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It’s often difficult to keep the front lawn looking good, particularly now that there are water restrictions in many areas of Australia. Evan Gaulke of Ochre Landscapes thinks that front lawns are a waste of space if they aren’t maintained to a high...
Tibouchinas (Tibouchina sp.) should be pruned after flowering or whenever necessary to promote dense, bushy growth. The plant shown in our segment was looking spindly and ugly, so Don pruned it back severely. He started by removing all the dead and dying wood. He then...
Don regards our Plant of the Week as a serious contender for the title of ‘World’s Best Perfumed Plant’. Brown boronias have wonderful, lemon-scented flowers, which is not surprising when you consider that they belong to the same plant family as...
Plant selection is very important if you want a low maintenance garden. Some plants are high maintenance nightmares. At the top of the list is lawn, which needs regular mowing, fertilising and edging (paving is a much better low maintenance choice). Azaleas need...
Wherever you live in Australia, it pays to shop around and make sure you buy your plants at prices to suit your budget. There are a growing number of nurseries that sell plants at very competitive prices, and many offer discounts if you buy in bulk. Here is a list of...
A tough indoor plant commonly found sitting unobtrusively in the corners of living rooms across Australia is Philodendron bipinnatifidum (sold as P. selloum). No-one would suspect the complexity of its sex life and the unusual activities undertaken by commercial...
Don visited a cutting edge garden belonging to Gitta and Gunther Rembel. The garden is situated in bushland, and takes elements from the natural landscape as well as borrowing sparky ideas from other countries. The Mogul gardens of northern India and Pakistan,...
There is a free packet of Yates Italian herb mix seeds attached to the August issue of the Burke’s Backyard Magazine. Inside the packet, you’ll find seeds of flat-leaf parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum), rocket (Eruca sativa) and basil...
Wattles, also called acacias, are wonderful native plants. In fact, Australia’s official floral emblem is a wattle (Acacia pycnantha). More than 850 species of wattle grow in Australia, ranging from ground covers and charming shrubs to giant trees that provide...
One of the most fashionable things to plant at the moment in Australia is a hedge. In fact, hedges have been very popular for a number of years. Don’s step by step guide to hedging looked at plant selection, soil preparation, plant spacing, irrigation and...