Hebel sculpture
Crellyn Collison, of Waratah in New South Wales, wrote to tell Don that her partner, Peter Simmons, has carved a wall from Hebel in their backyard. The wall is based on Peter’s sculpture, ‘Snowgums’, which is located in the Thredbo Village. Crellyn says the wall never fails to capture the attention and admiration of visitors.
(Note: Hebel is a lightweight, aerated concrete product that is easy to carve.)
Gums leaves in compost
Rob Charteris, of Coombell in New South Wales, asked Don if it was okay to put gum leaves in the compost. Someone told him they shouldn’t be used in the compost because they are toxic.
Don said that he’s heard this sort of thing many times over the years, not only about gum leaves but also about she-oak and camphor laurel leaves. It is nonsense. Gum leaves, camphor laurel leaves and she-oak needles are all good in the compost and won’t cause any problems.
‘Falstaff’ rose
Catherine Fisher of Jannali in NSW wrote to say that she bought the June edition of the Burke’s Backyard magazine to find out the name of the rose on the front cover, but the rose was not mentioned. Sorry Catherine. The rose is called ‘Falstaff’ and was bred by David Austin. It produces large, dark crimson flowers fading to rich purple, with a strong Old Rose fragrance. The plant is upright and bushy and grows to around 1.6m (5′) tall.
Roses are available bare-rooted from garden centres in winter from around $15, or order from Treloar Roses, phone: (03) 55292367, website: www.treloar-roses.com.au
Oily rags
Roderick McRae, a Fire Officer from Peregian Beach in Queensland, saw our segment on preserving the wooden handles of tools using a 50:50 mixture of linseed oil and mineral turps. Rod said that rags should be cleaned or disposed of properly, as linseed oil left in rags can spontaneously combust, or in other words burst into flame. Don thanked Rod for his great tip. He also pointed out that in the segment he applied the mixture to the handles using a small paint brush. Don never uses rags for the job, and under no circumstances does Burke’s Backyard recommend that this be tried for any reason whatsoever.
Letter of the Week
Roderick McRae wins our Letter of the Week award for his oily rag tip, and a year’s free subscription to the Burke’s Backyard magazine.