Gardening.Australia.S36E02
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00:00Hey!
00:06Hey!
00:07Hi!
00:12Ooh!
00:18Hey!
00:19Ooh!
00:20Hi, mate.
00:22Hey!
00:24Hey!
00:25Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:36This week we've got all the inspiration, practical how-tos, tips and tricks you need to help make your garden grow.
00:46Time to get your hands into the good stuff. Here's what's in store.
00:51I'm looking at how to combine edible and ornamental plants to maximise colour, diversity and pollination.
01:01I'm visiting an iconic example of Tasmania's garden to plate culture.
01:06What treats do you have for me?
01:08Finding out how the team grow for both produce and beauty.
01:12Jerry shows us how to grow a plant with an appetite.
01:15They're very successful and this one has had ants for lunch.
01:20And I'm visiting a native nursery in North Fremantle that's become an institution for local gardeners.
01:37Pamela Wallace is a self-taught, roll up your sleeves and get to work gardener.
01:43And with an eye for good design and beautiful plants, Pamela's created a haven among the gum trees on a couple of hectares in Durrell, a semi-rural area in north-west Sydney.
01:59Hello!
02:00Hi!
02:01So pleased to see you.
02:03I let myself in.
02:04Oh, how lovely.
02:05Can't wait to look around.
02:06Yeah, let's go and have a little look.
02:07I was amazed when I came to Durrell.
02:12There's a fabulous gardening community here.
02:14And I belong to the Galston Garden Club.
02:17We share a lot of things and, you know, so many of the plants I've got in the garden are from cuttings that I've got from the people there.
02:23But for me, I love sharing it with people that are enthusiastic gardeners because they're just into the same thing.
02:31If I didn't have any visitors, oh my gosh, I think I'd still come out because I just have to have it looking nice.
02:39In less than a decade, Pamela has transformed this acreage into her own art gallery.
02:45Mostly it was lawn and it was very easy to see the potential that I could turn it into the type of garden that I wanted and put my stamp on it.
02:54So are you wedded to a particular look?
02:58I probably am wedded to a particular look.
03:00I call it structure and profusion.
03:03So I'm a very romantic gardener.
03:06So I don't like straight lines.
03:08I love curves and flowing sort of things.
03:12I'm mad on flowers, mad on colour, foliage.
03:17There's hardly a plant that I don't like.
03:19Everything's just done with my eye.
03:21I don't really put anything down on paper.
03:24What incubated that?
03:26Our mother was a very creative, she was a tailoress and gardener, cook.
03:31They all go together.
03:33My twin in New Zealand loves to garden as well.
03:36And we can be on the phone talking about our gardens and sending each other photos of our gardens, you know, 24-7.
03:43But I think our mother created the...
03:46She's responsible.
03:47Oh, she's responsible for sure.
03:48She was a fantastic lady and very creative and a great gardener herself.
03:53And so we just grew up wanting to create beauty.
03:57Creating a vision of beauty to me is the most calming, therapeutic thing that you could possibly do.
04:05So where is this little passageway taking us?
04:08Well, this passageway is getting narrower as the months go by and I can hardly get through here now.
04:14But it's full of roses.
04:16These are amazing, these carpet roses.
04:18They just flower non-stop.
04:19Yeah.
04:20And dahlias.
04:22And it changes all the time.
04:25But this is a fantastic salvia vanhooty that will flower literally all year round.
04:32Great tones of red.
04:34And so you can see I've used the burgundy foliage.
04:36Really, it's one of the parts of the garden that I probably do do a bit more work in than others, but I love it.
04:43Wow.
04:44Do you know, it is lovely to create vistas in gardens.
04:48And that's why I put the ball garden in the distance there as a lovely feature that your eye is just drawn to that vista.
04:58The woodland garden was created using a method which was brought about by a lady called Esther Deans.
05:05In the 70s, she was a huge icon and who really believed that you could create gardens without disturbing the basic soil structure by adding layers and layers.
05:17And that's why I used the snow dig gardening system because the soil here is heavy compacted clay, very hard to dig holes in everywhere I dig.
05:26And of course, with so many massive gums sucking up the moisture and creating quite a solid ground.
05:33Honestly, it's a great way to establish gardens under gums because you just wet the newspaper and then you lay it down.
05:41And masses of mulch, anything that you can get your hands on, whether it's leaf litter, compost, manure, blood and bone, every stick, everything I cut down would all get laid on top of this newspaper.
05:53And once that garden settles, you leave it, I normally try to leave it, I'm very impatient because I want to plant things in it as fast as possible, but I try to leave it over winter.
06:04Then by spring, I'm planting and all of this garden here, I would say 80% of it has been grown from cuttings.
06:12So all of the iris, they grow so easily, I can basically hedge those, pick up a clump and throw them and they'll take root.
06:20All the plectranthus ground cover, again, all from cuttings.
06:23There's three varieties, there's a purple, pink and white, and they're just so easy in this climate.
06:28They love the subtropical climate.
06:33I hardly pull out a weed.
06:35It's more about keeping the lawn out of the garden.
06:38So if we edge constantly, it's pretty good.
06:41But in large spaces, you've got to use your stalwarts and the plants that you know are going to thrive in your climate.
06:49And it's all year round colour.
06:51Where did the lake come into the picture?
06:54I like the way you call it a lake, Costa, because it's really just a dam.
06:57It was probably the hardest area in the entire garden to create a garden around
07:03because the dam, I'm sure when it was created, was all compacted clay.
07:08Very, very hard.
07:10All of this, again, no dig gardening.
07:12What are some of the plants that you enjoy?
07:15You can see in the distance the Musa Enda, which is a fantastic subtropical plant.
07:20It quite likes that spot, I think, because, you know, you'll never grow it if you get frost.
07:24But being by the water, it's obviously enjoying that microclimate.
07:29And I found the things like the helichrysum, you could basically grow those anywhere.
07:34That is a terrific ground cover and weed suppressor.
07:37And the yellow Selvia madrensis is also terrific in flowers for a long, long time.
07:43And these cordyline electric pinks, they always grow bigger here.
07:47I don't know what it is.
07:48Maybe because they know I love them so much.
07:50But it is really my favourite part of the garden.
07:54I like the informality.
07:55You get the texture, the colour, movement.
07:58It's all about making an interesting garden.
08:02The fountain certainly creates a soundscape of its own.
08:06I love the effect that the ripples on the water during the day,
08:10but I really did put it in there as an aerator.
08:13Here's a little project for you.
08:15I reckon you could get some nice, submerged plant life in there.
08:20Yes.
08:21To help with the water quality.
08:22I think that's a very good idea and I'm going to do that.
08:24Thank you, Costa.
08:31These trees are spectacular.
08:34They're huge, aren't they?
08:36Yeah.
08:37They must just love this place so much because they are solid,
08:41very, very good quality gums.
08:43When we first came here, I looked at these gums and thought,
08:46my God, how on earth am I going to cope with all these gum trees?
08:49And I have a bit of a love-hate relationship because they do create a lot of work
08:54and in storms they are quite scary.
08:57However, they give such a sense of maturity to this garden
09:01that makes it look a lot older and a lot bigger than you'd imagine.
09:05They give a really beautiful ring of protection and microclimate in this garden,
09:10so the frost is not a problem.
09:12It's amazing what I've grown.
09:14I mean, I've literally gardened around every single gum.
09:17That's just through a lot of enriching your soil.
09:20There you go.
09:21Persistence.
09:22It's constant, yeah.
09:23And the sheer look of these grey box.
09:25Well, the bark actually changes through the seasons
09:28and I've noticed sometimes after the rain at various times of the year,
09:32that's almost bright, sort of a tanny red.
09:35It looks like someone's just painted it with a paintbrush.
09:37It's really amazing.
09:39Also, having a borrowed vista of this fabulous turpentine forest here is just gorgeous.
09:45I think how wonderful it's just going to be there forever because it's protected.
09:52I created this garden because it was during the time my mother was very ill
09:58and I couldn't go and visit her in COVID.
10:00And she passed three years ago and I decided to create this garden in her memory.
10:06She was a wonderful gardener.
10:08So this rose actually is called Garden Friend.
10:11Yeah.
10:12And one of the best hybrid teas that you could possibly get in Sydney.
10:15It just never gets black spot.
10:17It's extraordinarily healthy.
10:18It's a great hedging rose.
10:20And I really don't do much to it.
10:22If I probably did more to it, it'd be even better.
10:25I love the Keith Hammett dahlias.
10:28His dahlias don't need staking and they are phenomenal.
10:32And you throw the seeds and they just come up everywhere.
10:34There's one over there.
10:35Yeah.
10:36They are the best bee attracting plants.
10:39And I think my mother would have loved this garden because she loved this colour, you know.
10:45That's really, I love that memory association with plants and with gardens.
10:51I mean, do you feel like when you sit on that bench, you know, you get a chance to think of her and she's around?
10:58Well, yes, that's a lovely thought.
11:00But to be perfectly honest, I never get the chance to sit.
11:03Where to from here?
11:05Oh, Costa.
11:06I think basically now it's all about maintaining the garden and really looking after what I've got.
11:16It is so, so rewarding.
11:18What is pyrethrum?
11:31When looking for a natural insecticide, pyrethrum is a common option.
11:35Pyrethrum is a now obsolete genus that included chrysanthemums and tannicetums, popular garden plants.
11:42The active insecticidal chemicals in these flowers are called pyrethrins, though many commercial products use a synthetic equivalent.
11:49This hoia has mealybug and pyrethrum will kill this pest on contact.
11:54It also breaks down quickly in the environment, but don't go blanket spraying your garden as it will kill all insects, including beneficials.
12:02Instead, aim directly at the pest and use it sparingly.
12:05Can I recommend a Banksia for Brisbane?
12:10Well, look no further.
12:12This is my baby.
12:14It's a Wollum Banksia, Banksia Emula.
12:16It's 20 years old and it's been growing here in full sun.
12:20It loves the heat and humidity and this rain is going to produce loads of new growth and new flowers.
12:28It's a signature plant for a threatened plant community, Wollum Heathland, and it loves Brisbane.
12:35There's one thing I've learnt about this.
12:37While it does love our climate and it performs beautifully, it doesn't like drought.
12:43So, during really long extended droughts, I give it a good drink once every week.
12:50And if you want the full deal, give it a dose of iron chelates in spring and autumn.
12:56It'll blossom well.
12:57And otherwise, what a beauty.
13:00When's the best time to plant tube stock?
13:03Well, it varies on your climate and of course what you're planting, but the general advice is autumn,
13:07when there's more water around to help them establish and the soil still contains some residual warmth.
13:12Now, try not to plant in summer or in dry periods to reduce the amount of irrigation required,
13:18and so too the coldest parts of the year when the plants avoid growth.
13:28Flowers, food, foliage.
13:31Are you the type of person that loves to have it all in the garden?
13:35I mean, why should you have to choose?
13:37More is more, that's what I say.
13:40Well, Sophie's here to show us that we can have our cake and eat it too.
13:49Often our gardens are split into sections, separating ornamental plants from edibles.
13:55And while there's no problem with structuring a garden that way,
13:58in smaller gardens where there are limited possibilities for perfect microclimates,
14:03growing more collaboratively maximises space, beauty and pollinators.
14:10For example, if you have one full sun corner, you might want to grow both colourful flowers and fruit,
14:16or natives and vegetables.
14:19You can have both.
14:21As with all garden planning, it starts with getting to know your plants
14:25and choosing varieties that have similar growing conditions to live together.
14:29Plenty of edibles are ornamental too, with attractive flower or foliage features.
14:35Take these trailing herbs.
14:36We've got prostrate rosemary, oregano and thyme.
14:40Now these look fabulous spilling out of a pot or hanging down a rockery,
14:44and they have beautiful foliage which is aromatic and pretty flowers.
14:49And then there's silverbeet.
14:51While the common silverbeet has green leaves and white stems,
14:54the rainbow variety of silverbeet, sometimes called charred,
14:58has fabulously coloured foliage and stems and can be scattered through a bed.
15:04Annual veggies and annual ornamentals often have very similar growing requirements.
15:09They're quick growing, they like a lot of food,
15:12and they make a big show at a certain season.
15:15Try combining low ornamentals like violas, alyssum or marigolds with your veggies.
15:22They won't take up much space.
15:24If you want something a bit taller,
15:26try cornflowers, snapdragons or paper daisers for a show-stopping display.
15:31Now, planting these flowers first
15:34will actually create a home for predatory and pollinating insects,
15:38and you can do successional planting just like you would do with veggies
15:42so that you've got a display all year round.
15:45Native plants are usually separated from edibles and with good reason.
15:56Because members of the proteaceae family, they're sensitive to phosphorus,
16:00which is in general purpose fertilisers.
16:02However, there are many wildflowers that can grow well between native food plants.
16:08So here I've got rosella, bush tomato and mun trees,
16:11and you could be planting yellow buttons, billy buttons and native violet between them to fill in the gaps.
16:17Scatter chives and spring onions wherever you've got space and sunlight.
16:23They don't take up much room and they're easy to identify amongst drifts of other plants.
16:30The great thing about these two is being alliums, they produce humble-shaped flowers,
16:35which stand up high above the foliage, look really pretty and attract beneficial bugs.
16:40Blueberries are long-lived plants, but they prefer acid soil so they combine really well with plants like camellias and azaleas.
16:53Perennial plants such as strawberries like a balanced fertiliser, but they also like a bit of a boost of potash,
16:59which makes them flower and fruit really well.
17:02So if you're feeding them, why not combine it with another ornamental plant that likes that sort of feeding too,
17:08like daisies or roses.
17:11This is a rose called Aussie Magic.
17:13It gets to about 60 centimetres high by the same wide,
17:16and I can combine it in this pot with three strawberries,
17:19which are going to hang over the edge and fruit.
17:22Basically get creative and start thinking outside of the boxes of edibles and ornamentals
17:45to cultivate the perfect patch to suit your space and needs.
17:52While gardening is considered a calming and gentle pastime,
18:05it's not without risk if you're not paying attention.
18:11Eye injuries are all too common,
18:13either from sharp or spiny material causing physical damage,
18:17all things like sap, pollen or effects of dust,
18:21mulch and grit getting in your eyes and causing irritation,
18:24and then infection.
18:26Which is why, when not on camera,
18:28I always wear good quality sunglasses as my first line of eye defence.
18:34If I'm doing something that's a little more heavy duty in terms of requiring eye protection,
18:41activities like pruning prickly shrubs or things overhead,
18:44using power tools or laying out mulch,
18:47safety glasses with wraparound protection are a must.
18:51Gardeners know that some of the best quality ingredients are often the things you've grown yourself.
19:04It's something we have in common with many of the country's best chefs and restaurants.
19:10Hannah is checking out one of Tassie's finest kitchen gardens
19:14and uncovering some serious veggie patch goals.
19:19I'm 40 minutes north of Hobart in New Norfolk,
19:31home to a stunning market garden that's quite literally dripping with fresh produce.
19:38It's an acre of neat veggie beds, fruit trees, orchards, flowers, packed greenhouses,
19:44and there's even a pond.
19:47All encased within these huge concrete walls.
19:52And the man behind these bountiful gardens is Rodney Dunn.
19:57Rodney, tell me about the history of this unique site.
20:00Yes, it is an incredibly unique site.
20:03The first mental asylum in the Southern Hemisphere and the longest running.
20:08The area we're standing in now is the old exercise yard for the ward behind me,
20:13which was a prison ward for men.
20:15And we've got just over an acre in space here with these wonderful thick walls.
20:20Rodney may be a familiar face to some of our Gardening Australia viewers.
20:24The farm and cooking school of one of Tasmania's top chefs, Rodney Dunn.
20:29I would describe myself as primarily a cook,
20:32but a cook who's curious about where my ingredients come from.
20:36After running his two businesses from his home and farm,
20:40the opportunity arose to lease one incredible space for his restaurant and cooking school
20:45and to create the kitchen garden of his dreams.
20:50What inspired the move to come down to this property?
20:53The opportunity existed and to bring everything under one roof,
20:57to move it out of our home and to create what it is today.
21:01So you've got the restaurant, the cooking school.
21:03Yeah, and the centre to it all is this garden.
21:05The garden. It's all based in the garden.
21:07Of course.
21:09What's your philosophy for this whole venture?
21:12Well, it's to give the customers amazing inspiration.
21:15I like to be inspired and therefore I like to pass that on,
21:19but also to the experience to eat the best possible fruit and vegetables they can ever eat.
21:24Garden works began in 2021 and by 2023 they were pumping out all the produce Rodney needed.
21:34Now you've got an incredible team of staff here and Mitch in particular was instrumental in kick-starting this garden.
21:40Mitch is like me, but in the garden and to have someone with his passion and his vision,
21:46we see eye to eye on everything, just means that I can entrust this space to him
21:54and know that it's exactly what I would have done if I was doing it myself.
21:59Mitch, what was your vision for the garden?
22:01Well, the garden first and foremost is a production space,
22:04so it's to provide veggies and flowers and fruits,
22:07but the underlying vision was as a working example of a regenerative growing space.
22:14Now, you and Rodney were both chefs before this.
22:17Has that made a difference in how you've planned or worked with the garden?
22:21Well, it does because I guess, you know, chefs love food, so you're inspired.
22:26I think that dictates the deciding of the crops we grow and the style that we grow them
22:32and then also, I guess, attention to detail carries through a lot, I think, from the kitchen into the garden.
22:38There's three of us in total, myself, Otto and Josh.
22:41What are you growing in the garden at the moment, Josh?
22:44Well, we've got a very diverse selection of vegetables, fruits and herbs,
22:49an incredible berry orchard too.
22:51That's very, very productive and really we're just spoilt for choice here.
22:55It's incredible.
22:56Let's go have a closer look.
22:57Yeah, that sounds good.
22:58The garden is divided into over a dozen zones.
23:04So we wanted a diverse range of ornamentals for all the cut flowers for the restaurants,
23:10so natives and exotics and lots of perennials and annuals.
23:14Stone fruit to take advantage of the warm space in here.
23:17And then lots of different heirloom veg.
23:20And what's happening up here, Josh?
23:22Towering above the marigolds, we've actually got some beautiful heirloom tomato varieties.
23:27So many different types.
23:28The colours are just really pop, don't they?
23:30Yeah, we've got about 16 different tomato varieties.
23:33That's gorgeous.
23:34Pretty impressive, yeah.
23:35And what's all happening on this side, Mitch?
23:37We've just come past our sort of legume block, which is now in our summer beans
23:41and now it's sort of morphing into our autumn crops.
23:43We've just started planting our brassicas.
23:45Here is our cucurbit block, so we've got outdoor cucumbers, zucchinis.
23:51And I imagine these massive concrete walls create a bit of a microclimate.
23:56Functionally, the walls are radiating all of this heat, they're deflecting all of this light,
24:01acting as a bit of a windbreak, you know, and keeping out those wallabies and those possums and rabbits.
24:07So very, very great.
24:08Yeah, that's probably the big one.
24:09Yeah.
24:10That's the winner.
24:11And I also hear you've got some more tropical plants that you're growing in your greenhouse.
24:14Very, yeah.
24:15Yeah, we do.
24:16All the crops that we can't grow outside, we've snuck into our little tropical space.
24:20I'm going to have to see those.
24:21Oh, let's go.
24:22Okay.
24:28Hannah, in here we have a diverse selection of tropical plants.
24:32Ah, gorgeous.
24:33Things that, you know, plants that you don't typically associate with Tasmania.
24:36Bananas.
24:37Bananas, of course.
24:38There's also curry leaf, macadamia, turmeric, finger limes, and of course, more tomatoes.
24:47Hello, fellas.
24:48Hello, Rod.
24:49Hello, Rod.
24:50What treats do you have for me?
24:52We have a...
24:53How does it feel to have such an incredibly abundant market garden literally at the kitchen
24:57doorstep?
24:58We're incredibly spoiled as chefs and I often say it's like an artist with a palette of paint.
25:05The more colours you've got, the more vegetables you've got, the richer your plate can be.
25:11You've actually got quite a lot of flowers happening as well.
25:14Flowers were never really part of my initial garden and we needed to decorate that beautiful
25:18restaurant space and bring some of that garden in for people to look at.
25:22And so the natural step was to grow some of our own flowers and that just enables us to be
25:29able to attract insects into the garden.
25:31So it's a wonderful double benefit.
25:33But I've really fallen in love with flowers and really learned to appreciate them.
25:40Everyone here agrees that the most important part of the garden is the compost.
25:46Imagine you get quite a lot of resources between the garden and the restaurant for all this amazing
25:51compost creation.
25:52We do.
25:53And really this is kind of the core of the garden, you know.
25:56It's cliche to say, but we say the cooking starts in the garden.
25:59And if it starts anywhere, it starts with the compost.
26:01And so I think we calculated about 12 tonnes of food waste a year we get coming through the kitchen.
26:07And so we collect all of that from paper to bones and shells and meat scraps.
26:12We separate out a few items and then that's what goes into this composting system here.
26:16And does that include meats, oils, all the things?
26:20Everything.
26:21Everything?
26:22Yeah.
26:23So Josh, what do you do with all the bones coming out of the restaurant?
26:25So we actually use the wood fire oven here on site to create this environment where we
26:30turn these bones essentially into charcoal, otherwise known as biochar.
26:35We shred all of that, mix it in a cement mixer with sawdust that's been used as stable bedding.
26:40That's our carbon.
26:41And then we add our inoculant and then it all goes into a green wheelie bin where it will
26:45sit and ferment and then it's turned into the big bay behind us here.
26:50And how long does this whole process take?
26:53It takes about a year.
26:54We're looking for at least a year of sort of curing because we find after that year we're
26:59getting this big explosion of biology and it seems to be at its most diverse.
27:03And really that's what we're trying to get into the garden space.
27:07So diverting the 12 tonnes of food waste has been great, but then through that process
27:11now we don't actually have to import any fertilisers into the garden.
27:14So you don't buy any compost in at all?
27:16No.
27:20Both Josh and I talk about how lucky we are and we feel very privileged at the job that
27:24we do.
27:25I think really getting to work with a lot of inspiring people working in a beautiful space,
27:30outdoors, and I think just working together towards something bigger with lots of people.
27:36Jane, you're obviously many people's gardening heroes, including ours, but I'm sure there's
27:49some skeletons in the closet.
27:51Tell me, is there a really precious plant that you actually killed?
27:55Well, we could all say many, but the one I bought my mum and dad, a 50th wedding anniversary rose,
28:02golden celebration.
28:03When they moved from Mildura down to Melbourne, I bought it with and it died.
28:08Oh, anyway, you have to move on, don't you?
28:11Yes.
28:12Have you got anything?
28:13Oh, yes. Mine hurts too.
28:14It was a variegated monstera, kind of just before the hype, but still it was expensive.
28:20Overwatered.
28:21Even, I tell people, don't, you know, just, but, hey, don't, yeah, you know, you can't
28:28fret about it.
28:29Well, it's still inside, so I'm sorry to bring it up.
28:32It's still inside, yes, it is, yes.
28:34I've lost count of how many things I've killed or how much money I've spent on plants
28:38that I don't even ever pot up, but I think my worst, and I still carry it with me, was
28:44actually killing a plant of a client's.
28:46I pruned it too hard, it was an old peach tree, and I'd done that before with other trees,
28:50but it was just a different location, different soil, salt winds, and it never really came
28:55back.
28:56I learned a big lesson.
28:57Were the clients happy or not?
28:59They were very forgiving and kind people, but, yeah, look, we all kill plants.
29:04If you're not killing plants, you're not gardening.
29:05It's a learning experience.
29:07Still to come on Gardening Australia, Josh checks out a native plant institution in WA.
29:17Clarence shows us how to cover a lot of ground, with natives, of course.
29:22And we meet an inspiring gardener who looks at her garden a little differently.
29:38Nepenthes, or pitcher plants, are like nothing else.
29:42These are tropical carnivorous plants.
29:45Most of them come from South East Asia.
29:48The one thing they have in common are these traps which they use to catch and digest their
29:54prey.
29:55There are huge variations on this theme, but they're very successful.
30:00And this one has had ants for lunch.
30:04They come in all shapes, sizes, and colours.
30:07And they delight beginners and collectors alike.
30:10And the pitchers they use to drown and digest their prey are as beautiful and intricate as
30:16they are morbid.
30:18They're pretty easy to grow, but in a cooler climate, they're best grown indoors.
30:23In the tropics and subtropics, they're easily grown outdoors.
30:27But there are a few quirks to growing them successfully.
30:31The first thing to do is to pick the right sort.
30:34There's over 150 species of Nepenthes, but your best bet is a hybrid variety.
30:41These have been bred specially for their resilience and vigorous growth, meaning it's no problem
30:47to grow them without the aid of a greenhouse.
30:49The hybrids know how to grow fast.
30:52The key thing to growing Nepenthes successfully is not to use regular potting mix.
30:58You see, in the wild, they grow in hollows in trees or fissures in rocks.
31:03And in both places, they're packed with organic matter, but they're freely draining.
31:09So the medium you grow them in has to mimic what they experience in the wild.
31:14This is a pre-made mix, and it contains composted bark, chunky perlite, and chunks of coir.
31:23You don't use granular coir for these plants.
31:27Now, at home, I use equal parts of all three things.
31:31And both this mix and my own mix work really well for a wide range of epiphytes, including Nepenthes.
31:38They're moisture-retentive, and yet they're full of air pockets, which is perfect.
31:44Keep the mix wet, but not submerged, and your Nepenthes will thrive.
31:50Fertilise twice a year using a slow-release fertiliser for orchids.
31:55Once in spring and once in summer for maximum growth.
31:59Nepenthes have a habit of climbing or scrambling through other plants,
32:04and they'll hold onto them with tendrils.
32:06So the best way to position them is against the lattice, or like this, in a hanging basket.
32:13But give them plenty of space.
32:16Nepenthes can be thirsty plants.
32:19When I grew them, I used to stand them in troughs of water.
32:22But look at this birdbath.
32:24It may be a little bit too deep, but you could stand a plant on a tile,
32:28and it can drink all it wants.
32:31Plus, the shape is like a hanging basket.
32:34So it can grow down all over.
32:36This is a perfect way to grow and display Nepenthes.
32:42There's some mixed information out there about how much sun these plants can take.
32:47But remember, some of these will grow on cliff faces.
32:51And so when the clouds part, they're exposed to full UV.
32:55And the hybrids can be quite sun tolerant.
32:58So in my experience, a north-facing position,
33:01where they can get up to four hours sunshine a day,
33:04can bring out the best in these plants.
33:08That's it.
33:09Enjoy these unique plants at your place.
33:17Climbing plants can be some of the most beautiful and useful in the garden.
33:21But you've got to choose carefully,
33:22because the wrong climbing plant can quickly get out of hand.
33:26They can be a monster to maintain.
33:28So I have a few tips for choosing well.
33:30The first one is ask yourself what job you want that plant to do.
33:33Do you want it to provide a huge amount of shade,
33:36or does it just need to grow up and cover a fence?
33:38If so, don't choose a giant plant.
33:41Or better still, you can even espalier a shrub.
33:43It'll do the same job.
33:44And once it gets to that height, it won't need loads of maintenance.
33:48The second thing is, when you've got your climbing plant,
33:51you need to think about how you're going to support it.
33:53Some are happy on a light wire or even a few bits of string,
33:57while others need some serious framework behind them.
34:00And the third thing is, when you put your climber in the ground,
34:03you need to train it from the start.
34:05The last thing you want is all of the growth at the top.
34:08Let it go horizontally.
34:09Train it along that frame and you'll get much better coverage in the long run.
34:13But the most important thing is to choose your climbing plants carefully,
34:17because they are for life.
34:25If you're lucky enough to have a local native plant nursery,
34:29you'll know just how valuable it is.
34:32It's not just about the plants on offer.
34:34It's also a community group,
34:36a place where people can pool resources and connect
34:41and share a common love of plants and the environment.
34:45Josh has found one in Perth that's a bona fide local legend.
34:51Like us gardeners, nurseries and garden centres are a broad church.
35:00We all have our favourites that suit our needs and the way we garden.
35:04Some are conveniently located retailers of plants and garden supplies
35:09that are an easy in and out on a busy Saturday morning.
35:14Then again, some become part of the very fabric of a community,
35:18because they offer something beyond the transactional.
35:21The nursery is the place to be.
35:23It's the place that connects humanity and nature.
35:27So the more down-to-earth a nursery can be,
35:31the more choices it can have,
35:33the more spaces it can give people,
35:36more people will come.
35:38And the longer a nursery's been there, it evolves.
35:42I began gardening as a kid not far from here in the 1980s,
35:47about the same time that this nursery was getting established
35:50on the banks of the Swan River in North Fremantle.
35:53For a lot of us in these surrounding suburbs,
35:55this place has been a key part of our gardening journey,
36:00but for reasons that are as individual as each of us are.
36:05Joanna Hayter heads up the team at A Pace Nursery
36:09and is in no doubt about what this place has come to mean
36:13to the local community.
36:15The vision that we have here is for a greener planet
36:18and a more connected world.
36:20We've always been about that,
36:22trying to advance environmental sustainability
36:25but also amplify social cohesion.
36:28Even within our own sort of workforce,
36:30a lot of those people are volunteers
36:33and many of those volunteers are people
36:35with real diversity of abilities.
36:37A Pace started with a very small group
36:43of local residents and researchers,
36:46like-minded in love for plants
36:49but also a deeper concern about ecology.
36:52So that was in the early 80s.
36:55So she's in her mid-40s now,
36:57she's ageing beautifully.
36:59Gracefully, with dignity,
37:01but yeah, it really was literally driven
37:04by the people of North Fremantle.
37:07We propagate the native plants
37:10of the Swan Coastal Plain and the Darling Scarp
37:12and that's everything from the seed collection
37:14of the provenance of this land
37:17right through to the propagation
37:19and revegetation services that go with that.
37:22Who are you servicing?
37:23Who are your main clients?
37:24It is really diverse.
37:26The whole thing of teach me.
37:29I know I need something and I want it to be native.
37:31Yeah?
37:32Right through to much more long-term
37:35and complex commercial arrangements, I guess,
37:38where we have a massive propagation
37:40for plant subsidy schemes once a year.
37:43We're working with 14 local councils at the moment.
37:47Those that are the nearest, the city of Frio, the city of Coburn,
37:51buy plants from us to be able to subsidise and distribute
37:54to the ratepayers of those suburbs, which is brilliant,
37:57and also to other sort of environmental groups as well.
38:03So it's almost like the seed knows more than what we do.
38:05While the retail of local plants continues to grow,
38:08as more Perth gardeners become aware of the benefits
38:11of using native species,
38:13this is still a relatively modest portion of the nursery's output.
38:17How many plants do you and the team produce each year?
38:20We produce close to 600 to 650,000 plants, Josh.
38:25Really? Yeah.
38:26Across how many species?
38:27You're looking at around 300-plus.
38:29About 85% of that goes back into land care or into reveg,
38:33and about 15% goes out through the retail section.
38:36If you're here from the beginning of prop season
38:39and then you're here at the very end
38:41when the plants are going out the door,
38:43it's quite a special feeling when you look at a label
38:45and you see your initial on the back
38:47and you know that you've been there from seed to sowing to care
38:52to a healthy plant that is then going out the door.
38:55I love plants.
38:56Look, I'm going to ask a really hard question
38:58and something that you really shouldn't put to a nursery manager.
39:01Yeah, OK. Oh, jeez.
39:03If you had to pick a few favourites amongst all of this...
39:06Yes, yeah, yeah.
39:07..what would they be?
39:08I have to include a banksia because we are in Perth...
39:12Respect.
39:13..and we are the only city in the world
39:15surrounded by a banksia woodland
39:17and it's a beautiful little banksia men's easy eyes.
39:19Yeah.
39:20You can get them in dwarf form or fully grown.
39:22They're incredible for habitat as a cut flower.
39:25They're beautiful.
39:26Well, you sold me on that one, so yes.
39:28Yes, props to banksia men's easy eyes.
39:30Yeah, well done.
39:31Another one of my favourites would have to be Leptocarpus.
39:34This is Leptocarpus discipiens.
39:36There's a few different ones around.
39:38It's a bit hard to see, but it has the most striking
39:41little burgundy sheaths on the side of them.
39:44You would find this in freshwater regions,
39:47not so much saline-y, salty water.
39:49But rushes are fantastic for habitat.
39:52Frogs, think about our little marsupials.
39:54It makes a wonderful cut flower as well, which is great,
39:57and they look really aesthetically.
39:59The third plant that I have selected, it's mostly, I feel like casuarinas
40:04or a la casuarinas are often overlooked.
40:06They are.
40:07And the location of a pace, we're right here.
40:09We're nestled on Derbal Yerrigan, Swan River, and what lines the river
40:14is these beautiful casuarina obesas.
40:16We don't realise, but we'll meet and gather there by the river,
40:19and often what we're standing under is a casuarina obesa.
40:23So they're a spectacular plant.
40:25Again, very good for endemic biodiversity, habitat, shade.
40:30I think it is a wonderful tree, yeah.
40:32Mate, I reckon you've picked three rippers, and for great reasons.
40:35Well done.
40:36Woo-hoo!
40:37Yes.
40:41It's a very broad, diverse atmosphere and workplace, really.
40:45Not because it's the right thing to do, although it is.
40:48It's also the fun thing to do.
40:50For example, we pay our staff to come to morning tea.
40:55Why do we do that?
40:56Well, because about half of our workforce are also volunteers.
41:00It's a very deliberate point of saying morning tea's really important.
41:04That's where we tell stories.
41:06Only rural is not allowed to talk work, and we hang out.
41:11How does the community garden fit into the bigger picture?
41:14It's just part of the picture of what we are.
41:18You know, it is a place for all.
41:20I think, for me, the heart in that garden is very important.
41:25The beauty of life, that you plant something and grow, and you produce something that wasn't there before.
41:36It's magic.
41:37It's magic.
41:38Lately, I change a little the design in the sense that I lost my husband and I'm only one taking care of the plot.
41:52It's a social activity with other gardeners.
41:55And you become a big family.
41:57And I just love it.
41:59It's creativity as well.
42:01Clearly, planting endemic native species is really good for this planet.
42:07And so we want to be part of not just the education and ability to help people to admire and love, you know, these plants.
42:17It's also that community and connection space as well.
42:21Joining other people in campaigns, standing by people that are doing good work in terms of protecting or maintaining land or flora or fauna or reefs or oceans, or this is all part of who we are.
42:36It's a philosophy that says we care about the planet, greener planet, connected world.
42:42Some ground covers are better than others at keeping out weeds.
42:53The best are those that can form a thick mat and also they have a bit of warmth about them.
42:58They'll outlast and vigorously compete with any weeds that might try to take hold.
43:03When planting in plenty of sun, Kanedia is a very pretty trailing ground cover.
43:09But I do find it's a little bit too open to stop weeds from coming through.
43:13Whereas, Myoporum parvifolium can create a dense cover in a short amount of time.
43:19Also, in full sun, you could try low-growing grevilleas.
43:24And go for the dense forms where there's layers of overlapping branches and leaves.
43:29Things get a bit tricky in shady areas.
43:31This is a fantastic ground cover.
43:34These are prostrate forms of Godinia ovata.
43:36And whilst it'll grow in sunshine, they're also happy in semi-shaded positions and can handle full shade.
43:42The thing with shade is that any native ground cover is probably going to be slower at growing
43:47than any shade-adapted weeds they're supposed to be competing with.
43:51But never give up.
43:52If you plant at closer spacing than you would if you were planting in full sun,
43:56that'll help to create a dense mat sooner.
43:59And also, in the interim, remain vigilant.
44:02Pull out any weed seedlings.
44:04And then, once established, in the shady area, Godinia is as good as gold at keeping out the weeds.
44:11Whether you're growing in sun or shade, if weeds are a constant problem, try to lessen their impact
44:17through things like sheet mulching with cardboard and a layer of good quality mulch
44:22to give new plants a head start getting established.
44:25Good morning, Father Bodine.
44:26Thank you for coming out.
44:31I'm sure a lot of Steve's bossомина於記者city favouritechs tenderly.
44:34Everything will be to your table for a thing, too.
44:35Yeah.
44:36So I can't answer the question, or maybe look at the best possible job?
44:38It should be group of folks.
44:39All I wanna find out of this problem.
44:41If I guess you want to be with G2 model with a quilt called Livestical cat one?
44:42Withoutソフゞクト North, I can't answer that other things.
44:44I can't do something I can.
44:46You, I can feel.
44:47How are you doing for that until I can't do things?
44:48I can't believe you.
44:49Hey, it should be told,
44:50I can't do somethingII.
44:51I can't Jill, you might be too early,
46:52From her roots as an environmental scientist to an advocate for her community, her family
46:58garden in Lismore has inspired it all.
47:01So, this is my front yard.
47:19There's so many random things planted here.
47:24We also have our chickens in this part of the garden.
47:26And I've learned that you've got to plant plenty of things so there's enough to share between
47:33us and the chickens.
47:35I plant closely together so that the chickens avoid that particular area.
47:44And I feel like we've achieved a really good balance so that it's my garden, but it's also
47:50a space that the chickens can enjoy as well.
47:52My name is Sigrid.
48:00This is my sign name.
48:02My sign name is a little bit random.
48:04It was given to me by my brother who gave me like a nickname.
48:09Doodoo.
48:10Doodoo.
48:11Doodoo.
48:12Doodoo.
48:13And so that kind of stuck.
48:14That's the sign for doodoo.
48:16Yeah, I get so easily lost in the details in this garden.
48:26I'm also a very sensory type of person, so I love to feel things.
48:32I like to look at things closely and just imagine.
48:36When I was younger, I always imagined myself as incredibly small.
48:40And what the world would look like from that perspective.
48:49So moss has always given me kind of like an escape.
48:57I can shrink myself and shrink my thoughts even.
49:04When I look in the garden, I love seeing that the moss is there and being able to just
49:09run my hands over it is so lovely and I just, I feel so happy from it.
49:14And it also shows just how healthy the system is here.
49:21So I, I use Auslan, Australian Sign Language.
49:25A-U-S-L-A-N is spelled, the abbreviation of Australian Sign Language.
49:30I was born deaf.
49:31My family did notice that I wasn't responsive to sound and my father was working out in the
49:41backyard.
49:42He's a builder.
49:45He was using power tools.
49:48And I was asleep, peacefully asleep.
49:50And at the same time, my grandfather said, I don't think Sigrid's hearing this.
50:00So I was tested and diagnosed at nine months of age.
50:05My family, my parents, my grandparents on both sides of the family.
50:10So all four grandparents and my parents would then go to TAFE and they learned Auslan.
50:20They actually learned Signed English, sorry, at that time.
50:23And they straight away fed that back to me and I was able to communicate with them.
50:29But they also introduced me to the deaf community, which meant that I was able to pick up Auslan
50:34as well.
50:34So I had access to language straight away.
50:43Most deaf people are born to a hearing family and they do face barriers.
50:50Access to language, language deprivation is a huge issue.
50:55I felt so lucky to have been born in this area because I had access to the deaf community,
51:01which is actually incredibly rare outside of capital cities.
51:04Yeah, I've been gardening since I was young because it's something that my family has done
51:18on both sides of my family for some time.
51:20We've always had gardens, different styles of gardens, but I've learned a lot from both
51:24sides of my family.
51:25My mother's father, my grandfather, he's always been a gardener.
51:31Most of the plants that I have here are from my grandfather or from friends and family.
51:36And when I walk around, I feel like just such a strong connection with different people.
51:42If I spot a plant, I think of the person that gifted me that plant.
51:48It feels like a really, it's like I'm in good company with my garden.
51:54I'm never lonely.
51:57I feel like everything I give to the garden, the garden gives back to me.
52:01If the plant community only has one type of plant, it's not a strong community.
52:15There isn't the ability for it to be resilient.
52:17It's more vulnerable and can break down quickly.
52:19But if you have a diverse community within the plant realm, different animals, different
52:25types of plants, different types of bacteria and all of those types of things, that ends
52:32up being a stronger community, which will actually survive through time.
52:39And how everything is interconnected.
52:42It doesn't matter how small it is.
52:43If you can't see it, or if it's huge, everything is connected.
52:50Diversity is important.
52:57I feel like the deaf community is so similar to the mushroom and fungi family.
53:04I'm so connected to that.
53:07I love seeing the deaf community like the mycelium network.
53:11There's connections, though they're distant.
53:14They're strong.
53:16It's healthy.
53:19And when the conditions are perfect, the support is there, the access is there for
53:24the deaf community, then you can, everyone pops up and you're able to see them.
53:28The community becomes more visible and aware of all of those things.
53:43It's time to make those gardening dreams a reality.
53:50Here's your list of jobs for the weekend.
53:52In cool areas, native grasses like poa lap can be cut back hard now, so they stay looking
54:03fresh and green.
54:05If you're drowning in zucchini, head into the kitchen to preserve the harvest.
54:10Knock up a giardiniera by soaking in vinegar and salt overnight, then layering in sterilised
54:17jars with olive oil.
54:19Inspect your beehives.
54:21If you see honeycomb on the lip, it may be time to give them more room by adding a super.
54:27In warm temperate areas, it's passata-making time.
54:32Break out the bottles and fire up the spremi pomodoro and you'll be tasting summer all year long.
54:39Set up some habitat for lizards so they can overwinter at your place.
54:44Large rocks, broken terracotta and corrugated iron are the current must-haves in reptile real estate.
54:53Agapanthus are about to start dropping seed everywhere, so thoroughly deadhead to stop them becoming
55:00a problem in your area.
55:02In the subtropics, if your banana is overloaded with fruit, prop bunches with bamboo poles
55:08as heavyweight harvests can snap the entire plant.
55:12While you're at it, throw down some poultry manure.
55:16Bananas have an insatiable appetite and monthly feedings will keep the bunches coming.
55:22Macadamia harvest is just around the corner, but remember to apply mulch to keep the roots
55:28cool and ensure good fruit set.
55:32Fruiting now in tropical areas is the sea almond.
55:36The large woody stone inside the fruit can be cracked to reach the tasty kernel inside,
55:43a favourite snack in the Taurus Strait.
55:46Cucumber can be grown from seed now.
55:49If you're short on room, try compact varieties like Space Master.
55:54If your mango's finished fruiting, give it a good prune to remove upward growth and old flowering stems.
56:00Arid gardeners, if your crops are struggling in the hottest part of the year, roll out some
56:06shade cloth during the day to help get them through.
56:10Russell sprouts must be planted now so they have enough time to mature in the colder weather.
56:17Flowering now is the Desert Fuchsia or Eremophila macdonnellii.
56:22This tidy shrub only gets to a half a metre tall and is covered in impressive purple flowers.
56:30Remember, if you've missed any episodes of Gardening Australia, you can catch up on iview anytime.
56:42Well, that's it for this week, but there is plenty left in the barrow to spread around for next time.
56:50Here's what's in store.
56:52I'm finding out what it takes to produce this delicious and bitter crop that needs to grow
57:00not only once, but twice.
57:03I'm visiting the home collection of the president of the Cactus and Succulents Society of Queensland
57:09and I'm very excited.
57:11And we meet someone living the country gardening dream.
57:16It really, for me, is a beautiful celebration of colour and form and texture.
57:21For me, a small garden has got to work hard.
57:24So, for me, my child hiçbir clue, I'll treat you with the notre de fashion.
57:28globally a weekend is a very nice colour.
57:30Here's probably one of our bedrooms that are in place to deliver Nazis and theseron IQs.
57:34We have plenty of dark ahi hatreds and weapons that don't take a lot .
57:35There's nobody histoire your nation yep !
57:36They are one of our Mohammeds coming true!
57:37We don't care about this one parece mattica that Dorothy can have rainforest or eclipses on the wrong path.
57:39We have plenty of freedom !
57:41They have plenty of food Coronado as well .