This is a story about the birds and the bees. No, not that one, but one about our fine feathered friends and those helpful little pollinators and collectors of nectar that we often forget about in our gardens.
We, as gardeners, tend to overlook one of the most crucial elements of gardening when designing a space, and that is to provide food and habitat for birds and bees. In attracting bees to your garden, we must understand they do most … Read more »
Customers regularly ask me to suggest a groundcover for a particular situation in a garden and with so many different forms, both Australian and introduced, the decision usually comes down to what you actually what the plant to do.
Ground cover plants vary from conifers through Australian natives to perennials and introduced plants from outside Australia. Many are absolute ground huggers and others can reach 50-70cm high but can be as wide as 3-4m.
There are categories … Read more »
Keith Mundy
Spring has arrived and with it the start of the gardening year. New growth appears on deciduous plants, perennials wake after their enforced winter hibernation and bulbs pop up everywhere as new life begins.
This month commences with many tasks in the garden including the preparation and planting of the spring vegetable garden, planting of flowering annuals and the completion of late winter and early spring chores before too much new growth … Read more »
Keith Mundy
Citrus in all its varieties is presently one of the most popular categories of fruit trees available in nurseries. This is mainly due to the work that has been done in recent times to provide dwarf growing forms that are more suitable to pot culture or for our ever-decreasing house block sizes.
In growing citrus a great deal of importance is placed on the location where you live as many are not suited, for instance, to heavy frosts or cold southerly winds.
Optimal temperatures for growing citrus are between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius. When temperatures get above … Read more »
Keith Mundy
With the ever-increasing use of our outdoor space, the use of pots as a growing solution is becoming far greater than in previous times, so here are some hints on how to successfully manage this form of gardening.
It’s most important, initially, to decide what you want the pots and the plants to achieve. Are they to be used for growing vegetables, annual colour, a perennial or shrub? Or perhaps a screening … Read more »
Keith Mundy
As we head into summer, these months are a critical time in our gardens to get them through the hot and drier months.
Summer brings the usual tasks we all associate with it. And although these tasks can seem tiresome, they are most essential in the overall upkeep of our gardens.
As I write this column we have had no worthwhile rain and I fully understand that a lot of us are struggling with the decision to water or not to water. Long lived plants like our shade trees and hedges etc should take priority with … Read more »
