That tree's a bit big isn't it?

North Melbourne is very old suburb, it was orginially established in the mid 1800's when it was called Hotham. This long history is reflected in the gardens of the terraces, not only in the changing patchwork of styles ad design but in the age of the trees and plants living in the tiny spaces. In this entry i want to show examples of front yards dealing with decisions, good or bad, that were made a long long time ago...in a galaxy...no.

These two photos of Palms are from two different houses, the first one is from a tiny little terrace with a yard that about seven by three feet, the whole house is obscured, theres only one little bit you can see it from! It looks like it would be at least 100 years old, whoever planted it clearly wasn't thinking that long term..

The second one is an example of palms being used more successfully, they seem to be getting a little bit too big but I think they look great, a little bit of ground cover or under story might look good but they are really striking as they are and they have a great symmetry to them. Luckily these people have a big front yard. Beautiful!

 I love this one, its amazing! It's the pattern lift after a creeper has been removed and taken some of the very old paint with it. The pattern it has left is amazing and so so detailed, you can see where every little branch was going. The paint that has been revealed underneath is great too, all the different layers have been exposed showing all the colours this wall has been painted over the past 150-200 years. There is a section that looks like it may have been a mural or advertisement at some stage.

I'm not too sure how quickly these vines grow but the thickening on the stem suggests it is pretty old, the pole and the vine definitely look well acquainted. The plant actually grows well above the frame of this shot, to the top of this double story terrace, onto the roof and over to the attached houses. Good luck getting that off. 

This massive Lilli Pilli is in a tiny yard too, though it's less likely 

to blind you than the giant spiky palm we saw before. 

 I don't know how i feel about this, its huge and growing out of a grate in the pavement, but it looks amazing. i think im mainly just impressed.

These are all really cool examples of the horticulture of the area saying as much about it's history as the architecture. People long before the current tenants planted these trees and they are still giving us something to look at so many years later. Lovely!