Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Landscaping Between Houses


The landscaping between our house and our neighbor's house is a bit thin. We can see the neighbor's car and drive when we are sitting on our patio. Our neighbors are a foreign couple who have lived in Seremban for a couple years renting this house, but have to leave because the house has sold. While our neighbors are great and quiet as it is only the two of them, we thought we better get working on a landscape solution for this area before the new owners move into the house in May.

At first I was thinking about a lattice wall where we can train vines to go up, but B told us that wood exposed here would be problematic as the sun would wear it away or the termites might come and eat it away.

So now I am thinking about plants that can grow high in this area. I don't want to put in any trees because the pipes run under the pebbles and more roots in the area might be problematic.

Image from Pick Me Yard A Family Garden Blog showing 13 foot high Greater Galangal

So when I was recently researching Galangal I read that you can plant those rhizomes you buy from the grocery store into the soil and they should grow. If Galangal can grow to at least 13 feet then it seems like it would be a great 'green wall' between the two properties.

An image of a flowering Galangal on Gardening With Wilson: Singapore Blog

I also read that you can do the same thing with Ginger roots. And I think they grow these great red flowers (I should check with the nursery, the red flower kind might be different). I love the show-y-ness of this plant and at first I read that it doesn't grow so high, but these photos show that a grown Ginger plant would be high enough to give us some privacy between the houses.


Strangely, I think that both the Galangal and Ginger Plants long stems and leaves look something like our always growing and blooming Bunga Katan Plant on the other side of our property.

3 comments:

  1. Your house is beautiful! I'm glad I discovered your blog. My husband and I lived in KL for ten months in 1988-1989 and I have fond memories so it's fun to read about your experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can't wait for your next update!

    oh welcome to Malaysia! I am Malaysian living in Singapore but planning to bring my family back to Malaysia soon. We are still deciding of where to stay, either Seremban, Kajang or Kedah. I love Seremban and Kajang for the fact that both are not far from KL and yet you can still feel the 'kampung' live and not hectic at all. Seremban houses are cheaper and much bigger than in Kajang. Kedah is because my parents are still there. It is my hometown. So I'm in dilemma right now. oh..too much about me. Glad that i stumbled upon this blog. I'm sure you'll enjoy here!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jackie- Great to hear from you. Things in Malaysia must have been pretty interesting back in 88-89. If you are ever over this way again, let me know! Thanks for reading the blog.

    Nani- Nice to meet you too. Of course I would say Seremban!!! When you are ready to move and want to stop by Seremban to see how it looks for houses let me know! Best wishes to you.

    ReplyDelete