Gardening Australia 2024 Episode 28: Thrive in Spring
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Oh
00:30Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia. I'm here at Mount Coot-tha savouring some
00:40of the best horticulture beautiful Brisbane has to offer. But it's not the only treasure
00:46on this week's show. We've got plenty of jewels coming your way. Here's what's in store.
00:55I'm in my happy place. A garden I could get lost in whilst discovering all of its hidden
01:01delights. Spring is such an exciting time of the year. There's so many flowers, lots
01:07of fragrance and of course food to harvest. But it's also a great time to get planting.
01:13And I'm going to show you what to get in the ground now for the weeks, months and year
01:17ahead. I'm going to show you a new development in the fight against the most notorious Queenslander
01:24of all time, the cane toad. This garden is a treasure trove of rare and unusual plants
01:32from beautiful flowering bulbs to tiny alpines and heat loving perennials. It's a garden
01:38that I can't wait to show you. I'm in Kedron, one of Brisbane's northern suburbs and it's
01:54home to Mount Alvernia College, a Catholic secondary girls school founded in 1956. 950
02:04turn up each day to hit the books here. This school has put the garden front and centre.
02:12Where did the garden begin? It began in 2014 as part of an overall refurbishment of the college.
02:21We were really looking to ensure that we had a beautiful garden, La Foresta,
02:25that really reflected our Franciscan heritage. Sam Jensen has been the school principal here
02:31since 2021. So what are the main elements here of the garden and its design? It is a place of
02:39learning. It's a place of atmosphere, reflection. It's productive. We have 20 garden beds which
02:46deliver us delicious fruit and vegetables, including tropical fruit, because we are in
02:50Queensland. And how's it engaging with the students and the staff? The students come here to use it
02:58for science lessons, for art lessons. It's a place for staff to escape their marking and it
03:06really is serving our community beautifully. Surrounded on three sides by the school's
03:12buildings, the architecture complements the garden. Curved archways, lime-washed walls,
03:19sandstone paths and olive groves feel more like you're in a Tuscan monastery than suburban Brisbane.
03:29What was your initial outlook for the garden? I really decided then and there that we didn't need
03:38a college gardener. We needed a curator of gardens. Garden curator David Pratt landed that role in
03:462022. What does your role entail here in the garden? Look, it goes all the way from the most
03:54basics of gardening through to communication, engagement with the students and essentially
04:01managing the biggest classroom in the school. Any one time there might be two, three, four,
04:09five classes all doing disparate activities. There might be art classes, hospitality classes,
04:15science classes, all interacting with the garden, learning, enjoying. What are you actually growing
04:23in the garden? Good old basil, parsley, dill, coriander, spring onions, tomatoes,
04:31all the peas, beans as well and citrus. Lots of citrus, lots of cauliflower, we've got broccoli,
04:37we've got some lovely cabbages coming on as well. We're sticking to a lot of staples. Kids are
04:42familiar with them. We want them to engage with them easily. They get used all the time whether
04:48it be in like a chain or our cafe or with the food tech rooms. So how do you go about
04:59engaging the girls with the garden space? It's their garden and they take ownership.
05:06Students can participate in everything from plant propagation to planting out the garden
05:12and daily maintenance with David. What are some of the jobs that you do when you come out?
05:18We like helping with the chickens and planting different plants.
05:23Are there any jobs that you maybe don't like doing or is it?
05:27Going near the chickens. I'm not a chicken person.
05:31Who looks after the chooks? Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave.
05:36And Hannes. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
05:38How important are the chickens in the garden community?
05:41They're the most important ambassadors to our garden. They're a really integral part of our
05:46composting cycle, our waste management cycle. The kids are down here all the time
05:51cuddling the chooks, learning what it's like to have a chicken and
05:57understanding their nuances and likes and dislikes.
06:03Classes in hospitality and food tech take a deeper level of interaction with the garden.
06:09Food tech students source produce, then design their menus around what's available.
06:16What are some of the main things you like using from the garden?
06:20The lemons, definitely. Yeah, they're good, really good, seasonal wise.
06:24What's the garden taught you?
06:25It's taught me how to be calm in a situation and sometimes like if I'm anxious, I will like
06:32pretend the garden's around me and stuff. You know, it's like just nice to have that like centre
06:38in the school.
06:40This is the lungs of the school. It's where people come to breathe because they're
06:45a bit overwhelmed, a bit anxious. They need to retreat and re-engage.
06:50Sometimes you just need to unwind a little bit and just come out here and take a break.
06:59I think it's just good to get out of the classroom setting,
07:01just enjoy a bit of sun and actually focus in a different environment.
07:06The school also runs a community giveaway program called Grow It Forward.
07:12They're a gift from the garden. We'll grow it forward.
07:16Veggie seedlings and produce grown in the garden
07:19are given away by the students out the front of the school.
07:25And it's an opportunity for us to share with our community
07:28the wonderful produce that comes from the garden.
07:31Schools are faced with lots of choices about what to spend the precious money on,
07:35so it was a choice to invest in a beautiful space like this,
07:39which operates both educationally as an outdoor learning classroom,
07:43but similarly as a place of well-being and contemplation and really, yeah, good mental health.
07:50School is like the second home to me and I think the garden,
07:53it's the first thing you see when you walk into the gates.
07:55You know, everyone feels a sense of home and they love Mount A so much
07:59because of the garden and because of how it makes you feel.
08:05Is it dangerous to eat apple seeds?
08:13Apples, hawthorns and other fruit seeds contain amygdalin,
08:17a compound made of cyanide and sugar, which is turned into cyanide when chewed and ingested.
08:23But don't worry, you have to eat around 150 to a few thousand of them,
08:28all crushed up very thoroughly and ingested to have any adverse effects.
08:35What is plant blindness?
08:38Plant blindness is a term used to describe some people
08:42who overlook or underappreciate the plants in their environment.
08:47This term was coined by botanists in 1998 and it's used to describe how some people
08:54will suddenly notice animals or other features of the environment at the expense of plants.
09:01Plant blindness can have consequences for plant conservation
09:05because some people underestimate the value of plants in the ecosystem and in our world.
09:12What is a lignituber?
09:14Some Australian native plants in bushfire prone areas have a lignituber
09:18or woody swelling at or below ground level, enabling them to survive bushfires.
09:24They can do this because lignitubers contain regenerative buds
09:27that can develop completely new plant stems if the plant is destroyed by fire.
09:32Lignitubers are found in some eucalypts, banxias, waratahs and even some lemacia species.
09:40Rainforest plants usually lack lignitubers as bushfires are rare or absent from this habitat.
09:52Josh is bringing us a slice of the Australian dream this week,
09:56visiting an eclectic and deeply personal garden
10:00that someone has spent a lifetime building and experimenting in.
10:05Prepare yourself for a visual treat.
10:13If you spend a lifetime in a garden, the link between you
10:17and it takes on a tangible, almost literal quality.
10:22Jenny Behan moved on to a bush block in the Perth Hills in the early 1970s.
10:27After 50 years, her story and the story of her garden have become intertwined.
10:33I can't wait to hear it.
10:36Hi, Jenny.
10:37Hi, Josh.
10:38Do come in.
10:39Wow, what a wonderful garden.
10:41Wonderful garden.
10:45It's a linear acre and it backs onto 200 hectares of water catchment land.
10:52There's no sort of steep, obvious shape to the land,
10:56but when you start gardening it, you realise it's on different levels and it is actually sloped.
11:01It's a combination of laterite and loam.
11:05One gardens more with a mattock than a spade, but it's also rich soil.
11:10This is where I've replanted all the native grasses.
11:12Jenny is not underselling the challenge of gardening in Perth's hills.
11:17We're heading into summer and it gets oppressively hot up here,
11:20well away from the cooling sea breezes along the coast.
11:25Yet she has created a garden full of colour and joy,
11:29using the dimensions of the property to offer up long,
11:32winding paths with treasures waiting to be discovered as you round the next curve.
11:37He's doing well.
11:39Too well.
11:42Jenny, this is a garden that revels in the art of the reveal.
11:47Clearly this is by design.
11:49It is.
11:51When I contemplated how one would approach a whole acre,
11:56I realised you had to create sort of moments here and there.
12:01And the circle was a natural sort of organic shape
12:05that works with the canopy of the eucalypts and the acacias.
12:09They create boundaries from which you garden inwards or outwards,
12:15depending which circle we're standing in in this garden.
12:19That was the intention.
12:21I'm interested in art and architecture.
12:24Those sorts of things matter to me.
12:26Judging from these plantings, this is still quite a young project.
12:30It is.
12:31This was our little pandemic project.
12:33The street was quite involved.
12:35Everybody got very excited when the Corten steel ring went in.
12:39And even more exciting for me is when the sculpture went in.
12:44And I think it works so beautifully with the environment.
12:48I'm turning the hakelerinas into weeping trees,
12:54just to keep this a little secret enclave,
12:57because we don't want everybody knowing it's here.
13:00But people in the street now come in,
13:02and when they've been for a walk, sit here and enjoy it.
13:10It feels like we've entered an inner sanctum.
13:13You have.
13:14This is the little pulse and heart of the place
13:17that connects the veranda to the studio and to the garden.
13:23The wall just creates a lovely enclave here.
13:26It's cooling and it's a contrast to the kumquats.
13:31On this side is the studio,
13:33with my little more European experience of the pier de Ronsard
13:37and the mini chrysanthemums and the felicias.
13:40And it leads on to the cottage garden down beyond the studio.
13:45Beautiful.
13:51That could have popped for us, couldn't it?
13:53Almost.
13:54It'll be tomorrow.
13:55If I could, I would have only these.
13:57These are water temple bowls from Myanmar,
14:01and I'm interested in notions of tranquility and serenity.
14:06Temple bowls are very much part of that whole way of thinking,
14:11and they're beautiful to design around.
14:13It changes it from a space to a place,
14:17a moment that you want to go towards and experience and be part of.
14:23How does the process of design add to the serenity
14:27that some might say would already exist in a bush block?
14:31Creating moments in a mass of planting
14:37gives you the opportunity to pause and reflect.
14:41The combination of texture and object, I think, are very important.
14:48If you were just looking at one huge expanse of planting,
14:54it wouldn't draw the eye as this does,
14:57and that's very much an essence of a beautiful garden, I think.
15:09I see the garden as one's largest composition.
15:14It's no different from composing a painting, really.
15:17You think about line, shape, form, texture, colour palette.
15:22They're all almost the same tools in the same toolkit.
15:31What attracted you to this property to begin with?
15:35The fact that it was a natural bush block.
15:38I grew up in the Wheatbelt,
15:40and my father was a passionate ornithologist and native plant lover,
15:46and he devoted a lot of his life to trying to save species and propagate them.
15:51So there was a sort of a natural inclination
15:53to live in this beautiful Australian bush.
15:57This part of the property is much less formal in terms of design.
16:00What's been your approach?
16:02I really wanted it to merge in a certain sort of way with the borrowed landscape.
16:07So one didn't want to have such an organised garden here,
16:11but the West Indias are really the thing that give it sort of shape and contrast,
16:19and clipping some things for form helps hugely, I think,
16:24for the eye to sort of travel past and beyond
16:28and take in the contrast of the completely natural areas.
16:32What would you say to people who feel perhaps
16:35that Australian landscapes and exotic plants can't coexist?
16:40I'd say nonsense.
16:42You definitely can.
16:43You can throw them together,
16:45and the only thing is one has to be very careful with the soil.
16:49So we use native soil almost exclusively.
17:00Maintaining an acre of gardens is a lot of work.
17:03Who helps with the garden upkeep?
17:06Well, my beloved Richard does,
17:08and we have a wonderful person who comes in
17:12who's a very skilled gardener himself, Harry.
17:15The three of us spend Saturday morning in the garden together,
17:18and Harry's very good on understanding design issues
17:22like the volume of a rock and how that will work better in one space and not another,
17:28and it's lovely to be able to discuss those things
17:31and do it collaboratively instead of you just being the only one.
17:39It's very much an eclectic garden.
17:42It's creating an environment of enclaves
17:47and special moments underneath the canopy of the eucalypts.
17:53That's really, I think, what I've been doing.
18:04With spring finally here, it's a perfect time to get out into the garden.
18:09Millie is on the tools with a plan for the productive months ahead.
18:34Spring is such an incredibly exciting time of the year,
18:38particularly in a cool, temperate climate like this.
18:40Everything wakes up.
18:41There's blooms everywhere, lots of beautiful fragrance
18:45and, of course, lots of things to harvest to eat.
18:48But it's also a really great time to get planting
18:51for the weeks, the months and the year ahead.
18:56One of the groups of crops that I find so satisfying to grow
19:00at this time of the year are the root crops,
19:02things like carrots and parsnips
19:04and, of course, my absolute favourite, beetroot.
19:06The first thing I need to do to get them in the ground
19:08is prepare the bed.
19:18Preparing a bed for root crops is easy.
19:21You just aerate with a fork to make sure the soil's nice and loose
19:24and then I add a light sprinkling of homemade compost.
19:29You don't need loads of manure or fertiliser
19:31because that would encourage leaves
19:33and I want to encourage the roots.
19:36When it comes to my root crops,
19:38I wait for the week that says it's time to sow.
19:41For me, that is warming soil
19:43but some nice, mild, moist weather
19:46that means those little seed are going to rip away.
19:50One of my absolute favourite crops is beetroot.
19:53I love to eat it cooked or raw.
19:55In summer, thinly sliced beetroot salad.
19:57It's a favourite.
19:58And I grow lots of different varieties
20:00but my best are Chioja,
20:02which is a little candy stripe pink
20:04and it is the sweetest to eat raw.
20:07Now, it's a really simple thing to do.
20:09I usually use a board.
20:10It's like preparing for paving.
20:12Nice and flat.
20:13And then I just run that across the bed
20:16to get a nice straight line.
20:18And I've got my seed here
20:19and by soaking them overnight,
20:20they're going to get out of the ground much more quickly.
20:23I just sprinkle them in that reel.
20:25I try and get a bit of spacing on them,
20:28say two or three centimetres,
20:29but I'm not too worried about that
20:31because as they germinate, I can thin them out.
20:34And then just gently cover that over with the board.
20:38That'll give me a reasonable spacing
20:40and I'll start again.
20:43Another fantastic root crop to sow right now are the carrots.
20:47And they are quite a fiddly little seed to sow.
20:51Now, carrot seed are tiny
20:53and they're impossible to sow into a reel.
20:55So I use a little trick.
20:57I mix that tiny seed with some fine soil.
21:00I can then sow that mix
21:02and that is spacing and sowing the seed.
21:05This is a variety called Little Fingers.
21:17Water the seed in really gently
21:19to make sure you don't displace them.
21:21Consistency of moisture is key to germination
21:24over the next couple of weeks.
21:27So to aid that, I cover with a piece of fabric.
21:30You can use some hessian or an old blanket,
21:33but this is an old lace curtain from the op shop.
21:38The fabric really does reduce your need to water,
21:41but you still need to keep it moist
21:42and then check in about a week
21:44once those seeds start to germinate, lift it off.
21:48This technique gives you great germination
21:50for a lot less effort.
21:56I always try to have more seedlings on the go
21:59than the garden can handle.
22:00And that means wherever there's space,
22:02I can fill it with something to eat.
22:05While I'm always sowing for spring success,
22:06I'm also preparing to fail.
22:09So when I get a failed sowing,
22:11well, I've always got something to fill that gap.
22:13In this case, Silverbeet.
22:15It is such a rewarding crop.
22:17It's fast growing and it can go in anywhere, anytime.
22:21And me and the chickens, well, we both love it.
22:24Here you go, girls.
22:29Another really important job to do right now
22:32is to check your fruit trees.
22:33And you need to actually, at times, thin them.
22:36This is a plum, it's Louisa,
22:38and she is a chronic over-sharer.
22:40She produces this huge glut of fruit,
22:43usually more every second year.
22:45So to try and even that fruiting out from year to year,
22:47and also to get her to produce larger fruit,
22:51but a few less of them,
22:52you literally thin it out.
22:53And you can be quite rough
22:55and just sort of work your way around
22:58and reduce some of the numbers of fruit
23:01in each of these clusters.
23:03By thinning, you're winning.
23:06I'm also going to thin the fruit on the quince tree.
23:09It's a variety known as pineapple,
23:11which gives you a clue to how big these fruit can get.
23:14I'm going to remove those that are on the tips of branches
23:17so they don't weigh them down and break them.
23:28While it's the perfect time to plant some things outdoors,
23:31for other crops,
23:33the nights and the soil are still too cold
23:36here in central Victoria.
23:37So things like tomatoes are actually raised
23:39to quite an advanced size in a container
23:42before they go into the ground.
23:44These are reasonably advanced.
23:45You can see they're quite floppy,
23:46and if I potted them there, they're just going to blow around.
23:49But they will form roots all the way up that stem.
23:51So I'm just going to remove what were the original seed leaves.
23:55You can go quite a long way and then just carefully tip it out.
23:59And then that whole plant can go right to the bottom of that pot.
24:06Then I just backfill the whole way up.
24:10You can see how much that's stabilised that little plant
24:13in three or four weeks.
24:14When the soil's warm enough, they can get out there
24:16and they will absolutely fire away when they hit the dirt.
24:21Any time you see a plant that's in the ground,
24:24any time you spend in the garden, you're never going to regret it.
24:27But right now, it is so rewarding.
24:29The work you do this weekend,
24:31well, you'll watch it grow in front of your very eyes,
24:34and you'll be harvesting those rewards for months to come.
24:38Have a beautiful time in your garden.
24:42Still to come on Gardening Australia,
24:45Hannah makes room for some native plants in her garden.
24:49Tammy has a great idea to brighten up any table, inside or out.
24:57And Jane uncovers a treasure chest of rare plants.
25:07There are few things more annoying than an unwanted guest in your garden,
25:11particularly one that comes at the expense of our native wildlife.
25:17Cane toads are a wicked problem that the country's struggled with for decades.
25:22But now some canny Queenslanders have come up with a plan of attack
25:27for home gardeners to lead the pushback.
25:30Here's Gerry with the details.
25:40Cane toads. Yuck.
25:43In 1935, the Queensland government infamously introduced
25:47the South American cane toad to control cane beetles.
25:52The unscientific release failed, and the rest is history.
25:57The toads spread around Australia, poisoning and killing anything that consumes them,
26:02eating small reptiles, insects and other amphibians,
26:06and displacing and outcompeting native species for food and resources.
26:12They've gone down in the history books
26:15as one of the worst invasive species in the world.
26:19And Australia has been largely powerless
26:22to stop their rapid march across the continent.
26:27They've radiated outwards and are now regularly found in Kakadu and the Kimberley.
26:36Toads can get to 2.5 kilos.
26:39They're now a common sight across Brisbane, and they regularly appear in my garden.
26:45Someone who knows this blight better than most is Nikki Tomsit,
26:49the invasive species project officer
26:52for Queensland-based non-profit environmental charity Watergum.
26:58So amongst the invasive species in Australia, how do you rank the cane toad?
27:03The cane toad is definitely the worst.
27:05So they have an estimated population of about two billion cane toads
27:10and an ever-expanding range across Australia.
27:12They can breed twice a year and produce up to 35,000 eggs each time.
27:21So how harmful are they to the environment?
27:23They're toxic.
27:25They'll eat pretty much anything that they'll fit their mouth around.
27:28So they can cause declines in native populations of wildlife.
27:32They can poison your pets.
27:34A new trap and lure system has been developed,
27:37and Nikki and her team are calling on home gardeners
27:40to get on board and push back these interlopers.
27:45The trap hinges on a charming quirk of cane toad tadpoles in Australia,
27:50where they'll actually seek out other cane toad eggs and cannibalise them.
27:56Because of this behaviour, researchers at the University of Queensland
28:00Because of this behaviour, researchers at the University of Queensland
28:03were able to create a lure that releases a chemical compound into the water
28:09that smells like cane toad eggs.
28:13The cane toad tadpoles will then find and follow into the trap,
28:17thinking that they're about to get their next meal.
28:21And native frog tadpoles just are simply not attracted to it.
28:25So how big a body of water would you need to have?
28:28Would it have to be this size, for example?
28:30No. So this beautiful pond is a great example,
28:33but you can use it in water fountains,
28:36you can use it in dams or smaller creeks,
28:39as long as it's about 15 centimetres deep and has cane toad tadpoles.
28:43UQ awarded the licence for the technology to the non-profit Nikki Works For,
28:49who called upon their extensive network of community partners
28:52We have an engaged community of over 3,000 toadbusters in Australia
28:58and they trialled the trap for us.
29:01So originally, we ran a citizen science test
29:04and people were out in the community testing the lures and handmade traps
29:09and over years and years of experimentation,
29:12we finally designed the perfect trap.
29:15The first step is to establish that you have cane toad tadpoles
29:19These guys here are definitely cane toad tadpoles.
29:21They're jet black, they've got a clear tail frill
29:25and a diamond-shaped body, so that's that bony iridge starting to form.
29:29And in terms of behaviour, you can see they're all swarming together in the shallows
29:33and they don't really come up to breathe like native tadpoles do.
29:37Now we have a confirmed cane toad tadpole infestation,
29:41we're going to put them in a water tank and we're going to put them in a water tank
29:46Cane toad tadpole infestations, what happens next?
29:50Well, you're ready to get trapping, so you can grab your trap.
29:54It does need a weight in it, so I like to put a rock in to weigh it down
29:59and then pop your lid on, twist anti-clockwise
30:05and then you can put your trap into the water.
30:09So you want to set it nice and close to the cane toad tadpoles
30:14and just hold it down until the water fills to that optimum water level line.
30:19Certainly helps, you want the trap to stay nice and still
30:22so that it doesn't disrupt that scent bloom from the lure.
30:29So once your trap is stable and submerged and all the water is settled,
30:33you're ready to set it with a lure.
30:35You just need one
30:39and you just pop the lure into the hole here on side A.
30:43Now, once those tadpoles go in, there's no way they can get back out.
30:51No, the funnels are specially designed and they just never seem to find their way out again.
30:55Nicky's tips for a successful trapping session include doing this on a sunny day
31:01when the tadpoles are more active and avoiding rainy days
31:05as the extra water will dilute the strength of the lure's scent plume.
31:10So we recommend leaving the traps for four to eight hours.
31:17We've got a few tadpoles in here, which is great for how long it was in.
31:22So open up the lid, remove our rock out.
31:30It's really important to check and see if you have any bycatch.
31:32We might get a couple of little fish, put them back in the river.
31:36In this case, we don't, it's just cane toad tadpoles.
31:39So you get your net and carefully pour out your tadpoles.
31:48There's actually some really big ones in there too.
31:51It's pretty impressive.
31:53It's very satisfying watching them all pour out.
31:57Try and get every last one.
31:59There's your lure.
32:02There we go.
32:04We'll take our lure out.
32:06And it's important to wash your trap really well
32:09before you reuse it the next time.
32:11The cane toad tadpole swarms don't like the smell of each other.
32:14So if you don't wash your trap,
32:16the tadpoles might not go in it the next time.
32:18And then with our lovely catch of cane toad tadpoles here,
32:22we can put it into a container with some water
32:26and they're ready to be euthanized.
32:28You know, it's not their fault they're here.
32:29So you want to make sure to do it humanely.
32:31And the best way to do it is to put it in a container
32:34and the best method at the minute is stepped hypothermia.
32:38So that's popping them in a container with some water
32:40and putting them in the fridge for eight hours for tadpoles
32:44and then moving them into the freezer for eight hours.
32:48This new trap offers a glimmer of hope for gardeners
32:52to take back their backyards from being breeding farms
32:55for this most notorious of pests.
32:58For more information, visit the Gardening Australia website.
33:02You'd have to persist throughout a couple of breeding seasons,
33:05but eventually you will start to notice
33:07a decrease in your cane toad numbers.
33:09Well, I can't wait to see how successful this program is
33:14as it's rolled out across the country.
33:16We're excited too, Gerry.
33:17We can't wait to see the public take up this new technology
33:21and have a real impact on cane toad numbers in Australia.
33:33We can't all plant large trees in our garden,
33:36so why not choose some compact native shrubs?
33:40They're highly adaptable to a range of soil conditions,
33:44attract a large array of birds and bees,
33:47and I've been weaving a variety of them into my garden.
33:51They don't just look good,
33:53they also provide habitat, shade, windbreaks,
33:57and are easy to manage.
33:59We've got a number of relatively small,
34:02yet steep banks in our garden,
34:05and we've used plants to stabilise them,
34:07including a range of compact natives.
34:10Over here, we've got the native hardinbergia.
34:12Now, it's often used as a climber,
34:14but you can also grow it as a shrubby ground cover,
34:17and when it does that, it can help suppress the weeds,
34:20it can also attract beneficial pollinators to the garden,
34:23and below the ground, the roots are actually growing.
34:26Below the ground, the roots are actually helping
34:29to fix nitrogen into the soil.
34:31All these different functions can benefit other plants,
34:34including the nearby apple tree.
34:36Now, further down the garden,
34:37we've got the native myrtle wattle,
34:40and this one can grow to around one metre or one and a half metres,
34:44depending on the conditions of the soil
34:46and how much water it's getting.
34:47But it's an absolute beauty,
34:49and just like the hardinbergia,
34:50when it flowers, it's bringing in pollinators,
34:52and also, below the ground,
34:55its roots love to help fix nitrogen into the soil,
34:57again, improving the overall soil health for all plants around it.
35:04Next up, the native indigo.
35:06Now, this one can actually grow quite large,
35:09but I prune it very tight to fit into this space
35:12because I don't want it to take over.
35:14When it does flower, those pinky purple blossoms
35:17bring in the pollinators,
35:18and again, like the other two, beneath the ground,
35:21the roots are also helping to fix nitrogen.
35:24All up, all these natives I've mentioned
35:26can thrive in pretty marginal soils.
35:29Here, I've got compacted, heavy clay soils,
35:33and they're planted on a steep north-facing bank
35:35where it dries out pretty quick,
35:37so they're really fantastic in marginal conditions.
35:40Of course, they love lots of water and the beautiful soils if they can get it,
35:44but they don't need it,
35:45and that's what I'm interested in,
35:47plants that produce all these functions,
35:49providing maximum yield in all these ways,
35:52but for minimal input.
35:57Now, I know I've been banging on about compact natives,
36:01but here's an example of something a bit different.
36:04It's actually the native hotbush,
36:05and it can grow into a medium or large tree,
36:09but if you want to,
36:10you can shape and sculpt those larger trees into compact shrubs.
36:15I've used my electric hedge trimmer,
36:17and I've basically box-hedged it to create a massive windbreak
36:21and also a privacy screen from the car park.
36:23It works a treat and is a fantastic reminder
36:26that when you choose to,
36:27you can actually make plants do what you want.
36:31On this site, I'm always looking for ways to buffer our strong winds,
36:35even on a small scale.
36:42Here, I've got a young native mintbush,
36:44and it's going to grow around two metres tall,
36:47but you can prune it tighter as well.
36:49I'm planting it right next door to my vegetable garden
36:51because winds rip around our house
36:54and smash any veggies trying to grow in this garden.
36:58So, within a few years, this will be up and out
37:01and a beautiful permanent feature
37:03with gorgeous purple flowers that brings in all the pollinators
37:06but, more importantly for this context, protects my veggies.
37:16No matter how small your garden is,
37:18there is always space for some compact native shrubs,
37:21whether that's in a garden pot down the side of your driveway
37:25or even right next door to your veggie garden.
37:37We've done our fair share of scaping over the years
37:39here on Gardening Australia.
37:41Landscaping, hardscaping, softscaping,
37:45foodscaping, aquascaping, dryscaping.
37:48I've heard that manscaping is a thing, doesn't really interest me,
37:53but Tammy's doing something that just might, tablescaping.
38:08Probably the most versatile and forgiving plants growing around
38:12would have to be succulents.
38:14So many of them will tolerate periods of low light and lack of water
38:17and are indestructible, perfect for creative DIY projects.
38:22A mixed bunch of succulents can be turned into something personal and playful.
38:29There's so much you can do with succulents
38:32and I've got a little idea for a succulent table centrepiece.
38:35This is an ideal project for a birthday or celebration
38:39but even if you don't have a special event coming up on the calendar,
38:43this succulent table centrepiece will spruce up any indoor space
38:47at any time of the year.
38:49I'm choosing a variety of potted succulents
38:52but you could also take cuttings from your garden
38:54to insert into the arrangement.
38:58Think about the composition.
39:00The centrepiece will look great with interesting shapes
39:03and contrasting textures.
39:05And when it comes to colour, choose whatever you're drawn to.
39:09I've gone with the harmonious greens and blues
39:12and for a pop of contrast, the pinkish tones in these ones.
39:16You can use anything as a vessel for your plants,
39:19whatever takes your fancy.
39:21I like this simple, modern enamel baking tray.
39:24Whatever you go with,
39:25succulents need a minimum depth of five centimetres of soil
39:28to allow the roots to continue to grow.
39:31But there's no need for drainage holes
39:33as I'm not going to be watering, misting or feeding this centrepiece
39:37whilst it's indoors.
39:39Succulent plants last for at least two months inside
39:42in these conditions.
39:43And after that time, I'm going to deconstruct it
39:46and put it in pots outside
39:47but I can also gift pieces to friends.
39:54This is the fun part, arranging all the succulents.
39:58The tall ones are put towards the back
40:01and then I think it's going to have some sort of scene
40:04where there's a gradual change of colour.
40:07Gradual fall and spilling over.
40:19I think I'll have the string of pearls just spilling over the side.
40:25Something like that.
40:32Now, there's a lot of pinks happening through here.
40:34So I think these little blue-green ones will contrast well
40:38by just popping them in here.
40:44I think that's looking pretty good.
40:46Now it's time to pot them up.
40:49As I go, I'm backfilling with succulent potting mix.
41:05Creating, like, a little forest with these chalk sticks.
41:11And it's always a good idea to sort of step back
41:13and assess where you've put things
41:15because it looks different from different angles.
41:25This one's Kalanchoe areophylla, Snow White Panda.
41:35For the corner spot,
41:36I've got these great little Sempervivum arachnoidium,
41:39adorned with cobweb-type hair.
41:50I've also got a variety of Echeveria cultivars,
41:53like this Echeveria Snow Angel.
42:01By mass-planting all these individual rosette shapes,
42:04together they form an eye-catching design.
42:18And now I'm finishing the look
42:19by filling in any gaps with fine gravel.
42:32Great, I think it's ready to be served.
42:34Yeah.
42:46I love seeing the home gardens
42:49of people who explore the unusual and exotic
42:53in the world of plants.
42:55Those rare treasures
42:56that you can't just walk into a nursery and buy.
43:00They're uncovered after years of careful hunting.
43:04And collecting.
43:05Jane's discovered a beautiful example
43:08in the north-east of Melbourne.
43:19This terraced garden has been lovingly crafted
43:22to make it a perfect home
43:23for an impressive collection of rare and unusual plants.
43:28Everything wraps seamlessly
43:29around an 860-square-metre block
43:32that's nestled in Eltham,
43:34in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs.
43:37The creative gardener behind it all is Gilles Lardy.
43:42The goal for the front yard
43:44was to have a garden
43:46that we can look at from the house,
43:48but also that our neighbours and passers-by can enjoy.
43:53All these plants are very rare,
43:55so it's also not that difficult to manage.
43:59The backbone is grasses
44:01that bring year-round interest.
44:03I have two kinds of grasses,
44:05the pheasant grass from New Zealand,
44:08and then I have the stippa gigantea,
44:11which is a grass that sends out huge flowers
44:15during summer that can reach about two-metre heights.
44:19And there's sort of movement in the garden,
44:21In amongst the mounds,
44:23you've got little things that seem to be popping up.
44:25Trying to get interest throughout most of the four seasons.
44:30So to get that, I rely a lot on bulbs,
44:33like the anemones that you can see popping a bit everywhere.
44:38Now, what about the euphorbias?
44:39Euphorbias are really good for Australian gardens.
44:42They're very drought-tolerant
44:44and they're very easy to take care of.
44:46They're very easy to take care of.
44:49They're very drought-tolerant
44:50and they really look good for most of the year.
44:54Cushiony shape, evergreen foliage.
44:57Long flowering.
44:58Long flowering, and they have this kind of lime green colour
45:03that I think is just wonderful.
45:05I have three different kinds of euphorbias here in the front yard.
45:09There's the euphorbia rigida, which is a bluish-greyish colour.
45:13Just a low-growing one.
45:14A low-growing one, and at the moment it's flowering.
45:17And then I have the darker one, which is a different cultivar
45:22that also has a mound shape
45:25and just about the same height and flowers at the same time.
45:29The third one, which is much smaller in size,
45:32same bluish colour,
45:33but tends to be more discreet and act more as a ground cover.
45:37Now, as long as you give them a haircut when they've finished flowering,
45:40they don't self-seed everywhere?
45:42Yeah, yeah.
45:42You have to be a bit careful.
45:44They will self-seed, but not that heavily.
45:47I mean, the seedlings take a fair amount of time to grow,
45:49so they're easy just to pull out whenever you see them.
45:54I grew up in France, where I'm originally from,
45:58in the southeastern part of France, in the Alps,
46:01close to the border with Italy and Switzerland.
46:04So I've always been used to going hiking
46:08and looking at the nature in the mountains.
46:11When I finished my studies,
46:12I got the opportunity to move to Hong Kong,
46:15and I was only supposed to stay there for a few years,
46:19but I ended up meeting my husband, Rodney, while I was there,
46:22and we ended up staying a bit more than 20 years in Hong Kong.
46:27What happened next?
46:28So the goal was to find a place
46:32where we would feel comfortable away from the concrete,
46:35which is why we ended up settling on Eltham,
46:39and we found this house.
46:41We needed a bit of greenery.
46:43I like that we are surrounded by trees
46:45and that the bush is not far.
46:48When we first moved into the house,
46:50the terrain here was very sloped.
46:52Very sloped. You can see that's why you've terraced it.
46:55Yeah, so this top area here,
46:57originally this was planned to be a play area for our daughter,
47:01but she ended up never using it.
47:03So I reclaimed the space,
47:05so I reclaimed the space,
47:07and we built this raised bed.
47:11I have a few heirloom irises,
47:14as well as some roses,
47:16so more of the compact and smaller type.
47:20And then all around, there are some perennials like this geom.
47:25It's not often grown, the geoms,
47:26but I like them because their flowers are above the foliage.
47:29Yeah, it's a very English cottage plant,
47:33actually much tougher than what people think.
47:35And then you've got little pockets of the narcissus, the daffodils.
47:40Yes, I have the white narcissus.
47:43They love this climate.
47:45I've spotted some things over there that I'm dying to have a little look at.
47:49This is a rather different area for your second terrace down.
47:53That's amazing what you've done here.
47:55Yes, so this area was originally designed for my raised veggie beds,
48:01but after a few seasons of losing most of my tomato crop to rats and birds,
48:06I decided to convert it to a raised gravel bed.
48:10That meant you could grow more plants.
48:12Yeah, so I scooped out half of the soil,
48:15I did some gravel at the bottom for drainage,
48:18and then topped up the top half with gravel.
48:21This gravel, just the...
48:22Yeah, the coarse gravel,
48:25and so that the plants really are trained to go deep to search the moisture.
48:30But the top of the plant itself stays dry, even when it's raining.
48:35And now what are these?
48:35These are all rather special looking plants.
48:37Yeah, so here I have my collection of bulbs.
48:41So mostly South African bulbs.
48:44Most of them have been grown from seed.
48:46This one, for example, is a species, gladiolus.
48:50Oh, wow.
48:52Quite different from the cultivars you find usually in our gardens.
48:56And that lime against the orange is just amazing colour.
49:01Wow.
49:02And this is another amazing...
49:03Is that another South African?
49:05Yes, that's a spiroxys elegans.
49:07Very showy flowers.
49:10Many of the South African bulbs are really...
49:13They have to flower for a very short period of time,
49:15so they need maximum impact.
49:17The wow effect.
49:18And then this is another cutie though.
49:19Yes, I also have a few species tulips.
49:23So again, quite different from what you find usually in the gardens.
49:26They're much shorter and the flowers are much more simple,
49:30but they will tend to multiply more readily in the garden.
49:34Oh, this one.
49:35I have also...
49:36Yeah, this is another species of gladiolus.
49:39This one is actually quite unusual because it's fragrant at night.
49:43And the flowers change colour at night to attract insects.
49:48Ah, moths maybe.
49:50Yes.
49:50This little one on the corner.
49:53Yeah, that one also is very, very pretty.
49:56White and a dark centre.
49:57And what is it?
49:58That's a geysaurus.
50:00South African bulb as well.
50:01Ah, you're really mad on these South African plants.
50:04Now, I spotted this little area here which took my fancy
50:07because I love looking at little cushiony sort of plants.
50:11I think they're so cute.
50:13Yeah, so that's my alpine trough.
50:16Look at this little one.
50:17It's like a little rosette of furry sort of leaves.
50:20So you can see all the different types of adaptation
50:23to survive in their mountain environments.
50:27This is what really caught my eye, though.
50:29Yeah, this...
50:30Those wonderful carnivorous plants.
50:32Yeah, these are endemic to Australia, actually, the cephalotus.
50:36They grow in the southern tip of Western Australia.
50:39Aren't they extraordinary?
50:40And they're just, yeah, really unique plants.
50:43So they're actually catching insects down in that little sort of pitcher bit.
50:47Yeah, they actually attract them, catch them, then digest them...
50:51Wow.
50:52...and absorb the nutrients.
50:53And why are they...
50:54Why have you got them growing in such deep pots?
50:56So these plants are used to growing in a boggy environment,
51:03so they lack a lot of moisture.
51:04But I have found over the years that what is most important
51:08is actually to have a big volume of soil
51:11so that you can have some inertia in terms of the temperature of the soil,
51:14and that's more important than the level of moisture.
51:17Ah, there we go.
51:17So that's why they're planted in quite big pots.
51:20This garden is a labour of love
51:22that showcases a multitude of beautiful and unusual plants.
51:27But even more than that, it provides a place of sanctuary
51:31as well as a vital creative outlet.
51:35I enjoy coming in the garden, always having something to do.
51:39There's always the element of surprise.
51:41Also, the rhythm that it brings and the seasonality
51:47and the fact that you can build up expectation,
51:53looking forward to things to happen.
51:55And I think for mental health and distressing, that's very important.
52:02How's this for some inspiration to put your pedal to the gardening metal
52:18with your list of jobs for the weekend?
52:20Tony, it's coming off a treat.
52:27In cool temperate gardens, keep an eye out for black aphids
52:31infesting fresh, young cherry foliage.
52:34A couple can quickly turn into a crowd.
52:37So squash, remove or spray when you see them.
52:41It's transition time for veggie seedlings started indoors.
52:45Before planting out, acclimatise them to their new surroundings
52:49by popping them outside in a sheltered spot for a week or two.
52:53Spring growth isn't just confined to the plants we love.
52:57Weeds are also going gangbusters.
53:00For pesty weeds in pavers, dousing the weeds in boiling water will see them off.
53:05Pop the kettle on.
53:08Warm temperate gardeners protect late season brassicas from cabbage white butterfly
53:13by covering them with wildlife-friendly netting
53:16and removing eggs and caterpillars as you see them.
53:20Treat your currants and bramble berries like raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries
53:25to some aged sheep manure and compost, followed by some fresh straw mulch.
53:31Bramble on.
53:32Spring clean your compost bin.
53:35Spread finished compost around established plants
53:38or dig into veggie beds to prepare for summer crops,
53:41improving soil structure and water retention.
53:46Looking stunning in the subtropics is the sandpaper vine, Petrea volubilis,
53:51with masses of star-shaped mauve flowers drooping from tough twining vines with coarse raspy leaves.
53:59Society garlic, Tulbagia species, are right at home in the veggie or flower garden.
54:05The fine foliage and magic mauve flowers are all edible, reminiscent of chives.
54:11Hunt out the prolific cultivar, John May Special.
54:16Here's another plant that's gorgeous and great to eat.
54:19The pink flower buds of the torch ginger are a common delicious ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisine.
54:27In the tropics we are in Yawuru, season of larger.
54:31The hot time, building up to the wet.
54:34Mistletoe and billy goat plum are flowering
54:37and the seed pods of many acacia species have split, spreading their seed before the rains.
54:44Flowering now is the scented Daphne, Valeria cleridendron,
54:48a rainforest plant from northeast Queensland.
54:51This highly ornamental shrub is beautiful and the scent intoxicating.
54:56Sniff one out.
54:58Bring the outside in with a cat garden, perfect for your indoor puss.
55:03Try pet safe plants such as cat grass, catnip and even lemongrass that your furry friend will love.
55:11Arid gardeners, if you grow kangaroo paws, why not give them a crack as a cut flower?
55:17Cut the stems about halfway up as the flowers start to open.
55:21Stick them in the vase and enjoy.
55:24Sow the seeds that make you smile, sunflowers.
55:27Varieties like the four metre tall Russian giant or the shorter dwarf sensation
55:33love rich friable soil and a bright sunny spot.
55:37Sow them direct.
55:39In the patch, go nuts and plant peanuts.
55:42Peanuts sown between sunflowers act as a living mulch,
55:46suppress weeds, retain moisture and give you a good snack in a few months.
55:53Welcome to October, gardeners.
55:55A top month to get stuck in and go flat out.
55:58Head over to our Gardening Australia social pages
56:02and let us know what projects you tick off the list this weekend.
56:08Well, that's all we could squeeze in this week,
56:15but there'll be plenty in bloom for you next time.
56:18Take a look.
56:21We all love flowers.
56:23They're great for us, but they're also great for all those wild visitors who come to our gardens.
56:28And I'm going to show you how you can serve a buffet of blooms all year long.
56:33Have you ever imagined what you'd grow if you lived in a tropical rainforest?
56:37I'm visiting a gardener in far north Queensland who's growing the garden of your dreams.
56:41Crowding in quite a few plants keeps the garden low maintenance.
56:46This is low maintenance.
56:50And we meet a plant breeder creating the most stunning flowers you've ever seen.
56:55One that I've recently registered called Lavender Diamonds.
56:59It's got a lovely lavender colour with white spots all the way around the edges,
57:04so it's quite striking.