Now is the time for sasanqua camellias to flower. Sasanquas are by far the hardiest and fastest growing of all camellias. They make good hedging plants and are available in many flower colours: red, pink, white & multi-coloured flowers. Some sasanquas...
Terrariums are back in fashion. These are tremendous fun: tiny backyards inside a glass container, jar or sphere. Many nurseries stock these glass terrarium containers and they also may have a range of very tiny indoor plants in tiny tubes – not much bigger than...
Are you paranoid? Do you break into a sweat when you have trees or shrubs in your garden because you know their roots will destroy your house, your deck and your paving? Well, you have nothing to fear except paranoia itself. The vast majority of trees and shrubs do...
Many people have large, old citrus trees that don’t produce a lot of fruit and in any case are too tall for the fruit to be picked anyway. Well, you can prune old citrus now. The best times to do it are either in April or in late August to early September. You can...
Last month we looked at the small fluffy white dog breeds and it emerged that the West Highland White Terrier was the best one for families and that the Maltese was the worst. Due to feedback asking for more information on other breeds, we are now looking at the ten...
Kids get far more fun out of life than us big people. Everything is fun & and adventure. … So how do you create a fabulous kids’ garden? Well, it’s very easy. Kids love flowers to pick that grow fast like daisies (marguerite daisies are excellent) and annuals...
As you fly into most cities and towns of Australia at the moment, you’ll see purple dots before your eyes. If you are sober, these are almost certainly tibouchinas – which are purple flowering shrubs. The two favourites are Alstonville which grows 5m or so tall...
Have you ever seen the long conga-lines of processionary caterpillars struggling across your lawn or garden at this time of the year? They are off to find a place to hide where they metamorphose into moths. Usually this is a football-size tangle of webbing either in...
With the rampant growth from many plants over the last 6 months or so, it’s very possible that autumn colour may run late in many areas this year. The constant rain and humidity have encouraged many plants and weeds to grow as never before. Equally, powdery mildew...
It is still time to plant kale which is a variety of cabbage, broccoli, cabbage, Asian greens, spinach, silverbeet, peas of all kinds, lettuce, broadbeans and carrots. Asian greens are probably the easiest and best of the lot. Place half egg shells around all of...