been transported here prior to European settlement.

Pennisetum varieties flower in late summer and autumn. Unfortunately, it follows that in areas with warm moist winters, such as tropical Qld and northern NSW, some cultivars, namely ‘Nafray’ and ‘Purple Lea’, can self-seed. Bluedale believe in responsible gardening and would not recommend growing either of these cultivars in such areas. To complicate things further, modern gardeners and landscapers will need to consider global warming and the resulting warmer winters some of us are already experiencing when using any plant that produces seed in abundance. The same can be said of gardens with warm winter micro-climates, coastal gardens and irrigated gardens.

When grown in other areas, an uncharacteristically warm and moist winter can see some self-seeding. In this case, we recommend thick, quality mulch and vigilance. Beware of coarse mulch such as pine bark as this leaves gaps and exposed soil suitable for seed germination. Seed heads can be removed before seed is set and unwanted seedlings spray very effectively with glyphosate.

In Bluedale’s experience, ‘Pennstripe’ is yet to produce viable seed. It is also the first variegated Australian native grass available. ‘Cream Lea’ has also proven to be non-invasive. There are no reports from Bluedale customers of ‘Cream Lea’ self-seeding.

Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’

Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’ is a commonly grown ornamental cultivar grown from the species Pennisetum advena native to Africa, the Middle East and East Asia. Both tall and dwarf forms are available. It is completely sterile and does not have a rhizome. ‘Rubrum’ will therefore not become a weed.

Pennisetum setaceum in flower.

Our Foe Pennisetum setaceum

The common name for P. setaceum is Fountain Grass (see second picture). In an ideal world P. setaceum would not be available for sale in Australia. Over the past few years Bluedale has however, seen projects where this weed has been supplied to unsuspecting landscapers as the native form. The take home message here is be sure you/your contractors source plants from a reliable supplier. If in doubt, ask. Beware of plants produced by ‘backyard growers’ and sold at places like local markets.

P. setaceum flowers most of the year and produces an abundance of viable seed, which is mainly dispersed by wind but can also be spread by vehicles, humans, livestock, water and possibly birds. Where the native form has 10 – 30% seed viability, P. setaceum has close on 100%. Notably seed has been reported to remain viable for at least 7 years. It was likely brought into Australia as an ornamental grass and has been living it up here ever since.

According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries, P. setaceum is difficult to eliminate. Control may need to be repeated several times a year. The long-lived seeds mean continued monitoring after treatment is essential. Control should initially be directed to outlying populations followed by treatment of the core area. Small infestations of fountain grass can be removed by uprooting and removing/destroying seed heads. Extensive infestations of fountain grass are probably best controlled with herbicides, combined with mechanical techniques.

Pennisetum setaceum diagram from Harden, 1993.

The invasive behaviour of P. setaceum is likely to be the first step in its identification. Other features include:
• upright tufted grass with very narrow leaves and flowering stems growing up to 1 m or more tall
• long spike-like seed -heads (6-30 cm long) are reddish, pinkish or purplish in colour
• flowers are always present
• P. setaceum has a hairy peduncle (flower stalk) compared with the hairless peduncle of P. alopecuroides (see drawings)
• seed-heads contain large numbers of densely packed stalk less flower spikelet clusters
• each flower spikelet cluster is surrounded by numerous feathery bristles (12-26 mm long) and one significantly larger bristle (16-40 mm long)
• its mature seed-heads turn straw-coloured or whitish and the seeds are shed with the feathery bristles still surrounding them.
If in doubt about identification, contact your local council or post a specimen to your nearest botanic gardens (most botanic gardens have a plant identification service that charges a small fee).

Pennisetum alopecuroides seed diagram from Harden, 1993

REFERENCES
Harden, G. J. (Ed) 1993 ‘Flora of New South Wales Volume 4’ Copywrite Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. Published by New South Wales University Press, Kensington, NSW Australia.
NSW Primary Industries Biosucurity (part of Department of Primary Industries) Weed Alert Brochure http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pests-weeds/weeds/profiles/fountain-grass

Bluedale Wholesale Nursery has had a Facelift

In November 2012, Bluedale engaged Visual Edge, a graphic design company in Port Macquarie, to modernise our company logo. The result is a modern and funky logo of a germinating seed that we believe represents Bluedale’s values as a modern, growing business.

Bluedale’s new logo is now featured on our wholesale website www.bluedale.com.au.

Landscapers, developers, civil contractors and Local Government will find a wealth of information on this wholesale site. Plant descriptions, technical information and photo galleries focus on commercial and domestic projects, subdivisions, constructed wetlands, rain gardens, detention basins, erosion control, revegetation, street scapes and roadside landscapes.

Key features of the website;

• Plant selection details:  As well as Native Grasses and Wetland Plants, the Bluedale range has now been extended to include Native Trees and Shrubs. Each plant in our selection is beautifully photographed and extensively profiled to assist you in making the best choice for your project.
• Bluedale Catalogue: a 48 page publication with detailed plant descriptions, cultivation requirements, planting rates and a description of uses, render this catalogue a useful reference tool as well as an annual buying guide.
• Picture Gallery: Here you will find over 100 photographs, showing projects for which we have supplied plants as well as other projects where plants have been used to great effect. These images will further your understanding of the many facets, design possibilities and uses of our plants.
• Useful Articles: Bluedale takes pride in keeping up to date with the latest developments as it monitors the application of its plant products to the landscape. Regular articles are posted to inform customers of new plant releases, profile plants in our selection, developments at the nursery itself and case study projects where our plants have been utilised.
• Currently Availably List: Updated regularly this list largely includes plants available as Viro-tubes (50X50X90mm), 140mm pots. It is designed to give customers an idea of the plant numbers we have available, however we encourage you to contact us if you wish to discuss a large volume order.

For enquires call today 02 6586 0100 or visit www.bluedale.com.au and use the email link.

Themeda Mingo on The Bluedale Plants Online Show, Episode #13

On this week’s episode of The Bluedale Plants Online Show Craig Waters showcases Mingo Themeda australis ‘Mingo’ PBR

Click on the photo above to watch this on Video

This week I’d like to introduce people to a native grass and it’s part of our designer grass collection which over the coming weeks I’m going to expand on and introduce a series of these grasses to the people at home.

The grass I’d like to introduce today is one that’s called Themeda Mingo. Now It’s full botanical name is MINGO Themeda australis ‘Mingo’ PBR and it’s a cultivar variety called Mingo.

Now  Themeda  Mingo has a common name of Kangaroo grass. It has blue prostrate foliage that makes a fantastic ground cover and the foliage is quite a striking blue. What’s actually interesting with Themeda  Mingo is that when you come into the cooler parts of the year you actually see the colour of the foliage change and you get a bit of a purple tinge to the foliage which makes it a striking plant that can be used in a range of situations from a standard garden ground cover to an informal lawn.

Particularly if you plant it young and train it with your mower by mowing on a higher setting it will knit up and actually form an informal lawn – not like your traditional buffalo or couch grasses – it will be quite thick in profile but still, some people are looking for something a little bit different for a court yard and Themeda  Mingo if it’s used in a lawn application like that can be a good choice.

As I mentioned it’s a traditional ground cover plant so if have a native garden or a garden where you actually want a ground cover plant that will grow amongst rocks or trail down an embankment where you don’t want to be mowing or maintaining that area and you want something that’s fairly low maintenance, Themeda  Mingo is going to work really well for you and because you get that change of colour foliage you’re going to see interest throughout the year.

One thing I didn’t mention at the beginning is that Themeda  Mingo also gets a flower which is a browny rustic colour with a bit of a red tinge in it. It’s a low growing plant so the flowers are also low growing so they’re not something that’s going to get too much out of hand. It’s a plant that’s very easy to maintain and could work well in many gardens.

Like most grasses you do need to give then some trimming through out the year. Now Themeda  Mingo is what they call a warm season grass so it’ll actively grow in Spring, Summer and Autumn and then at the end of winter after it’s gone through it’s Winter phase you can just give it a light haircut removing about 2 thirds of the foliage.

Now if you were training it as an informal lawn simply mooing it high at the end of Winter will tidy up any loose daggy bits that may have developed over the Winter months when it’s in a dormant cycle.

So apart from that, very little maintenance, a bit of fertiliser coming in to Spring. Water if it’s particularly dry just to help the fertiliser bed in and get a bit of active growth with the plant, but apart from that very easy to maintain.

We have Themeda  Mingo available on the website as a 140mm pot or as a Viro-Tube 10 Pack.

What we’ve found so far is most people are favouring the Viro-Tube 10 Pack because they’re wanting to have a mass planting of the Mingo which is a great way of planting Themeda  Mingo. Not so much as a specimen nut as a group of plants so the Viro-Tube 10 Pack has proven very popular.

For more information or to buy Themeda Mingo Click here…

 

 

Bluedale Plants Online is an online nursery that offers No Fuss, Functional Plants delivered in Top Condition straight to your door.

Bluedale is a dedicated grower of Australian Native Plants. Our range includes Native Grasses, Strappy Leafed Plants,Sedges and Wetland Plants and Native Trees & Shrubs that you can buy online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How can you deliver plants all along the east coast of Australia?

How can you deliver plants all along the east coast of Australia?

Something people always want to know is how are we going to get our plants?

One great thing about the wholesale side of the business is our way of distributing plants through out the different regions.

Being a regional business we are very familiar with and work well with our couriers.

At Bluedale Plants Online  we primarily use Fastway couriers and Australia post. We find that they’re very efficient. Fastway is always our preferred method for shipping plants because you can track and trace the number and so for instance if a customer has ordered plants and they want to know where they are at any point in time, we can go on to the Fastway website and put in the label number and from there we know exactly where the plants are. They maybe ready for shipping in the depot for instance or they maybe on board for delivery.

So, when you order plants on Bluedale Plants Online, what we actually do is we ship the plants out on either a Monday or a Tuesday and they would come down to you over night or on the second day.

For example with the Sydney region, customers are actually getting their plants within 2 days of us despatching the plants to them.

One thing that we are very conscious of is the fact that we need to get plants to people very quickly. So the express nature of plants is very important to plant delivery.

For that reason, if say, you ordered plants on a Thursday or a Friday we wouldn’t despatch them on those particular days but we would wait for the Monday or the Tuesday the following week so we can guarantee that the plants would arrive to you within that 2 day period in to the Sydney Region and you get your plants exactly as you would expect them to be, in good condition.

Click on these links to view our range of: >>>  Grasses and Ground Covers – Trees And Shrubs

 

How Bluedale Plants Online Got Started – Buy Plants Online

 

 

How Bluedale Plants Online Got Started:

My career in Horticulture actually started back in the early eighties when I studied Horticulture through Charlestown TAFE. From there I had a number of other businesses, landscape businesses but then about 10 years ago I started up a wholesale production nursery called Bluedale Wholesale Nursery which specializes in native grasses and wetland plants.

Our focus was the commercial landscape market, so we did a number of commercial projects and have continued to do that over the time.

One of the latest ones was the Kempsy bypass project which was a large project that completed just before easter in 2013.

From there we developed a wholesale website. and we noticed we were getting a lot of calls from home gardeners who were frustrated that they couldn’t find plants they wanted at their local nursery.

Because lots of the local nurseries are actually closing down due to the impact of bigger stores like Bunnings, and the super stores, they really weren’t getting the service and they came to us looking for plants they couldn’t actually buy locally.

From that we thought we can see a need and have what they’re looking for.

We developed the Bluedale Plants Online website with a full shopping cart so people can actually look online, browse, find plants and there are pictures of the plants on there. They can easily move from the individual plant profile to a shopping cart and actually purchase online.

Payments can be made via Paypal and then their plants are actually delivered to their door or to their nominated postal address.

Check out these ranges:

Grasses and Ground Covers   Trees and Shrubs   Garden Accessories