Next on: Tonight 7.30pm, Rpt Sunday 1.30pm on ABC + iview | | | | | |
| | | | | Jane revives indoor orchids, Millie visits a sky-high garden, Tino shows how to make simple garden paths, Jerry shares some simple tips on keeping rats at bay in the garden and Josh maximises growing space by elevating his edibles. | | | | | | | | |
 | | | | | | | | Tonight 7.30pm on ABC + iview | | | | Josh shares some tips for growing food at new heights in your garden. | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | Fact Sheet | | | | Jerry has some alternative ways to rid your garden of rats. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | |  | | Gardening Australia Weekly Quiz How many species of the Phalaenopsis orchid are found in the wild? A) Around 20
B) Around 70
C) Around 500 Watch tonight's episode and see next week's newsletter for the answer!
Answer to last week's quiz:
Q. What is the botanical name for the Silky Oak?
A. a) Grevillea robusta | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Tropical Climate Zone - Cauliflower
- Chives
- Parsnip
- Tomatoes
Subtropical Climate Zone - Beetroot
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Rocket
Arid Climate Zone - Celery
- Eggplant
- Kale/Collards
- Potatoes
Temperate Climate Zone - Broad Beans
- Endive
- Lettuce
- Radish
Cool Climate Zone - Brussels Sprout
- Leeks
- Parsley
- Shallots
| | | | | | |
| | | | | COOL - Why not propagate some indoor plants this weekend? Take cuttings from climbers like Pothos, ivy’s, sweet potato and pups from spider plants and strike in water! Simple!
- It’s crunch time for celery. Preferring full sun and a deep, fertile soil, plant celery seedlings in deep trenches. Feed fortnightly with fish emulsion – the faster they grow, the better they taste.
- If your camellia is all bud and no bloom, spend some time removing excess buds. Ideally, there should be no more than two buds per cluster, which should see a fab floral show in spring.
TEMPERATE - Propagate some strawberries from runners – the long, whippy shoots that appear after fruiting. Gently remove these from the parent plant and pop into soil.
- Cuttings can be taken now of grey-leaved plants, like lavender, catnip and helichrysum. Strip lower leaves from healthy, non-flowering shoots, dip in honey and plant in propagation mix.
- Bring some colour to your patch and plant out some pansies. These awesome annuals are dead easy to grow, come in all the colours of the rainbow, and the white ones can deter cabbage white butterflies.
SUBTROPICAL - In subtropical gardens, clean up your act and harvest your luffa before they get mouldy. Harvest while the skins are still yellow and beginning to slip, remove skins and seeds and allow to dry.
- With cooler weather on the way, make sure you raise the level of your mower blades the next time you love your lawn. This helps the grass stay healthier, look lusher and out compete weeds.
- Bring in the good bugs and bees and sow some cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus). Their blue blooms brighten up every backyard, the flowers are edible and they’re great garden companions.
TROPICAL - Keep an eye on the stems and foliage of plants for scale. These small, solid-looking sap-suckers can be squashed by hand, but heavily infested parts should be pruned and binned.
- Plant some seeds of Amaranthus tricolour in your patch. This lovely looking leafy annual is edible, the young red and green foliage being tender, tasty and full of vitamins and minerals
- They may flower almost all year, but perennial Pentas need a prune. Pruning around 30cm from their overall height will help them retain a compact shape, and they’ll flower again in no time.
ARID - Stressed and heat damaged plants are not uncommon in arid gardens. It’s tempting to tidy them up but DON'T cut off affected foliage until spring as it is protecting the growth below.
- Kale can fail when sown directly, so start them in punnets. Use good quality seed-raising mix, fill punnets to ¾, spread seed generously and cover. Thin seedlings as required, and plant out in June
- They're generally good bugs, but slaters can cause problems by ringbarking young seedlings. Placing hollowed orange halves in garden beds traps slaters, which can then be fed to the chooks.
| | | | | | |
Catch up on ABC iview | | | | Never miss a gardening moment! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
