On a sunny day in winter, the garden can be a lovely place to be in. Winter is the perfect time to assess your garden too. When deciduous plants have dropped their leaves, you can see the general layout and “bones” of your garden really well. You can see messy or...
The whole world loves chocolate. Its scientific name Theobroma cacao means “Food of the Gods”. The ancient Aztecs used coco beans as their currency. They made the beans into chocolatl – a frothy drink made with coco beans, vanilla and other ingredients. Chocolate...
What have coffee and cigarettes got to do with insects? Well, new research with insects has shown that plants produce caffeine & nicotine to kill insect pests that attack them – especially their roots. But much smaller doses of caffeine in plant pollen helps bees...
Extremely heavy recent rains and windy days in coastal areas of Australia have caused many trees and shrubs to blow over. Have a good look at their roots. Most of us are told that all plants (especially trees) have a tap root. This holds them upright and...
Winter is the best time of all to transplant larger shrubs and even trees. These plants are dormant in winter; the sun is far gentler in winter, moisture loss and moisture stress is far less in winter. So if there are any large plants growing in the ground that...
Wattles in some areas of Australia are flowering early this year. The Queensland Silver Wattle is flowering 6-8 weeks early in many areas this year. The weird weather patterns have obviously thrown this beautiful wattle out of sync. For the record the Queensland...
Do you need a new fence? Well before you decide what sort of fence you want consider the following: Well laid brick, concrete block or stone fences can last more than 100 years with almost no maintenance. Modern metal fences like pool fences or metal yard...
If you’re in an area that experienced a lot of rain throughout summer and autumn, expect a lot of root rot amongst your plants. What does root rot look like? Well the plant may just drop dead overnight or one side of the plant may die. Some plants are very...
Have you ever drunk water out of a garden hose and wondered about the plastic taste? Garden hose water really tastes as if it were toxic. Well it turns out that this is true. The plastic taste is caused by chemicals called phthalates. This weird word is spelt...
With winter now here many insect-eating birds will be scrounging for food as there aren’t many insects around in winter. You can help. If you get a plastic compost bin, one of the round ones like an up-turned bucket, you can feed the birds. As you put compost in,...