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Everyone eats potatoes, but almost nobody grows their own. Jackie French demonstrated a simple way of making a potato patch in a corner of your backyard, that will produce kilos of potatoes. Potatoes can be grown in all areas in Australia although plants grown in...
Driveway Tips ‘Burke’s Backyard’ visited a home in Sydney where a recently-constructed driveway had begun to disintegrate. The gravel drive had become pot-holed after only four years of use. This prompted advice on the correct way to make a driveway....
Trees, particularly native trees, in gardens need care and attention so that they stay healthy and safe. A tree that is living in your backyard is under a lot of stress compared to the same species in the bush. To highlight this, Don contrasted the growth of a large...
Layering is an easy method for propagating a plant. Unlike other methods (such as cuttings) the piece that is being propagated remains attached to the parent plant while it develops its own root system. To layer a plant a supple branch is bent down to the ground while...
Listen to your Plants In recent years there has been much said about talking to your plants, despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting the idea. However, there is good scientific evidence that listening to your plants does help enormously. Of course when you...
Mulch Path The garden path is usually given a hard surface of bricks, pavers or concrete. Occasionally softer surfaces such as grass or gravel are used. Another option is a eucalyptus mulch path: it looks sensational and costs next to nothing. The path is soft and...
Mushrooms and toadstools As a mycologist (a botanist with an expertise in fungi), Peter Valder is often asked how to tell the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. All can be broadly described as the fruiting body of a fungus. As there are thousands of...
Each year blossom trees announce the arrival of spring and gaily declare that winter is over. To bring the song of spring into your garden, Don suggests a visit to your local nursery to find a blossom tree which appeals to you. Flowering plum is just one of many...
New Products: PestOil and Glykill There are some new products available at your local nursery which will help keep your garden pest and weed free: 1. PestOil PestOil is petroleum-based spray. Although similar to products such as white oil and winter oil that...
The kentia palm (Howea forsteriana ) is one of the most beautiful palms in the world, and is suitable for growing either indoors or outdoors. An Australian native palm, the kentia has been grown in Europe since the 1850s. During the 19th and early 20th century it was...