Solve a problem, find a plant or look for a design inspiration
Robinia Problems Don looked at a street tree planting of golden robinias (Robinia pseudocacia ‘Frisia’). This was a vogue tree in Australian gardens and landscapes during the 1980s and it is still tremendously popular today. However, before you plant a...
Ground Covers There’s nothing as tedious as pulling up weeds, and it’s a chore that takes up a lot of valuable time. Don’t despair – there are other things you can do to help control the problem. The first step is to mulch the garden, and then...
Plants produce most of their annual growth over the next few weeks, so it is important to fertilise them now. Most plants: use Dynamic Lifter, slow release fertiliser, or liquid Nitrosol (apply liquid fertilisers with a hose end sprayer). Lawns: use a complete lawn...
Spring Tart Up If your garden is looking at bit drab at the moment, why not give it a quick spring tart up? The best place to look for inspiration is your local nursery. The really good plant shops around Australia plan their spring displays so that customers can see...
Drills People often ask Scott Cam, the builder on the Backyard Blitz team, for advice about buying cordless drills. His recommendation for anyone purchasing just one electric drill is to go for a good quality mains powered drill (that is with a cord), rather than a...
Fertiliser Manure Horse manure is very fibrous, rots down quickly and is regarded as being useful for heavy clay soils because of its fibre content. It also works well on sandy soils. It can be incorporated into the soil, or used as a mulch to about 5cm (2″)...
Foolproof Irrigation System A common problem with garden irrigation systems is that by the time water reaches the end of a long line, pressure is lost and the spray heads don’t function properly. As a result, some of the plants don’t get enough water....
Grafted Camellia About eighteen months ago we looked at a wonderful groundcover camellia called Camellia sasanqua ‘Marge Miller’. Don thought that this plant, with its lovely pendulous habit, could possibly make a very good weeping standard. He decided to...
Grevillea Garden Update Grevillea ‘Little Miss Muffet’ is in full flower at the moment in the grevillea garden. It is a hybrid between G. sericea and G. speciosa, and has very pretty pink spider-like flower clusters. Some of the grevilleas that were pruned...
Heavy Metals in Fertilisers These days most people realise that using too many chemicals on the garden could be damaging to the environment. We received a letter from Jo Erkelens, a very concerned viewer who purchased a packet of Yates Gro Plus Complete Plant...