Solve a problem, find a plant or look for a design inspiration
Sick Rosemary Plants like rosemary and lavender are Mediterranean natives. They are perfectly adapted to wet winters, hot dry summers and well-drained soils. It’s been a very wet year in many parts of Australia, particularly along the east coast, and gardeners...
Don’s Rubble Garden Australian native plants are excellent in the garden especially the new varieties of grevilleas, grafted darwinias, banksias, compact and prostrate wattles. An excellent base for a native garden is sandstone rubble. Sometimes this is produced...
Spraying a Fertiliser One of the easiest and best ways to give your garden a quick boost of fertiliser is to use an applicator that clicks straight onto the hose. Don recommends filling the applicator with a mixture of half Seasol for root development, and half...
Climbers Climbing plants are excellent for covering or decorating walls, fences, pergolas, arches and arbours. They are also very good screening plants in areas where trees and shrubs are too large. Don looked at a typical range of climbers available right now at...
Grown and admired in China and Japan for over a thousand years, wisteria is one of the great garden plants. These vigorous, long lived climbers like a sunny position with good drainage and reliable moisture during flowering and the initial growth period. In Australia...
Native Wisteria Japanese or Chinese wisterias are stunningly beautiful plants, but they do have limitations. Some gardeners don’t like the fact that they lose their leaves in winter, and they don’t really suit planting schemes featuring Australian natives....
Why not try growing some tomatoes and chillies over summer? The Burke’s Backyard Italian Tomato was voted the best tasting tomato in Australia, and under independent testing has proved to be one of the strongest growers of all the tomato varieties. The...
Cumquats make very good container plants for small gardens or courtyards, with their handsome, compact foliage and lovely fragrant flowers. They belong to the genus Fortunella, although they were once classified with their close relatives, the Citrus. There are two...
The most fashionable citrus at the moment is the lime. Demand for varieties like Tahitian and Kaffir has built up tremendously over the last few years, probably because they are so popular in Asian cooking. Limes are an excellent source of Vitamin C and they are a...
Persimmons are outstanding fruit trees for the backyard. They don’t grow too big, they produce abundant, sweet, juicy fruit, and in autumn their leaves turn a magnificent deep orange, through to burgundy or purple. In Australia they are not as popular as they...