Beautiful plants, beautiful gardens and great gardening advice!

View as a webpage

Next on: Tonight 7.30pm, Rpt Sunday 1.30pm on ABC + iview   Coming up   Millie is at a sprawling garden bursting with spring colour, Tino plants pulses and grains at The Patch, Guest Presenter David Fripp looks at the fascinating world of ferns and Sophie makes natural confetti   WATCH NOW     Video preview   Tonight 7.30pm on ABC + iview   Sophie gets crafty exploring some natural home-grown alternatives to store-bought confetti   Find out more       Factsheet Highlight   Fact Sheet   Guest presenter David Fripp takes us through his incredible collection of ferns and explains how these living fossils inspired his passion for plants     Watch Now         Gardening Australia Weekly Quiz Q. In plants, the 'petiole' refers to?: a) The point where flower petals join together b) The stalk that attaches the leaf to the stem c) A flower with small petals Answer to last week's question: Q. Beneficial insects refer to: A. a) Insects that control pests and pollinate plants     2020 Magazine Diary and Calendar   Find a full year's inspiration for your garden with the 2020 ABC Gardening Australia Magazine Diary and Calendar. Available from newsagents, bookshops and online.   What to plant this weekend   Tropical Climate Zone Asparagus Carrots Radish Water Chestnut Subtropical Climate Zone Basil Cucumber Pumpkin Squash Arid Climate Zone Beetroot Chives Eggplant Rocket Temperate Climate Zone Broccoli Carrots Sweet Corn Tomatoes Cool Climate Zone Broccoli Carrots Sweet Corn Tomatoes What to plant this weekend   COOL Keep an eye on fruiting trees for pear and cherry slugs - small black larvae that will decimate foliage quickly. Squash them by hand or treat them with a couple of coatings of wood ash. Keep on top of the mowing at this time of year, and ensure you tame your turf before your grass sets seeds or gets overrun with weeds. Roses are putting on a magnificent show right now, so head out to some open gardens, rose clubs and garden centres to track down some new stunners for your collection. TEMPERATE It’s spring in warm temperate areas when the jacarandas are blooming! These stunning feature trees, native to South America, will be awash with their purple flowers for months. If your garlic foliage is beginning to turn brown, it’s harvest time! Lift cloves from the ground, brush away dirt and hang in bunches in a warm, dry spot for a month to cure before storing. Squiggly, silvery lines appearing on the surface of your citrus foliage? You’ve probably got leaf miner. The best treatment is removal of damaged leaves and an early morning spray with a horticultural oil. SUBTROPICAL With the humidity humming in the subtropics, it’s a good idea to space any vegie seedlings further apart than usual, to avoid festering fungal issues. A nice thin layer of fresh straw mulch is a winner as well. It’s the perfect time to separate bromeliad pups from parent plants. Using a sharp knife, remove pups from the base of the parent, and place into a pot with free-draining cacti potting mix. Paw paws are putting on a growth spurt and need a feed to stay happy and healthy. A good application of homegrown compost and aged manure this weekend is perfect for your papayas. TROPICAL If you’re looking for lettuce that loves the wet season and thrives in humidity, try sowing some Indian lettuce cultivars (Lactuca indica) or oakleaf varieties. Grasshoppers are feasting on foliage at the moment, so hop out into the garden with a bucket early in the morning, when they are sluggish, and collect these pests for the chooks. The dragon fruit (or pitaya) is a tropical treat – delicious fruits and fragrant night-time flowers from a tough, vigorous cactus. Give them something solid to climb on and they’re away! What’s not to love? ARID It's important to keep the fertiliser up to your fruiting plants, vegies and herbs at this time of year. A fortnightly liquid feed of fish or seaweed emulsion is just the ticket. If you're mad for mint and love chomping on chocolate, you'll love the chocolate mint, a vigorous member of hte mint family that tastes tremendous. Great in pots and loves the heat. Weeds popping up in your pavers? Put away the herbicide and reach for the kettle - boiling water poured onto weeds is an excellent way to manage pesky plants, without the chemicals   Catch up on ABC iview   Never miss a gardening moment!   Watch more     Subscribe     Follow Us     The ABC sent this message to garden336.tool@blogger.com these details are included to help provide assurance that this is a genuine email from ABC. Any personal details and data acquired by the ABC from your participation in any ABC Online Services will be used only in accordance with the ABC's Privacy Policy.     © 2019 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC, ABN 52 429 278 345. 700 Harris St Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.   Unsubscribe from this eNewsletter | Discover other email newsletters | Privacy

Small eucalypts, nursery tips for beginners, maintaining climbing plants and more!

View as a webpage

Next on: Tonight 7.30pm, Rpt Sunday 1.30pm on ABC + iview   Coming up   Jane shares her top tips for beginners at the nursery, Josh does some essential maintenance on his climbing plants and Sophie reviews some new small-but-ornamental eucalypts specially bred for backyards.   WATCH NOW     Video preview   Tonight 7.30pm on ABC + iview   Jane visits a nursery to guide us through everything we need to know before buying a plant   Learn more       Factsheet Highlight   Fact Sheet   Sophie visits a plantation that is trialling new varieties of ornamental eucalypts designed for small gardens     Watch Now         Gardening Australia Weekly Quiz Beneficial insects refer to: A) Insects that control pests and pollinate plants     B) Insects that don't bite you C) Insects that only eat small amounts of ornamental plants Answer to last week's question: Q. In gardening, a stolen refers to: A. C - A horizontal plant runner that can form new plants     Aussie Backyard Birdcount    Celebrate National Bird Week by taking part in the biggest citizen-science project to hit Aussie shores. Join thousands of people from across the country from 21 – 27 October as they head out into their backyards, local parks or favourite open spaces to take part in this year’s AUSSIE BACKYARD BIRD COUNT. There’s still time to contribute! To find out more, visit the Aussie Backyard Bird Count website and register to take part.   2020 Diary and Calendar    Find a full year's inspiration for your garden with the 2020 ABC Gardening Australia Magazine Diary and Calendar. Available from newsagents, bookshops and online.   What to plant this weekend   Tropical Climate Zone Lemongrass Potatoes Radish Vietnamese mint Subtropical Climate Zone Capsicum Coriander Rocket Watermelon Arid Climate Zone Chives Eggplant Pumpkin Tomatoes Temperate Climate Zone Asparagus Cucumber Oregano Sweet Corn Cool Climate Zone Basil Beetroot Carrots Lettuce Jobs for the weekend   COOL With the Hobart show in full swing, that can only mean one thing – it’s time to plant tomatoes in Tassie! Gardeners in alpine and other cool temperate areas, it’s tom time for you too! Roses are pumping out growth, so remember to stake those delicate new water-shoots to prevent them snapping in the wind. These shoots will become full-on flowering stems in no time Whether you have a cottage garden or productive patch, ‘Elephant Garlic’ is a cool climate must-have. A biennial leek, the cloves are sweet and delicious, and the huge blue flowers are show stoppers. TEMPERATE Get set for summer and whack in a watermelon seed (or two). These fine vines are easy to grow, and compact varieties (such as Sugar Baby) are perfect for smaller spaces. Get wise to weeds, either at home, or through a local group. By identifying and treating environmental weeds at this time of year, you help stop seed set and spread over summer. If your native plants have finished their fab floral display, it’s time to give them a tip-prune. Simply snip out the tip of new growth and spent flowers to promote a denser habit. SUBTROPICAL It’s time to get mulching in subtropical gardens! Whether you use a straw or wood-based mulch, make sure you keep mulch off the stems of trees and shrubs to prevent future fungal issues.  If your dill is forming seed heads in the warmer weather, don’t despair! The seeds can be collected and stored once they have dried completely - they are perfect in pickling mixes! Treat perennials, palms, grasses, roses, mangoes and bamboo with liquid potash. This will give flowering and fruiting a boost and can bulk-up plants to fight off fungal attacks. TROPICAL It’s a great time to plant banana suckers, either ‘split’ from your own plants or purchased from a certified supplier. Look for healthy suckers with well-established roots. To pretty up your patch, plant palms, gingers, costus, bamboos and frangipani into a compost-rich, well-draining, friable soil. They will take off like a rocket at this time of year! Edible, adaptable and easy to grow, why not pop in a pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan). Growing to 3m high, this shrub is a winning windbreak, a great green manure and the seeds are delicious! ARID If you have a decent water supply, it’s time to get chilli, capsicum and eggplant seedlings into the ground. Add compost, mulch well and stake to secure. For some colour in your life, have a crack at a canna lily. These bold beauties flower in a range of full-on colours and are surprisingly heat and drought tolerant. Plant in drifts for best effect. If you are noticing distorted leaves or buds on woody plants, you may have an infestation of thrips. Inspect plants for these tiny, cylindrical insects, and remove damaged foliage and flowers   Catch up on ABC iview   Never miss a gardening moment!   Watch more     Subscribe     Follow Us     The ABC sent this message to garden336.tool@blogger.com these details are included to help provide assurance that this is a genuine email from ABC. Any personal details and data acquired by the ABC from your participation in any ABC Online Services will be used only in accordance with the ABC's Privacy Policy.     © 2019 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC, ABN 52 429 278 345. 700 Harris St Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.   Unsubscribe from this eNewsletter | Discover other email newsletters | Privacy