Bare-rooting season

Mark Evans

For thousands of years humans have cultivated shrubs and trees, and dug and distributed them as bare-rooted young plants, often wrapped in damp rags or bound in a damp ball of sawdust. For growers, this is the most economical way to produce and distribute plants, and for buyers it means we get a bigger, better plant for less money. August is the perfect time to plant bare-rooted roses, fruit trees and ornamentals, because with spring around … Read more »

Click go the shears!

Mark Evans

While it is often said that ‘the best time to prune is when the knife is sharp’, as we move beyond the winter solstice (22 June) and the days start to grow longer, now is one of the best times to prepare your garden for the upcoming growing season by sharpening up your pruning shears.

Late winter is a great time to prune any deciduous trees or shrubs while … Read more »

Spring … it’s just around the corner

by Keith Mundy The Spires Nursery Tilba Tilba

Well, here we are with spring just around the corner and, with it, the start of the gardening year. New growth appears on deciduous plants, perennials wake from their enforced winter hibernation and bulbs pop up everywhere as new life begins. 

The next couple of months involves many tasks in the garden including the preparation and planting of the spring vegetable garden, planting of flowering annuals and the completion of … Read more »

Food for our friends


Keith Mundy


With winter well and truly with us, thought should be given to not only brightening up your garden with some winter-flowering shrubs but also providing some plants to provide food for our native birds. In most cases, Australian native plants will provide most of the requirements to sustain our birds
through the harshness of winter. There are many genera of plants … Read more »

No time to chill out

Keith Mundy

Welcome to another winter with the ground at saturation point after so much rain in our local area that, in turn, should be a great start to spring in three months. Deciduous plants are starting to commence their winter dormancy that, in turn, leads to many tasks in the garden that need to be completed before winter sets in.

During this month with plants going into dormancy, pruning should commence in the rose … Read more »

Preparing for spring

Keith Mundy

Well, here we are in the last month of winter and spring just around the corner 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.Well, here we are in the last month of winter and spring just around the corner and, with it, the start of the gardening year. New growth appears on deciduous plants, … Read more »