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It is said that if you catch a falling autumn leaf before it hits the ground you will have one month of good luck. So if you catch 12 of them you’ll have a whole year of good luck and the luckiest leaf of all is the last leaf to fall from any tree. The only...
The Golden Robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’) was a vogue tree in Australian gardens and landscapes during the 1980s and is still popular today. It is widely used as a street tree, particularly in polluted areas and, because of its small size and...
One of the greatest treasures that lie in the capital cities of Australia are the Botanic Gardens bookshops. There are books on native flora and fauna, bush foods, foreign gardens and specific botanical books that aren’t available anywhere else. As well as books...
Gum trees have had a lot of bad press: they grow too big, fall over, drop branches and have other habits gardeners will not tolerate. But these problems relate to some species, often badly planted or positioned, not to all gum trees. Some of the species that have...
Chillies are the number one drug and herb in the world today. Millions of tonnes of chillies are consumed in the USA alone each year. It is estimated that 75% of the world’s population use chillies as a regular part of their diet. In Australia, where we are...
Spring flowering bulbs are beautiful in the garden but what do you do with them once they’ve finished flowering? It’s important to keep caring for your bulbs after flowering to ensure good flowering the following year. What to do Remove dead flowers from...
Some plants just drop dead and die and there are others that display an amazing persistence to survive and flourish in the most unusual places. One such tree is a River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) which is growing out from a little crack between the pavement...
Late spring is the time to be planting tomatoes and chillies so why not try some of Burke’s Backyard’s tomatoes or Thai chillies. Burke’s Backyard Tomato The Burke’s Backyard Italian Tomato is a large fruited, ribbed tomato which is used for...
Burke’s Backyard visited a garden where three years previously 87 healthy camellias had been moved and are now sick and dying because the plants never established a new root system. Burke’s Backyard consulted with camellia experts Dr Brett Summerell, plant...
One of the most popular Australian native trees is the Broad-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia). The Broad-leaved paperbark is a hardy native plant. However it has a more attractive counterpart, Melaleuca leucadendra, Weeping paperbark. Plant Details Common...