Thread: Low Maintenance Garden in Khon Kean

nice pics

Cost this weekend:
Landscaping: 2,370 baht (for 7 Rhapis, 2 Banana fans and a 500 baht deposit on a 4,000 baht Bismarck that we intend to pick up towards the end of November) We have to give the supplier at least 3 days notice before we pick up the Bismarck so he can re-pot it for us.

This is a picture of the Bismarck we purchased (in Thai, Taan Fah).

This is a picture of a mature Bismarck on his property. The pictures do not do the tree justice. The palm fronds are a light shade of gray (with a green hint). I have seen similar trees with palm fronds that were nearly blue in color.

We plan on planting the Bismarck in the far corner of the property to block the view of the restaurant sign (and some of the red shade protection the restaurant has erected) after the plant matures some.

The guy who we purchased the last load of plants and Bismarck from is located a few hundred meters north of the nursery I described above (post #44 ). He owns the nursery and a kennel. On the business card he gave to us, it says he raises Bulldogs and French Bulldogs, also.

Contact information:
Poonsub Gardens & Kennel
Name: Too
Telephone number: 081-947-1886

Added some rock (30 bags) that I picked up here in Khon Kaen around each of the ponds this morning.

Cost:
Landscaping: 1,140 baht

That will be it until next month (December 09).

Yesterday we planted 4 more plants, had 4 basketball size stumps removed, picked all the weeds and I covered the rest of the large open area up with filter fabric.

Cost of Landscaping for the day: final payment for the large palm (the Bismarck) 3,500 baht, other three plants shown below, 1,600 baht.
labor (two guys and one woman, lunch/water included) 1,400 baht
total: 6,500 baht

Bismarck

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Yesterday we planted 4 more plants, had 4 basketball size stumps removed, picked all the weeds and I covered the rest of the large open area up with filter fabric.

Cost of Landscaping for the day: final payment for the large palm (the Bismarck) 3,500 baht, other three plants shown below, 1,600 baht.
labor (two guys and one woman, lunch/water included) 1,400 baht
total: 6,500 baht

Bismarck

What are you using for filter fabric, and where are you getting it.

^ your question, answered

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Underground Utilities/Earth Work

1) Purchase Filter Fabric (Geotextile material, Premier Lining Interplas, Premier Lining Interplas Co., Ltd.) two rolls (800 sq. meters). Cost of two rolls and delivery to KK site from BKK: 24,500 baht for two rolls, delivery to KK 1,000 baht, 7/1/09

from my second post on this thread.

This past weeks planting continued since I am spending more time here in Khon Kaen.

^ran outa rock

^these will grow up and look like these (below)

Landscaping costs: 2 ferns (?, at 180 baht each), 40 small ground cover plants (at 10 baht each) and 20 bags of rock (at 38 baht each) from a local plant shop. The girlfriend was coming back from BKK and purchased 12 plants (at 140 baht each).
Total cost of these plants/rock, 3,200 baht

Last weekend we were with a couple who told us that KKU (Khon Kaen University) had some plant shops on their campus and this morning we purchased a few plants from them (and ordered 10 more).

The large plant in the pot you see in the picture below will be planted where it sits. The picture of the plants not planted that are in the pictures below will be planted by the bathroom and we ordered 10 more plants similar to the single plant in that same picture (left side of the picture) that will be planted towards the back of the property.

I am getting ahead of myself and should complete the planting towards the back of the property because if I continue (planting up front and on the sides of the Gazebo) I will not be able to get the ¾ rock (ground cover) in the back area without running over newly planted plants.

We also picked up a few more plants while driving back from BKK this past Thursday and planted all but four of them.

The Gecko Feet Vine that I planted at the beginning of this project are all doing well and some have even started climbing the wall.

Costs this past week, Landscaping:
At nursery driving back to KK,….4,730 baht for 22 plants
Local nursery here in KK,……740 baht for 20 bags of colored rock
KKU nursery,………1,500 baht for 10 plants
Total: 6,970 baht

^You would be more than welcome to visit, but not at this time. I am thinking about letting all the interested TD members in the area to come by and look when I am finished.
I will not finish like I had planed by the end of this month,…….but it should be completed before March, 2010.

This morning we planted the plants purchased last weekend, except 1. I also replanted the (10?) plants next to the gate track and replaced them with plants that will not have a root system that could move the track over time.

new plants next to the track

I had ordered 10 plants this past weekend (like you see in the pot below) that I will plant in the back area (where the bathroom is located). I believe I’ll need an additional 10 depending on the size of the plants that I had ordered and how large they are and the area they will cover.

Some of the Gecko Vines that are all doing well, pictured below.

Tomorrow, I think we’ll place some decorative rock around the large plant we plated today.

This morning we laid some decorative rock down and planted 20 Mexican Heather plants. We’ll use the Mexican Heather next to the walkways along with another small plant.

What the Mexican Heather will look like when it grows out

Landscaping costs:
20 Mexican Heathers [at] 2 baht each,……..40 baht
4 stones,……..150 baht
15 bags of colored rock,……..555 baht
Total: 745 baht

We have been planting the last couple of days (just a couple hours each morning). Here are some pictures to show the progress.

The Nuad Pla Dook will be planted (spotted) along the walkways. I will purchase maybe 60 more Iris (?) and plant it in the back area running along an edge of the walkway and then turning up towards the high part of that back area, after the holidays.

Landscaping cost:
80 small plants above (Nuad Pla Dook) at 2 baht each,..160 baht
Some type of Iris (?) bought at different nurseries along Highway 2 from BKK to KK
25 at 40 baht,………1000 baht
20 at 40 baht,……… 800 baht
Rock bought here in KK, 25 bags at 37 baht each,…925 baht
Total: 2,885 baht

nice thread

^Thank you.


This morning I went over to the garden and did some watering and found a good spot to get a picture, I thought. The picture doesn’t give the viewer a real sense of the garden. Anyway, a bird’s eye view,………..

We purchased these two shoots (?) of a vine at the Khon Kaen University nursery a couple of weeks ago and the guy who cut them from the tree for us told us to place them in water until they started to root before planting them (the larger leafed vine). The smaller leafed vive is something the girlfriend brought back from her office and wants it planted in the garden. We’ll plant all the vines below, next to the columns for the gazebo.

Amazing progress since I last visited. I don't know whether 'auntie' deserves any of it, but you can call me 'uncle' and come over to check on my garden anytime you like !

Originally Posted by S Landreth

I had ordered 10 plants this past weekend (like you see in the pot below)

Looks like a Philodendron to me. Just don't ask which one

^Nice compliment,……especially coming from someone like you, thank you.

And by the way, did you know your TD character name “Sun-tzu” is the man who made the phrase in my signature famous?

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Sun-tzu
Chinese general & military strategist


I enjoyed reading/viewing your homepage,……….

http://plantatreebangkok.blogspot.com/

Good luck with it. It will make this concrete jungle we live in a little more hospitable.

On and off the past week and a half we have been planting towards the back of the property. We have planted a few different types of Philodendron (over 900 species,…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodendron ), Iris’s and some Crinum Lily’s.

The Crinum Lily’s (I spotted around the garden) will flower like this when they mature:

Just planted:

When they mature:

Placed two plants we purchased at KKU Nursery a few of weeks ago next to some Mango trees. We are hoping they will take hold of the tree/s and grow up it.

We are planning to lay some ¾ rock this Monday towards the back of the property since the planting is finished (in the back). I will also lay a leveling course with the ¾ rock in the walkway so that I can set the stepping stones.


Stepping Stones:

Landscaping costs this past week and ½ :

From Khon Kaen, Passorn Wassadu Gor Saang Construction, 043-321533:
Down payment on 4 cubic meters of ¾ rock to be delivered on Monday (first load out of maybe 8 that will be needed) the 11th at 520 baht/meter delivered,..2,080 baht

Stepping stones (along Highway 2 to KK), purchased at Art Rock Co., LTD 084-6125925, website: www.marble-ksa.com
Purchased 30 stepping stones at 50 baht each (I’ll need more but this is all I wanted to put on the little pickup, weight of the stone being the problem),…….1,500 baht

From Jatujak market in BKK
2 large Philodendrons at 600 baht each,….1,200 baht
2 small Philodendrons at 250 baht each,…500 baht
12 Crinum Lily’s at 40 baht each,….480 baht

Two Nurseries on Highway 2 from BKK to KK :
40 Iris’s at 25 baht each,…..1,000 baht
10 Iris’s at 25 baht each,….250 baht
4 large Philodendrons at 300 baht each,…1,200 baht

From the KKU nursery
5 Philodendrons at 120 baht each,…. 600 baht
Two traveling vines (to climb up the tree/s),….60 baht

From Nursery in KK
Soil, 3 bags for 50 baht
20 bags of colored rock [at] 37 baht each,… 740 baht

Total cost: 9,660 baht

magical thread, in a past life i was a landscaper, love all this stuff, keep going!!

^Thanks,… glad you are enjoying it. However it will be coming to a close soon, unless I update the growth of the plants/garden from time to time (maybe every 6 months). It will look so much better, 2 years out.

I should be finished up with the planting within a few weeks (I hope). After we move all the rock in I will have to get the concrete driveway repaired and that might take some time, depending on the availability of the contractor. I am going to try to schedule him towards the beginning of next month, so there will not be any delays.

Laying the rock (between 1 to 6 inches in some places) and stepping stones went easier/faster than I had thought.

The contractor came over yesterday and told us he could replace the broken concrete driveway pavement in one day for 2,500 baht and that he only needed a couple days notice to start the work. I will probably call him over the weekend to set a day next week to start the work, after I have completed the little bit of planting in front of the gazebo.


Landscaping costs these past couple of days:

Labor, 2 men and a woman at 500 baht each for two days,…….3,000 baht
Provided lunch, M-150, ice for labor for two days,…….277 baht
¾ inch rock 10 cubic meters at 520 baht per meter delivered,……..5,200 baht

Total: 8,477 baht

Excellent thread and a wonderful job you've done there. Definitely a labour of love. The aunt should be very happy with the result and her own little paradise to wile away the hours. The best part is that it will only improve with time. I look forward to the six-monthly updates.

^^The aunt does do her best to keep the gate to the property closed, because strangers do walk in just to have a look around. It is tempting.

This garden/gazebo wasn’t intended for any commercial use, although during this time of year it would be a nice place to kick back and have a few beers.

^Thank you. The aunt has taken to it more than we thought she would. I get there at 7:30am sometimes and she’s already watered ½ the plants on the lot. She’s even told her niece (the girlfriend) that she intends to leave for a week (holiday) and insists the niece come over daily to water the plants during the dry season. At times the aunt will come out during the midday sun and help me. I never thought she would be so helpful, by the looks of the lot before we started.
I am also looking forward to the 6 month updates.