Gardening Australia 2024 episode 23
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Oh
00:30Hello and welcome back to Gardening Australia. We have missed you. How did your winter gardening
00:40grow? Are you ready for spring? We've got so much to catch up on, we'd better get to
00:45it. I'm delving into the secrets behind these
00:51new up and coming plants that come from distant lands to find a new home here. I can't wait
00:58to show you what it's all about. This hedge has a really bad case of hibiscus
01:03mite and I'm going to show you how to deal with it, which starts by timing your pruning.
01:09I'm going to catch up with garden designer Peter Nixon and he's going to share some of
01:12his green wall secrets. And the weather is warming up, so I'm going
01:17to get some of those long season crops into the ground. They'll pay rewards at the end
01:22of the warm growing season and I'm going to show you how.
01:42This is a story about how a town survived a flood and found a community.
01:51The town of Wardell is tucked in beside the mighty Richmond River.
01:58Back on the 27th of February 2022, the area was in for a drenching. Forecasts upwards
02:05of 100 millimetres in 24 hours. But the forecasts were wildly out.
02:14In the hills above the township of Wardell, falls of 6 and 700 millimetres were recorded.
02:23In places, the Richmond River rose more than 7 metres above its normal height.
02:30The floods were a catastrophe and the region still hasn't recovered. Businesses have closed,
02:37people have left, homes are abandoned. If there's a silver lining to come out of
02:43all of this, it's that the flood brought communities together. And I'm sure you won't
02:49be surprised to learn that at the very heart of one remarkable community enterprise is
02:56gardening. They call themselves the Wardell Corps.
03:02It's really good to see you. And Venetia Scott is one of its founders.
03:07G'day Costa. This is the place.
03:10It is indeed. Welcome to Wardell. Thank you. Wow, what a place. What is this building?
03:16It's an old bank Costa. Really? Come on in.
03:20It is. Look at the counter. I know. It has the original bank fittings in here. And we've
03:25transformed it into a community centre post floods. Along this row here, we've got donations
03:31of household essentials like blankets, bedding, towels.
03:36The Corps is only as old as the 2022 floods, yet they help up to 600 people a week. They're
03:43here for anyone in need, including the youngest members of the community.
03:49Wow, what a gathering. Yeah, welcome. Isn't it fantastic?
03:53There's a great energy and vibe here. Isn't it wonderful?
03:56I can feel it. It's like, whoa, hello. Look at all these flowers on here. Oh, as a buzzy
04:01bee, I'd go bzzz. Very close to their hearts is providing fresh
04:07food. So we know a lot of people around here are
04:10still doing it really tough. And fresh produce is the first thing that people usually cut
04:14off their shopping list when they're in financial hardship. So we like to help out with the
04:20weekly budget by putting together veggie bags for the community. And in the fridge behind
04:24us here, all of this produce was donated. And who's growing it?
04:29We have a lot of local gardeners who will just donate produce. But we also have seven
04:34families who we helped to build veggie gardens with last year. All those families were affected
04:39by the floods. And they obviously keep some of the produce for their family and the excess
04:46they share with us through the pantry here. And last year, we had over 900 kilos of homegrown
04:52produce donated to our food pantry. Whoa, that's outstanding.
04:57Yeah, it's a huge amount of fruit and vegetables that we've been able to distribute to the
05:01community. I love the fact that it's growing a gardening
05:05culture. Yeah, absolutely. I think the process of
05:08gardening is really where all the magic happens, you know.
05:12So the core is part pantry, but also part lounge room, and everyone feels at home. And
05:18there's a sense of momentum generated by Venetia and her partner, Joel.
05:25Hey, Joel. I hear you're starting up one of your new gardens today.
05:30Yeah, mate, and we're roping you into it. Throw the rope, I'm ready.
05:34Righto. So I know that you started these gardens as
05:37a response to the floods, but what's keeping it going? Where are you heading with it all?
05:44Well, look, I think what all of these activities that we've done have really been about is
05:49getting people together and social connection. Learning to grow food and getting new skills
05:54is really empowering to people. It's tactile, you've got beautiful smells, and then you
05:59end up with some great vegetables to eat at the end of the day.
06:01What do you reckon? Let's get into it.
06:03Okay. Here we go. Where are we heading?
06:06Just down the road. Beautiful.
06:15Volunteers from the core are already at work. We're in the backyard of core stalwart Nat
06:23Brew. The flood wiped out her previous garden and badly damaged her house. She only just
06:31moved back in. Look at the progress.
06:35I know. Exciting. What do you reckon?
06:37Yeah, it's happening so quick. Many hands make light work.
06:42Nat's new veg garden will be about five metres by four. A good layer of cardboard will keep
06:48the weeds and grass from poking through.
06:57So what have we got here, Tony? Some organic compost that we've made locally.
07:02It's a classic veggie garden recipe for success that the Wardell community have come to know
07:08and love. So Cassie, I believe that you've got one of these gardens at your place.
07:13I do, Costa. One of the seven. This will be the eighth today.
07:16Wow. Tell me a bit about it. What's it meant to you?
07:20What Joel and Venetia have done since building the core and building these gardens, to be
07:24able to share and have people to garden with, it's huge for our community spirit.
07:30For a disaster-affected town, these gardens are priceless therapy.
07:37It really brought the town to its knees, this flood.
07:48The kind of healing balm is just to be together and to kind of ride out this awful experience
07:54as a community. What we have heard over and over again is
07:59that people didn't know their neighbours before the floods. Now you see them in the streets
08:03sharing, caring, helping each other, mowing each other's lawns, coming next door to build
08:08gardens. And people are talking about gardening straight
08:15away, just a week after the flood. Gardening is just, you know, it's such a wonderful
08:23way for people to connect. It's been such a privilege to spend time
08:31with the core team here in Wardell. And gardening was the glue that's brought
08:39it all together. Hello!
09:01What's the difference between a light prune and a heavy or hard prune?
09:07We tend to use light pruning to gently reshape a plant or stimulate new growth.
09:13It's done to younger plant material and we use things like hedging shears or secateurs.
09:19Whereas with heavy or hard pruning, it's more drastic.
09:23We take more material away and cut into older, woody tissue.
09:28We do it less often and use things like loppers or pruning saws.
09:35I'm often asked, are there native palms that will grow indoors?
09:38There sure are. And probably the most popular house plant on the planet is an Australian
09:44native, Mackenzie Palm. Now it comes from Lord Howe Island.
09:48And they will tolerate low light and low humidity. Basically similar conditions to the average
09:54living room. Now they're quite small and slow growing.
09:57There's also other Australian palms that don't mind the great indoors.
10:02For example, the walking stick palm. They grow in rainforests from New South Wales
10:06up into Queensland and do well in a container in bright light.
10:10Now for palms, use a quality potting mix that'll hold moisture but also is well drained.
10:15Now you could even add some perlite for extra drainage. Around 10 to 20% to your mix is perfect.
10:22How deep should a raised garden bed be? Well, it depends on your needs.
10:27They can be anywhere between 20 and 60 centimetres deep.
10:31Taller beds are great for adults who can't bend over so easily, while short beds are
10:35perfect for kids. And if you're building a garden on top of
10:38concrete, unhealthy soils or just want to grow lots of root crops, then you're going
10:43to need at least 30 centimetres of growing space.
10:46Hey Cassie. Hi Costa.
10:54So this is the plot you were talking about? Yes, it's only 12 months old, Costa.
10:59Oh, look at this eggplant. A classic. This reminds me of my yaya's moussaka that
11:07never goes out of fashion. But some things do, even in the plant world.
11:13Now Jane's heading out to check out some of the latest garden looks.
11:26Have you ever wondered where these botanical marvels come from?
11:30Well, they come from many distant places before they come to Australia, where they go through
11:35rigorous testing just to make sure they suit our conditions.
11:40And then they arrive here in these trial gardens. It's a fantastic story.
11:48Today I'm venturing southeast of Melbourne to the suburb of Skye, where there's a wholesale
11:53plant grower which specialises in trialling and developing new plants.
12:01Gideon, what an amazing place. What's happening here?
12:04Well Jane, this is our trial gardens. This is where we invite customers from all over
12:08Australia. We have some international guests as well. And we show them a whole range of
12:13existing, experimental and new varieties raised from seed, or vegetatively produced, or plants
12:20that are grown from tissue culture. So they can walk around and see what they
12:23like? Yes.
12:24Now they buy from you, but customers don't? No, no, no.
12:27The ordinary plant people, the gardeners, don't come here to buy?
12:29No, no. We sell seed and we produce young plants and we sell to wholesale growers, who
12:34finish them off and they sell to the retailers, which is where the consumer will pick up the
12:38end product.
12:46As product manager, it's Gideon's job to stay across trends and demands and decide
12:51what products will be developed for the future market.
12:58What are you growing? We're growing mostly flowering annuals and
13:01flowering perennials, and we do some landscaping type lines like kangaroo paws.
13:05We've got this beautiful garden, but we really are a plant factory.
13:09And so what happens in the production house? In the production house, we have a range of
13:13production methods. We have seed production, we have a mother stock house where we produce
13:17cuttings, and we import a lot of tissue cultures from around the world. We plant them and sell
13:23them as a plug.
13:31These ones often come from distant lands?
13:40Almost everything that we do comes from overseas. We even have some Australian bread varieties
13:45which we source from overseas, because an overseas company has refined them or produced
13:49the seed. And we trial stuff in Australian conditions, because often you'll see something
13:53in Europe, which will be completely different in Europe than it is here. Like a large flowered
13:59pansy in Europe will be this big, but here, because of our light, it's only going to be
14:03quite small. So that's what we need to do to see how it works in our conditions.
14:08So how many varieties are you trialling? In this trial bed and every year, we have about
14:13750 varieties, individual varieties, and that's just a proportion of the 4,000 items that
14:18we carry.
14:19So out of those, how many would be wastage or just not be up to scratch?
14:24On the trialling material, probably about 30% of it doesn't suit us.
14:28Because of Australian conditions?
14:29Because of Australian conditions, or we have difficulty in growing it, it's difficult to
14:32produce. If it's vegetative, difficult to produce cuttings of, or it's expensive to
14:37produce cuttings of.
14:39What's a new cultivar that you really are excited about?
14:42I'm excited about some of the petunias. The Sky series, they're a breeding breakthrough
14:46in that the petals have little specks of white on them, like they've had paint splashed on
14:50them. So they're really interesting to look at.
14:52What about coleus? I remember growing them in my nursery days.
14:56Now there's a really broad range of beautiful foliage colours and patterns in coleus and
15:01that's a really exciting range for us.
15:06Even in the dazzling display gardens here, the plants are under trial to see how they're
15:11performing in the local growing conditions and their performance will be tracked through
15:16to the end of the season.
15:21So here you're breeding for compactness?
15:24Yes, you can see these are our bed of dahlias and many people will know dahlias as being
15:28these big tall things and you can see that this series is bred to be more compact, still
15:34with as many flowers, for someone who's got a smaller garden.
15:37So what other characteristics are you looking for?
15:40We're looking for what we call floriferousness, so that's many, many flowers.
15:44More flowers the better?
15:45More flowers the better and longevity of flower as well. So we don't want things that are
15:49going to flower and all be finished in two weeks. We want to get value for money for
15:53the gardener.
15:55The agaranthum is a really good example of a variety or a species that what we call buries
16:00its dead. So as the flowers age, it's pushing up new flowers and it's covering over those
16:06brown, ugly flowers.
16:07Those old ones, yeah.
16:08So you're not having to clean them. They're called self-cleaning, if you like.
16:11What about disease resistance?
16:13Disease resistance is very important to us because we don't want gardeners to get plants
16:18that have disease and drop dead and a really great example of breeding of disease resistance
16:23is our Impatience Beacon series. They will power through anything, all through summer,
16:28humidity, heat, they're just great.
16:30And look at the colours of them, they're just fantastic.
16:37There are so many qualities that we as home gardeners wouldn't even think of, but it's
16:42great to see how these plants are developed and tested to ensure the best products are
16:47coming to the market.
16:48Oh Gideon, this is a fragrance from heaven. I love basil.
16:52They're beautiful. This is a new series of basil called the Everleaf series and it's
16:56been bred, as you can see, to be quite tall but with a really strong stem and very late
17:01to flower. So the late flowering means the leaves retain their aroma and their flavour
17:06for much longer and it looks great in a big container.
17:09Go edible.
17:10Yes.
17:11Fantastic.
17:18I always think that colour is good for your emotions.
17:27It's absolutely true. There have been studies done in cities who do big landscape flowering
17:32displays. There's a reduction in littering, reduction in crime. People are happier. It's
17:38a proven fact that colour makes people happier.
17:41Yay!
17:42And you can see why.
17:43That's why you're good at your job. Full of colour.
17:45That's why I like my job.
17:48Music
17:56Breeding new varieties of plants takes real determination. These ones have been crafted
18:02with the gardener's needs in mind. Compactness, uniqueness and easy care. And they will make
18:09your garden shine.
18:11Music
18:21How do you control Erinose mite affecting a hibiscus? Well, this is an old hibiscus
18:28hedge. Most of the hibiscus we grow are like this. Hibiscus rosa sinensis. And Erinose
18:35mite happens to be the most disfiguring pest to affect this plant when it's grown outside
18:41the tropics. It's a minute seasonal pest that's easily identified by the evident damage when
18:48it's active over the warmer months. The symptoms are tumour-like growths on the leaves and
18:55stems. They look like melted wax. It's horrible. This hedge has a really bad case of hibiscus
19:03and I'm going to show you how to deal with it, which starts by timing your pruning. In
19:08winter, the mites are dormant. But when the weather really warms up, they start to feed
19:14and what they like is soft, tender, fresh new hibiscus leaves.
19:21By timing your pruning to spring, you encourage a fresh new growth of hibiscus leaves and
19:28they become sun-hardened before the hibiscus mites wake up and that frustrates their ability
19:35to feed.
19:38In Sydney, the consensus is to prune in September. In Brisbane, August.
19:46After pruning, spraying with wettable sulphur or lime sulphur will help curb the numbers.
19:52Make sure to wet both sides of the leaves, stems and trunk all the way down to the base.
19:59The mites love to lay eggs in crevices.
20:04For ongoing maintenance, prune off affected parts and put them in the bin.
20:10If you use the waste for mulch, spread it well away from your hibiscus.
20:15Now if you're considering planting a hibiscus, think about the position.
20:20These hibiscus have grown up underneath the shade of large trees.
20:25The sun never gets a chance to harden the foliage of these leaves,
20:30so Erin O's mite is going to be a persistent problem.
20:34Plant a hibiscus in full sun and that way the leaves will harden
20:39and you can frustrate these annoying pests.
20:45Knock knock.
20:46Hey Ash.
20:47Hey Costa.
20:48So this is your greenhouse?
20:50Yeah, this is where we grow all the seedlings for the community.
20:53Now we here at Gardening Australia reckon that anyone can grow something sensational
20:59no matter what size space they have.
21:02Let's catch up with Tammy now, who's visiting a creative cultivator
21:07with some smart solutions for tight spaces.
21:10I'm on my way to meet garden designer Peter Nixon,
21:13who's known for his plant-led garden style.
21:16He's been bringing his special touch to Sydney Gardens for over 40 years
21:20and I'm going to visit one of his cool projects
21:23where he's cleverly devised four green walls using subtropical plants.
21:27Can't wait.
21:30This garden is lovely.
21:32It's got a lot of greenery.
21:34It's got a lot of shade.
21:36Can't wait.
21:39This garden is located on a steeply sloped block in Sydney's north,
21:43a stone's throw from the CBD.
21:45Tammy.
21:46Hi Peter.
21:47Fancy seeing you here.
21:49Over the last two decades, Peter has transformed his client's Federation home,
21:53which is overlooked by towering offices,
21:56into a lush private oasis.
22:02Peter, I'm loving what I'm seeing so far.
22:05What was the client's vision for this space?
22:08Well, in the beginning it was really informed by the constraints of the site.
22:13So we knew that there was a huge towering office block
22:16on the other side of the lane
22:18and that was unfortunate because there were a lot of passive sight lines
22:21that went into the back garden.
22:26To maintain privacy, the clients wanted vertical gardens that had height,
22:30with plants that had a lot of contrasting colour and texture.
22:34They also wanted year-round interest.
22:37We're in cool subtropic Sydney,
22:39meaning that there's no frost, to speak of,
22:42and the minimum winter overnight would probably not drop below five or six.
22:47So the minute you step into that,
22:49there's a huge bandwidth of planting that you can grow.
22:52I could only ever show you just the tip of the iceberg
22:55and availability always comes into play,
22:57but, you know, I wouldn't let a small thing like that get in my way, Tammy.
23:01It was an open sky quality that the block had already
23:04and I didn't want to take that away.
23:08As you enter the back of the house,
23:10you're presented with a north-easterly or sheltered section
23:13of the double-sided green wall.
23:15On this green wall here,
23:17I've used Tradescantia pallida for the bright violet leaf
23:21and along the top line,
23:23we've used more sun-tolerant bromeliads
23:26like Bill Berger Amauena that has little windows in
23:29that's like a crushed strawberry colour.
23:31And for the very top,
23:33there's Acmea blanchetiana and combata
23:36with a thick, hard, leathery leaf that's very resistant.
23:39Sitting up there on the top of 4.5 metres of green wall,
23:42you're not going to be spared, are you?
23:44And although there's water that's running through the green wall,
23:47you still need to be able to keep your bromeliads upright
23:50so that they can catch the rain inside the cup.
23:53And I can see that you've actually got a couple of ferns throughout here.
23:57So even though this is a north-east aspect,
24:00these ferns are dealing with that heat.
24:02You can see how they're aggregating
24:04to the first metre or so of the vertical height.
24:07That's because there's more water
24:09that tends to be near the bottom of the panel.
24:11And ferns are a bit moisture-dependent.
24:13They only have a very primitive root system.
24:15It's not terribly efficient.
24:17But they think that they're growing on a rock face
24:19with water running through it.
24:21So really about recreating its natural environment.
24:24That's right.
24:27So they're just trying to replicate
24:29what would be the growing condition in habitat
24:31so then the plant can do it for you.
24:34Speaking to textural contrast,
24:36you might choose some Rhipsalis species like this one here.
24:39That's going to contrast with Colaria eryantha.
24:43That way then, even before the flowers come,
24:45you've got interest over the whole year
24:47rather than having to rely just on the flowers that come and go.
24:51And so do you also have to consider, I guess,
24:53the feeding needs of these plants when putting them all together?
24:56Good question.
24:58So there is an irrigation system
25:00that runs through the central manifold of each panel
25:02and they're all joined together.
25:04And there's an injector fertiliser
25:06that goes into the water that feeds the wall.
25:10Now that we've discovered
25:12what plants are on this side of the double green wall,
25:14let's take a look at the flip side.
25:17So we've entered the other side now.
25:19What's different about this side?
25:21So vastly different
25:23because now we're held up
25:25by the hot north-west.
25:27So that still holds true
25:29for the very top of the green wall
25:31and all of those plants up there
25:33have to tolerate high exposure
25:35in very roasting radiation.
25:37As you get further and further south
25:39on the green wall,
25:41what's happened is over the last four or five years
25:43the camellias have expanded on both sides
25:45and they've made a little microclimate
25:47between that holds
25:49the midpoint of the green wall in.
25:51And you might notice
25:53what striptocarpus caulescens,
25:55the little nodding violet,
25:57that's drifted down the green wall
25:59into more shelter.
26:01You've got the striptocarpus weaving in
26:03with the epiphyllum chrysocardium.
26:05So that's the big golden heart
26:07jungle cactus that flowers at night.
26:09But it's also drifting a little bit further
26:11down the green wall.
26:13Seeking more shade.
26:15To get away from the really harsh scorch
26:17that would be at the top of the wall.
26:19From the double-sided green wall
26:22a Brazilian-inspired checkerboard wall.
26:26Peter, I love this one.
26:28The colour, it just speaks to me.
26:30It's a statement maker, isn't it?
26:32Its prime function is
26:34once you've made it out of the house
26:36that you look at this
26:38on a slightly higher level.
26:40So it works off negative space
26:42being painted out
26:44and then planted space which comes forward.
26:46So it's working actually on textural contrast.
26:48That's why we call it
26:51a matrix checkerboard.
26:53Each one is a mini green wall
26:55and the irrigation is linked
26:57at the corner points.
26:59You might notice that quite a few
27:01of the plantings are peperomia
27:03which is an indoor technique.
27:05I've mostly seen them indoor.
27:07I haven't seen them planted out like this.
27:09That's right.
27:11The reason why they're outside
27:13that they're growing out here at all
27:15this whole aspect is dead south.
27:17In the summer when the shade shrinks
27:19most of this is cast into the heat
27:21in the hot afternoon sun.
27:23So you've got maiden heifer
27:25and peperomia thriving in the heat.
27:27Tell me your secret.
27:29When you grow them epithetically like this
27:31you're tricking the plant into thinking
27:33it's growing on a rock face
27:35with water dripping through.
27:37The minute you do that
27:39it makes the plant very resilient to heat.
27:41The only thing with it is
27:43you need to cut to shape
27:45and if you don't then it's all going to merge together
27:47In the growing period
27:49probably once every 5 to 7 weeks
27:51you need to get the head shears out.
27:53It's not a dainty job
27:55you just cut it any old way
27:57short back and sides, cut the front off
27:59and then you'll have this springy cut surface
28:01which will then flush
28:03with new growth.
28:05We've got another green wall.
28:07One more green wall to show you.
28:09Let's have a look.
28:11Peter, we've barely
28:13walked 20 steps from the last green wall
28:15but this one is so different.
28:17Really we've just crossed
28:19one side of the back garden to the other
28:21but oh so vive la
28:23difference. Over there
28:25is harsh west held up to the hot
28:27sun in the summer and here
28:29is tall south
28:31meaning that in the winter
28:33no sun at all. So that means
28:35that you have to change the plant selection
28:37to suit for the growing condition.
28:39When the summer comes
28:41a lot of these things will have
28:43intense but brief sun.
28:45We also wanted to try and reduce
28:47the maintenance. People might think
28:49oh well I'll just put some pots there
28:51but it puts all the onus
28:53on them to keep the water up, to keep the nutrition
28:55up. It's actually quite hard work.
28:57What you could do instead
28:59is have a series of flat back
29:01half baskets
29:03and you could populate them with epiphytes
29:05that think they're growing on a tree.
29:07So they're in flat back
29:09baskets so they obviously sit flush
29:11against the water. That's right.
29:13In the beginning you can see all the individual
29:15planting but if you part the foliage you'll see
29:17that there's baskets there that are just
29:19growing one under the other so they're dripping to each other.
29:21Peter we've
29:23seen four very different
29:25wars but it's quite clear that plant
29:27selection is crucial. It's really
29:29really crucial. Unless you
29:31make the selection close enough to the growing
29:33condition then the poor plant
29:35will fail and no plant wants to fail
29:37Tammy. That's right.
29:39No one wants to die.
29:45I'm just getting some shots
29:47of this checkerboard wall for some home
29:49inspo. I'm loving the Brazilian
29:51vibe. If you've got some tight
29:53spaces or want some privacy
29:55then consider a green wall like
29:57these because you too can create your
29:59own living tapestry full of lush
30:01tropical plants.
30:03Still
30:07to come on Gardening Australia
30:09Sophie takes a moment
30:11to savour the sweetest garden
30:13scents.
30:15We meet a couple who have
30:17dedicated decades to one of
30:19the world's favourite flowers
30:21the daffodil.
30:23And I know you've missed
30:25it over winter. It's your
30:27list of jobs for the weekend.
30:33There's
30:35no denying that at this time of the
30:37year things start to stir.
30:39As the temperature in the
30:41air and the ground starts to heat
30:43up it's time to get
30:45busy. And for Millie
30:47this moment is all about
30:49the long game.
30:51Music
31:01Right now in this
31:03cool temperate climate veggie garden
31:05lots of plants are slowly
31:07waking up. But
31:09frost is still on the agenda
31:11and the vigour and abundance
31:13of the warmer weather is still a few
31:15months away.
31:17But if you can hack that delayed
31:19satisfaction it's the best thing
31:21about productive gardening.
31:23And there are some long season crops
31:25that can go in now.
31:27Music
31:31One of the traps of being
31:33on television is that people
31:35often think that you can grow just
31:37about anything. And the truth is
31:39I will have a go at doing that but
31:41like everyone at home I don't always
31:43succeed. And one thing I've had
31:45a lot of trouble with in this heavy ground
31:47is growing a really good crop
31:49of a simple old thing, spuds.
31:51So this year I'm planning
31:53an experimental solution.
31:55I'm
31:57preparing a flat area at the bottom of the
31:59slope of the garden. This is where the
32:01drain takes any excess water
32:03and nutrients from the vegetable patch.
32:05Music
32:09I want to grow
32:11the spuds in a soilless
32:13solution because that heavy
32:15basalt clay is full of nutrients
32:17and it holds moisture really well
32:19but at times it is too much.
32:21So I'm actually going to grow directly
32:23in these straw bales. Now they
32:25are a fantastic way to get growing
32:27almost instantly. You add a little bit of
32:29nutrients and some
32:31biology in here and over time
32:33as they moisten they become a great
32:35growing environment. So I've
32:37just got to get them in place.
32:39Music
32:41The bales go on
32:43their sides with the cut ends exposed.
32:45Music
32:47Music
32:49I'm using
32:51a couple of stakes to secure them into
32:53place.
32:55And then back
32:57filling around the edges so that the
32:59bales are buried by about a quarter.
33:01Now these bales
33:03are essentially just dry carbon
33:05so to create a really good growing environment
33:07you do have to add some things. Now
33:09ideally you could leave them out in the weather, let the
33:11chooks peck on them and poo on them for a couple of months
33:13they'd be absolutely ready to go.
33:15But in my case I've got to add that
33:17moisture and the nutrients.
33:19So I'm just going to use the stake to poke
33:21a few holes in, add a bit of organic
33:23fertiliser. I'm going to soak them through
33:25and then they'll be ready to plant.
33:27Music
33:29Music
33:31Music
33:33Music
33:35When it comes
33:37to planting potatoes it's really
33:39important that you source
33:41disease free seed. They just look like
33:43normal potatoes but they ensure
33:45that you won't introduce any diseases into
33:47the garden because potato diseases can be
33:49impossible to get rid of.
33:51I love this one, this is Nicola, I love to
33:53eat it, it's great for anything, baking
33:55chips, I love a waxy mash
33:57it's quite a yellow waxy potato.
33:59I was chatting to
34:01a commercial potato grower one day and he said
34:03to me, this variety
34:05takes about half as much water
34:07as a lot of the other popular
34:09varieties to produce a crop.
34:11Which means it's fantastic for the kitchen
34:13but it's also a great variety
34:15for the home gardener.
34:17When it comes
34:19to planting potatoes it's actually
34:21quite a simple thing to do, you just
34:23need to put them in the ground. This is
34:25an amazing little compressed
34:27stem, you've got a whole plant in here
34:29and all of these little eyes
34:31that shoot in the back of the cupboard are those
34:33growing points. Now you can put
34:35the whole spud in the ground and it'll grow
34:37away. Some growers will thin to make sure
34:39you've just got a couple of those growing points ready
34:41to go and you'll get a really strong result
34:43but you can also get
34:45even more value if you've got the space from
34:47your seed spuds by actually cutting
34:49them, making sure there's a couple of eyes on
34:51each and you can plant the pieces.
34:55Potatoes are incredibly hungry
34:57plants so they need to be spaced
34:59well. In the ground you might
35:01go about 50 centimetres between
35:03spuds and a metre between rows
35:05but here I'm putting two to each bale.
35:07I'm also sneaking one
35:09into each crack.
35:19I'm just packing a bit of
35:21compost in above
35:23the potatoes
35:25but also over the bales and
35:27in those seams to stop any light getting
35:29in but also to provide
35:31nutrients. So I'm going to continually feed
35:33them as they grow up.
35:35You should see the tops of potatoes
35:37come through in about
35:39three or four weeks and
35:41then they're going to continue to grow up and the spuds
35:43will form around that original
35:45tuber inside the bales.
35:47Then hopefully by the end of
35:49summer I should be able to cut that baling twine,
35:51harvest a stack of spuds
35:53and get all that
35:55rotten straw to put on the garden as well.
36:02Another little tuber
36:04that I want to plant out this year
36:06is this. It's known as
36:08ochre or some people call it
36:10New Zealand yam and it's a type of
36:12oxalis actually, related to the weeds.
36:14It's oxalis tuberosa
36:16but they are in fact an edible
36:18tuber. I'm going to put them into
36:20pots and then grow them on
36:22into larger containers because they're not
36:24as invasive as the weeds
36:26but I still want to keep them quite contained.
36:28I'm going to start with a smallish pot
36:30and then I'll pot it into bigger containers
36:32as they shoot away.
36:34I usually just fill
36:36about halfway
36:38and then something like this, obviously
36:40which way is up, even
36:42with a seed if you don't know which way to sow
36:44it, putting it on its side gives it
36:46ample opportunity to shoot
36:48wherever it wants to.
36:50As they grow
36:52they'll fill these little pots out
36:54probably in about three or four weeks and then I'll
36:56pot them on into a much larger container
36:58or they could go out in the garden
37:00and then they'll go right through the warmer
37:02months and once those
37:04frosts start to hit again at the
37:06other side as we're heading
37:08into winter, that's when I'll be able to dig
37:10up these little tubers, harvest plenty
37:12for the kitchen and keep a few
37:14for replanting again next season.
37:28Another flavour
37:30that I want to put in the ground
37:32are these beautiful little shallots
37:34and they're such a sweet
37:36and subtle onion.
37:38They're quite small these, I got them from another
37:40gardener. I'm hoping they'll get slightly
37:42larger over the years but
37:44they are part of the group of onions that
37:46multiply underground.
37:48So you plant one of these and
37:50hopefully I'll get half a dozen or so
37:52at the other end of the season.
37:54Preparation for planting any
37:56Preparation for planting any alliums
37:58that is onions, is the same.
38:00They need a weed free, well
38:02drained bed. Whatever you do
38:04avoid over fertilising, so
38:06no fresh manures. It just
38:08leads to soft sappy growth and rot.
38:10So instead, I'm
38:12just putting on a layer of my own
38:14homemade compost.
38:18To plant these, it's pretty
38:20simple. Not unlike garlic
38:22but I'm going to sit them above the ground
38:24and not below. Now as I work
38:26through, I'll sort out any
38:28that have gone dry or soft
38:30in storage and only
38:32plant the healthiest bulbs.
38:34So you just really
38:36nestle them into the
38:38soil surface. The worst thing
38:40that you can do for a bulb onion
38:42like this is rot them by covering
38:44them with soil. And so I'm going to plant
38:46them about 20 centimetres apart.
38:48You could measure it, like I have a measurement
38:50on this knife, but I've actually worked out
38:52that my hand span is a bit
38:54over 20 centimetres. So that works
38:56perfectly for planting things like this.
39:04You can see that they are really just
39:06sitting essentially on top of the soil.
39:08I don't want them to stay wet.
39:10But up there they are a risk of
39:12being pecked out by
39:14birds. They're going to love this freshly
39:16composted soil, but also
39:18from being completely frosted. So
39:20I'm going to put a frame over the top
39:22and then put a bit of a frost cover
39:24over the top of that and I'll leave it there
39:26until they've solidly got their roots
39:28in the ground. They're happily growing
39:30away and then it can come off and they
39:32can enjoy that warm summer sun.
39:40It really is such an exciting
39:42time in the garden. Of course,
39:44that really abundant season
39:46is still a little way off, but
39:48by playing the long game, you can plant
39:50lots of things now that are
39:52going to fill the table with flavour
39:54down the track. I hope you have a great
39:56weekend in the garden.
40:02Tony, is this
40:04where some of the best Wardell compost
40:06is being created? Totally.
40:08You should have a smell
40:10of it, Cos. Oh.
40:12For me, there's nothing better
40:14than the smell of good compost.
40:16But for Sophie, it's all about
40:18the best of the winter blooms.
40:20Take it away, Soph.
40:22Tony, what do you do with this compost?
40:28Every moment in the garden
40:30reveals something very special.
40:32And while for some, this time of
40:34year can feel like we're waiting for the truly
40:36spectacular show to start,
40:38it's also filled with its own
40:40seasonal wonders.
40:42Many of the most beautiful
40:44winter flowers also have the
40:46richest fragrance, the tool they
40:48use to attract their specific insect
40:50pollinator. In the warmer weather,
40:52flowers are big and showy,
40:54so they can compete with each other for pollinators.
40:56But in the cooler weather,
40:58flowers are subtle and sweet.
41:00Bees are
41:02less active in the cooler weather,
41:04and that's when moths, flies and
41:06beetles are critical pollinators.
41:08So many of the winter flowers have
41:10evolved to attract them.
41:14When it comes
41:16to scent, almost everyone
41:18hails Queen Daphne. One tiny
41:20sprig of flower clusters
41:22can scent a whole room.
41:24The most grown species is the evergreen
41:26Daphne odora from China.
41:28But there are about 50 other
41:30species of evergreen and deciduous
41:32shrubs.
41:34Many people have loved and lost
41:36Daphne, and they've got a reputation for
41:38being temperamental, but in the right
41:40position, they're remarkably hardy.
41:42They want morning sun and
41:44protection from the hot afternoon
41:46sun, and they need to be kept in
41:48consistently moist,
41:50but well-drained soil. They hate
41:52wet feet. They also
41:54prefer acid soil, so if you've got
41:56alkaline soil, make sure you grow them in a pot.
41:58And finally, when you are growing
42:00them, enjoy them. Pick sprigs
42:02and put them inside, because
42:04it's a great way to prune your plants.
42:06The pink
42:08Daphne odora has a sweet
42:10clove scent, but the white form
42:12has a hint of lemon.
42:14If you're looking for a Daphne
42:16but you haven't got the TLC
42:18tendencies, or you haven't got the perfect
42:20spot, there is an option.
42:22This is a cultivar called Daphne
42:24Eternal Fragrance, and it's pretty
42:26much bomb-proof. It'll take
42:28full sun or shade,
42:30it'll tolerate dry conditions,
42:32it will thrive in most soil types,
42:34and, as its name suggests,
42:36it virtually flowers all year round
42:38with that delicious sweet clove scent.
42:52Eduovia chrysantha is also
42:54in bloom. Some call it yellow Daphne,
42:56but it's not one.
42:58Its actual common name is paperbush,
43:00as its bark was used traditionally
43:02in its native Japan to create
43:04washi paper. It's such an
43:06elegant plant, producing its
43:08clusters of yellow flowers on
43:10bare branch tips. And while the
43:12flowers are specky, the grey-green
43:14foliage is equally attractive,
43:16making it worth a spot in lots
43:18of situations.
43:23If large sweet blooms are your thing,
43:25then Liculia is a fantastic
43:27genus.
43:29With lush, large, vibrant leaves,
43:31they add a tropical feel to a temperate
43:33garden.
43:37Deciduous magnolias
43:39certainly produce some of the most
43:41spectacular blooms at this time of year,
43:43but they also have a lovely scent.
43:45It's quite sweet,
43:47with a bit of spice and a bit of lemon
43:49in there.
43:51If you're after
43:53a full face of fragrance,
43:55the evergreen magnolias,
43:57which were previously in the genus
43:59Michelia, are some of the best.
44:01Most of the flowers are
44:03in full bloom,
44:06Most produce their flowers on old wood,
44:08which makes them perfect plants for hedging.
44:10You can remove new growth
44:12and shape them without losing
44:14the flowers. They are truly
44:16sensational plants.
44:23Late winter is a time to savour
44:25and treasure all the blooms,
44:27before the fast-paced frenzy of the
44:29warmer weather kicks in.
44:31So take a deep breath and
44:33relax. You mightn't be able to smell
44:35the roses, but there's so much
44:37more to enjoy.
44:49Daffodils are such a
44:51joyous flower. In cooler
44:53climates worldwide, they're
44:55a ray of sunshine at the
44:57end of winter, and to many
44:59they're also a symbol of hope.
45:01Our next story is with
45:03a couple who have dedicated
45:05decades to this
45:07iconic bloom.
45:23A daffodil's the complete package.
45:25When you buy a daffodil,
45:27it's there, you plant it,
45:29it has leaves, flowers,
45:31it does the whole thing. Whether you can be
45:33a good gardener or a bad gardener,
45:35the plant will still grow and flower.
45:39My name's Will Ashburner and
45:41I work at Hancock's Daffodils
45:43in Menzies Creek, Victoria.
45:47I'm Christine Ashburner.
45:49Nothing says
45:51spring really like daffodils.
45:55Hancock's bulb started when
45:57the founder, Harry Brown,
45:59did the first crosses in 1917,
46:01so I guess that makes us 106
46:03years old. And then
46:05he sold the business in
46:071946 to Norman
46:09Hancock and his wife, Beryl.
46:11We purchased it in 2000.
46:15It's about 18 hectares.
46:17We're sort of basically on the
46:19edge of a mountain ash rainforest,
46:21so on the edge of the Dandenongs,
46:23and we have the forest
46:25drifts into our property
46:27along the creek, and we have paddocks
46:29on both sides of the creek which we cultivate
46:31with lovely, rich, deep
46:33mountain soil. We have
46:35a high rainfall of about 1200
46:37millimetres a year.
46:39Daffodils love rain. They love water.
46:43We lift about 60 tonnes
46:45of daffodils and we replant 20
46:47every two years.
46:49Some of the big bulbs and some of the small bulbs.
46:51We might sell 100,000 bulbs a year maybe.
46:55I had
46:57this fabulous childhood.
46:59I grew up at Stomps Creek Fish Hatchery
47:01just outside of Eildon.
47:03It's a government-run fish hatchery.
47:05They grew trout for distribution
47:07around the streams, and my father
47:09worked as a scientist for
47:11fisheries and wildlife.
47:13We spent a whole childhood
47:15there, and we had places to
47:17ride our bikes, explore,
47:19bush all around us.
47:21Absolutely perfect. And that's where
47:23I got my interest in plants and animals.
47:25Then I went to Burnley
47:27in 1980.
47:29Loved it. I loved every
47:31minute of it. But also
47:33it gave me an opportunity to
47:35join the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria, which
47:37had always been my aim.
47:39And we met other people
47:41along the way. I met Christine that way.
47:43Well, having always been interested
47:45in plants, so I
47:47studied at Monash, did
47:49my degree there, and I
47:51ended up working there. So I was
47:53at Monash nearly for 20 years in the
47:55Botany Department.
47:57Our roles, basically
47:59I do the practical
48:01heavy stuff, fix things,
48:03make sure the crop's planted.
48:05And Chris tends
48:07to do the customer service,
48:09organising the
48:11retail side of things.
48:13But our jobs sort of overlap
48:15a lot too, and we do share
48:17a lot of those things as well.
48:19I'm taking photos because
48:21we need uniform
48:23pictures of the daffodils
48:25so they can be compared to each other for our
48:27catalogues.
48:29The catalogues
48:31and the webpages
48:33are important because we don't only
48:35have people visiting us, we also
48:37supply our bulbs and mail order.
48:39I think
48:41people often really are only aware of
48:43the yellow varieties.
48:45So I'm always amazed myself at just how
48:47variable they are.
48:49But I must say, I do like the frilly ones, the doubles
48:51and the ones with lovely
48:53frilly rims.
48:55These sort of bright ones too, they're just so
48:57eye-catching in the garden.
49:01This patch of
49:03flowers we're in now is my
49:05patch. These are seedlings,
49:07these are ones I've selected
49:09from crosses I've done
49:11in the past, and then
49:13multiply them up and
49:15at the moment I'm
49:17assessing them to see which ones I think
49:19should make in the catalogue. One of the
49:21criteria I'm looking
49:23for is vigour, so
49:25hopefully they'll do well in people's gardens and be
49:27suited to our climate.
49:29The only way you can do that is to grow them out
49:31for a while and just watch them and make sure they're doing
49:33the right thing.
49:35Daffodils lend
49:37themselves to crossbreeding because
49:39they have a lot of variation, which is
49:41something a breeder likes to see.
49:43They like to have
49:45something to select from.
49:47Also, a neat thing is that
49:49we don't have any natural pollinators of daffodils
49:51so they don't actually set seed by themselves
49:53or very rarely do.
49:55If you do a cross, you know
49:57that that cross is what you
49:59expect it to be, whereas if they
50:01self-pollinate it, then you have
50:03a lot more trouble.
50:05When you do the cross,
50:07it takes three to four years before you
50:09see a flower, and then you're probably
50:11waiting another 10 years before you
50:13have enough bulbs to sell.
50:15Along the way,
50:17some don't make it. I'm probably
50:19expecting about 10%
50:21will be saleable.
50:23These are all
50:25ones I've hybridised myself, and
50:27they exhibit all the different characteristics
50:29of classification
50:31of daffodils.
50:33We've got Division 1
50:35and we go all the way to Division
50:3713, so 13 different ways of
50:39classifying a daffodil.
50:41That's to do with shape
50:43and then
50:45the next way of classifying
50:47is by colour.
50:49This one here is a
50:51Division 1. It's called trumpet
50:53daffodil, and if you measure the
50:55trumpet and the petals, you'll
50:57find the trumpet is
50:59longer than the petals.
51:01Division 4
51:03for doubles, that's pretty obvious
51:05what that is. The doubles
51:07just have a flower that no
51:09longer looks like a daffodil because
51:11it's doubled up in the
51:13centre.
51:15Division 8 are the tazetas
51:17and they are a multi-headed one.
51:19Division 10
51:21are the hooped petticoats.
51:23They are quite
51:25different from daffodils.
51:27They still have the
51:29corona or cup, which is
51:31unique to daffodils,
51:33but their petals have been
51:35reduced to
51:37quite small appendages.
51:39Division 13
51:41is a
51:43catch-all for the species.
51:45We've got tazeta,
51:47which is a true
51:49species, and
51:51this is a single flower one, but
51:53normally it's multi-flowered
51:55and could have a sweet scent
51:57because we've got so many different varieties.
51:59We've got them all labelled and
52:01we want them to stay where they are and
52:03let me know that when we come to
52:05dig them in summer, that's where
52:07they are because
52:09when a daffodil gets lifted it doesn't have its name
52:11on it, so you've got to be really careful about
52:13keeping the names right.
52:15It certainly can be quite hard
52:17at times, especially when the weather's
52:19wet and muddy and you're
52:21out there, but also
52:23digging through the summertime, you've got to
52:25dig the bulbs in the middle of summer
52:27when it's December,
52:29hot and dusty work. A lot of heavy work
52:31lifting sacks of daffodils and
52:33crepes, so there's always something
52:35to do. It just blows
52:37me away and I just think, I did this.
52:39How did I do this?
52:41Just by every day,
52:43doing what we're doing today, just
52:45looking, crossing, selecting,
52:47picking,
52:49and I just, I can't believe
52:51I've done this. It's just 20 years' work.
52:53I'm still pleased to be
52:55out here looking at them.
53:01I know,
53:03I know, I know.
53:05Since I've been away,
53:07you've had way too much
53:09spare time, but never fear
53:11because we are here
53:13with your...
53:15Jobs for the weekend!
53:17Get busy!
53:23Cool-tempered
53:25gardeners, it's time to sow carrots
53:27into light, fluffy, well-prepared
53:29soil. Sow seeds direct
53:31or use seed tape and you'll be
53:33chomping on baby carrots from
53:35October. Spring bulbs
53:37like daffodils and jonquils
53:39have begun flowering, so
53:41pick a few to enjoy inside.
53:43Add a little apple cider vinegar
53:45to the vase to prolong the life
53:47of your cut flowers.
53:49Bearing masses of bright purple
53:51pea-shaped flowers now is
53:53hardened berger violacea.
53:55This tough native climber loves
53:57full sun and well-drained soil
53:59and is just perfect for hiding
54:01fences.
54:03Warm-tempered gardeners find
54:05a glasshouse, hothouse or warm
54:07windowsill and sow early
54:09tomato seeds. Best
54:11varieties to plant now are
54:13KY1, Roma, Apollo
54:15and Rouge de Marmont.
54:17Sure, it's still winter, but
54:19now's the time to plant summer
54:21and autumn flowering bulbs and
54:23tubers like cannas,
54:25dahlias, liliums,
54:27hippiastrum, tuberose
54:29and narines. To promote
54:31a spring flush, remove spent
54:33blooms on azaleas and camellias
54:35as new growth buds occur
54:37behind the flowers. Follow
54:39this with a feed of azalea and
54:41camellia fertilizer.
54:43In the subtropics, show summer
54:45flowering shrubs some love
54:47with a prune. Pruning and shaping
54:49a boutelon, bohemia and
54:51rutcha now will promote fab
54:53floriferous growth and a stunning
54:55summer show. Rejuvenate
54:57dull daylilies. Grab
54:59a garden fork, gently lift clumps
55:01from the ground, tease roots
55:03and split the clumps. Replant
55:05into prepared soil and they'll
55:07bounce away as the weather warms.
55:09If you dream of homegrown
55:11watermelon to enjoy over summer,
55:13find a sunny spot and sow
55:15seeds now into compost-rich
55:17soil. These marvellous melons
55:19take a while, but they're well worth
55:21the wait. In tropical gardens,
55:23tomato harvesting is in
55:25full swing and if you find yourself
55:27with a glut, why not look at making
55:29some pickles, preserves,
55:31sauces and semi-dried snacks
55:33from your homegrown goodies.
55:35It's time to make way for summer
55:37crops. Continue to strip
55:39spent winter veggies from garden
55:41beds as they start to lose vigour
55:43or bolt to seed and pop them
55:45into the compost. As you strip
55:47out beds, do a pH test
55:49adding garden limes to beds
55:51that have a pH of less than 7
55:53and gypsum to beds that have
55:55a pH of over 7.
55:57Arid gardeners get spring crops
55:59like leeks, spring onions and peas
56:01into the ground. Ensure
56:03soil is cultivated with some
56:05compost added and keep an eye out
56:07for pesky slugs and snails.
56:09For some spring and summer colour,
56:11why not plant some awesome annuals.
56:13Petunias and vincas are good to go
56:15now as are marigolds,
56:17a colourful companion in the veggie patch.
56:19Mangelin,
56:21eucalyptus miniata and
56:23gravillia torretifolia are
56:25flowering now, signifying the
56:27cool, dry, working
56:29season for the Kumwingjigoo people
56:31of Western Arnhem Land.
56:33Get out there this weekend gardeners,
56:35there's so much to do
56:37at this time of the year.
56:39Need even more inspiration? Head to the
56:41GA YouTube channel for tons
56:43of tips and tricks.
56:47Well,
56:51what a great week to be back
56:53and the good news is you can
56:55enjoy us from now right
56:57through until Christmas
56:59and we've got so much good
57:01stuff growing for you.
57:03But for this week, that's it
57:05and from me and everyone
57:07here at Wardell, happy
57:09gardening.
57:11Is your grapevine giving you grief?
57:13Well I've got a grafting technique to share.
57:15One where you can keep your old rootstock
57:17and increase your fruit production.
57:21I'm visiting one of
57:23Victoria's most renowned market gardens
57:25to learn some secrets
57:27and see all of that skill it takes
57:29to produce some spectacular
57:31vegetables.
57:33And there's a lot more to a garden
57:35than plants. I'm taking
57:37a look at what happens when native
57:39bees and other beneficial insects
57:41become a gardener's
57:43priority.