Gardening Australia Season 36 Episode 07,
Gardening Australia S36E07,
Gardening Australia ,
#GardeningAustralia
#FullEpisodes
#Season1
#SeriesYNovalasXTC
Gardening Australia S36E07,
Gardening Australia ,
#GardeningAustralia
#FullEpisodes
#Season1
#SeriesYNovalasXTC
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia from the Wollongong Botanic Gardens.
00:08We've got a bit of everything on this week's show. Stories for indoor plant
00:14lovers, for veggie growers and for fans of native flora. So let's get straight
00:21into it. I've come to beautiful Bruni Island of Tasmania's south east coast to
00:28visit a market gardener who's created a thriving veggie patch to bring fresh
00:32delicious produce to help feed the tiny Bruni Island community and visitors
00:38like me. So good eating fresh isn't it? The best fresh is best. Today I'm at the
00:44home of an internet sensation. You could call him a plant influencer whose
00:49passion for growing tropical plants on vertical poles has shot him to worldwide
00:55popularity. I'm going to explore some of the misinformation that's out there
01:01about our unique and beautiful native flora. Well folks, it's time for some
01:06myth-busting. And I'm visiting a property where the lay of the land has made the
01:11unexpected possible. A tropical garden in the Perth Hills.
01:18You know, Millie, she never stops, always on the go, juggling multiple garden tasks with
01:28her trademark energy and enthusiasm. Well, here she is getting stuck into her autumn
01:34to-do list.
01:41Autumn is a beautiful time anywhere that you garden, but here in the central highlands of Victoria, it is exquisite.
01:48Autumn is a beautiful time anywhere that you garden, but here in the central highlands of Victoria, it is exquisite.
01:56Those first frosts are just around the corner and there is a real chill in the air, but there's so much you can do right now to keep you well fed for the months ahead.
02:03Of course, autumn is absolutely known as the harvest season in cooler climates, and I am a
02:33harvesting, preserving and storing lots of things for the months ahead.
02:37Now, pumpkins are one of those fantastic crops, and I wait until this plant completely dies off, which has still got a bit of life in it before I bring them all in.
02:45But I've cut this one to show you a few tips for harvesting and storing pumpkins well.
02:49One is to cut it with a really long stem. You don't want to cut too close. You risk damaging, and that's where rot will enter.
02:56Also, have a really good look at each of your pumpkins. If there's any blemishes or points where they're starting to rot, straight into the kitchen.
03:03It won't store well. And the third thing is pop your pumpkins out in the sun, turn them and let the sun harden that skin up a bit.
03:10It'll mean that you can store them much longer and you'll be having pumpkin soup for months to come.
03:19While it's an important season to harvest food for myself, it's also a key time for harvesting and saving seed of varieties you want to grow again.
03:27This Thai basil has been an absolute standout this year, so I really want to save some seed.
03:33Different seeds do require different methods for saving, and some are more difficult than others, but this one is really easy.
03:41Now, there's some green foliage down the bottom, but I can hear that it is starting to get ready for seed saving.
03:48Now, that rustling indicates the bottom of some of these flower spikes is starting to dry off.
03:54Those little green seeds that are contained start to go black.
03:58So I just have a little look across, and as I found a dry spike with ripe seed, I put it into a paper bag.
04:06I'll pop the paper bag into a warm and dry spot, and over the next few weeks, those little seeds will ripen and fall to the bottom of the bag.
04:13Then I can just jar them up and pop them away until they're ready to sow next spring.
04:28Beans are another fantastic crop to save seed of because those flowers actually pollinate in most cases before they open, so they'll stay true to type.
04:36Now, this is one of my absolute favorites.
04:39It's a beautiful purple and white spotted seed, and it is a really delicious bean.
04:45So I'm making sure that when they're fully dry on that plant and on a dry day, I pick them, dry them, and then I can store them.
04:52This is a fantastic climbing food plant that this year I've grown out primarily to produce lots of seed.
05:09Now, it's got lots of great names across different cultures.
05:12Some people call it kiowa, others call it a chocha, others call it a slipper gourd,
05:16which gives you an indication of the size and shape of the fruit.
05:22When it gets to this size, some people also know it as the Bolivian stuffing cucumber because that's what you do with it.
05:28You take the end off, hollow it out, stuff it with something delicious, cook it up, and it is a great meal.
05:33But you can eat them at any size, either sliced up raw or even stir-fried.
05:38Now, to harvest the seed, it is really, really simple.
05:42Full of moisture.
05:48You can see these amazing dark seeds.
05:52I think they're one of the most incredible seeds I've ever seen.
05:55They look like a chip of bark.
05:56You wouldn't even see them on the forest floor, which I'm sure is why they look like that.
06:01They don't want to be eaten by any predators.
06:03But I'm going to save a whole lot of these and share some with some other gardeners this year.
06:07And it's as much of a good harvest as the food itself.
06:11Of course, you save seed so that you can sow them.
06:21So I've got a really basic mix here.
06:23It's just sieved potting mix and sieved leaf mould.
06:25And I want to sow something really, really special.
06:28Now, one of my best winter greens is this.
06:31It's called mush or corn salad.
06:33And it is incredibly cold-tolerant.
06:35Right through those cooler months, even the hard frost, it produces the most luscious, nutty and buttery salad green.
06:42Now, normally, it just self-seeds lightly in the garden.
06:44And I might over-sow with a little bit of extra seed.
06:47But last year, I had a really special mush pop up.
06:50It was variegated.
06:51It had distinctly variegated white and green foliage.
06:54And so I saved the seed of that specific plant.
06:57And instead of sowing it right out in the garden where it might get lost,
07:00I'm going to put it into these pots so I can keep an eye on it and see if I get another crop of variegated mush.
07:06Just sieving a small amount of mix over the top to cover those seeds.
07:21And then I'll pop them in the nursery and give them a drink.
07:23And in a few weeks, I should know whether these variegated mush seeds are going to persist
07:28and I'm going to have stripy salads.
07:30They might just revert to green.
07:32But that's the fun of seed saving.
07:34And you've got to risk it for the biscuit.
07:42The next crop I want to get in are the broad beans.
07:45And I sow them nice and early because we eat the leaves and the shoot tips right through winter
07:50before they even start to think about making seeds and pods.
07:53I've soaked some broad bean seeds in water overnight, including this Coles Dwarf variety.
07:59They are large seeds, so you want to make sure you plant them a couple of knuckles deep.
08:03As they mature, they'll want about 30 centimetres between each plant.
08:07But as a legume, they're great for soil fertility.
08:10So I over sow and thin them out later.
08:13Of course, as broad beans grow up, they are really spindly and they do need some support.
08:18So I've left the tomato stakes in.
08:20I'm going to use them with some string to create like a little grid network that they can grow through.
08:25It'll stop them from blowing over in those big spring winds.
08:28And hopefully it'll keep them well and truly in check.
08:40In the garden, you celebrate the here and now, but you are always looking forward.
08:44And winter is coming, which is the perfect time to plant so many of those deciduous trees.
08:49Got a plan here for a wall of pear trees.
08:52So it is a great time to prep the soil.
08:55Do the work now in autumn.
08:57And by the time you're ready to plant in winter, that soil is humming with life.
09:01Lazy lasagna soil prep is simple.
09:04I'm just forking to aerate the soil.
09:07I'm sprinkling on some gypsum because this is really heavy clay.
09:11Then a really thin layer of rotting straw.
09:14On top, a good dose of healthy compost.
09:18And then a straw mulch on top to keep it all moist and warm.
09:23The beauty of this method is you don't have to do any more work.
09:26Let the worms do it for you.
09:34Of course, of all the abundance, the jobs to do, the food to harvest,
09:40there is also an abundance of this stuff in autumn.
09:43It's leaves.
09:44It makes the best composted leaf mould.
09:46You'll use it for the rest of the year.
09:56You still here?
09:57Come on.
09:58It's time to leave.
10:01Yeah, good job.
10:08Is lichen on a tree trunk doing significant damage?
10:12Well, no, it's not.
10:13Lichen is a fascinating partnership of algae and fungi.
10:17And it comes in all different colours.
10:19You can get green or yellow or greyish green.
10:22And it's actually a good indicator that you've got good, clean air.
10:26And I just think you're going to do more harm than good
10:29if you try to take it off.
10:31So leave it be and then you can really appreciate the different colours and growths on it.
10:37It really is nature at its best.
10:40Why are my iceberg roses turning pink?
10:43Iceberg roses are famous for their bright white displays of flowers.
10:49And this pink is a result of a fungal infection caused by grey mould, Botrytis cinnarrhea.
10:56This is active in autumn.
10:58So if the petals become wet because of rainfall or overhead irrigation or even regular dew, this fungus can be a problem.
11:07What can I do?
11:08Well, you can deadhead the roses regularly or you could use a fungicide based on bicarbonate or soda.
11:16What's the difference between running and clumping bamboo?
11:20Running bamboo has long horizontal roots or rhizomes.
11:24They spread very quickly with new shoots emerging in places you may not want them.
11:29This growth is a lot like our common turf grasses and that's because bamboo is a grass.
11:35On the other hand, there are heaps of clumping bamboo cultivars out there.
11:39They have thicker rhizomes that spread much more slowly with new shoots popping up closer together, forming a clump.
11:46These are the recommended garden choices because they are low maintenance and they reduce spread into bushland or your neighbour's garden.
12:02Hello, my name is Jan, also known as Sydney Plant Guy.
12:06With close to a million online followers eager to hear what Jan Getman has to say about growing indoor tropical climbers,
12:14I thought I'd drop round and see just how this interest has captured a worldwide audience.
12:21German-born Jan lives in the northern Sydney suburb of Crow's Nest,
12:26where he's created a haven of plants he grows on moss poles.
12:31Vertical growing is his thing.
12:34Hi, Jan.
12:35Hi, Costa.
12:36Welcome to my jungle.
12:38Great to meet you, Jan.
12:40I can't wait to see the stars of the show.
12:42For sure.
12:43They're all inside.
12:45So, where did your passion begin?
12:49Yeah, it started five years ago and as a renter I figured I can't really do much about my apartment to improve on it apart from furniture and art.
12:59But I can't hang anything on the walls.
13:02So, I thought plants was a really good way to bring nature inside but also to just create a really nice atmosphere.
13:09So, you now have your own online channel.
13:11How did that evolve?
13:12Yeah, I mean, I was really heavily influenced by social media and I learned a lot about my hobby from social media.
13:18So, I thought it was just fair to give back and share my journey on there and inspire other people to maybe also discover plants for themselves.
13:27I would actually say that content creation takes up about 75% of my plant hobby at this stage.
13:33The actual plant maintenance is just a small aspect of what I do.
13:37I was able to quit my corporate job and actually grow plants full time.
13:42Well, should I show you what I grow inside?
13:44Oh yeah, go on.
13:45That is spectacular.
13:57They're massive.
13:59Yes.
14:00I mean, you talk about your passion for this as art.
14:04I mean, each one of those leaves is a piece of art in itself.
14:09Yes, and it's kind of like a green wall but as a renter I can't actually have a green wall.
14:14So, it's kind of like a modular green wall that I can piece together, I can swap plants around and I can also take it with me whenever I move.
14:22You know, the interesting thing when you look at it, you've got literally floor to ceiling but the footprint on the floorboards is really small pots.
14:34Yes, I want to have as many plants as possible and as a renter, space is precious.
14:41So, I grow them in really small pots but I grow them on poles and the poles act as a vertical extension of the pot.
14:49So, they're actually doubling the volume of root mass that the plant can produce.
14:54Really any growing medium could work.
14:56Yeah, like coconut coir, coconut chip and even orchid bark.
15:02Yeah, exactly.
15:03You just want it to be a growing medium so that the plant can actually grow the roots into it.
15:08So, who are these different family members?
15:11Yes, I have a specific taste.
15:13I like philodendron, I like the velvet texture of them and I like veining.
15:18So, over here we have mainly climbing philodendron.
15:21In general, most of the plants I grow are within the Aeroid family.
15:25They make a great house plant.
15:28These plants would be about three to four years old but all of the plants that I get start off really small.
15:34It's just more cost effective and I actually enjoy the process of growing them up and seeing them mature.
15:39So, I converted this little cabinet over here into like a little indoor greenhouse and all of my smaller plants live in there.
15:47When they're smaller, they're a bit more vulnerable.
15:49So, I want to make sure that they get the optimal conditions to grow up as fast as possible.
15:56So, what are some of the plants that you're growing up at the moment?
16:00Yeah, still all Aeroids.
16:02I really like my Aeroids.
16:04So, in there I've got a few anthuriums.
16:07I've got a few philodendron.
16:09For example, a philodendron melanocrysum.
16:12I've got a philodendron rugosum, also called pigskin, has a really nice texture.
16:17Just some smaller plants here and there that I think would have great potential in growing up eventually.
16:25Jan, I notice that you've got the plants all clustered in little islands.
16:31Is that predominantly about the light?
16:34Yes, precisely.
16:35Light will always set the growth potential.
16:37So, I'm choosing corners of my apartment that I feel like offer the plants good enough light to actually grow them to maturity.
16:46What other aspects are you working on?
16:49Yeah, we can generalise it and say conditions set the growth potential.
16:53So, I mean light, temperature, humidity as well as air flow.
16:57Now, living in Sydney, I'm pretty lucky.
17:00The temperatures are usually fine.
17:01In those few cold months during winter, I'm heating my house anyway.
17:05So, it doesn't really drop below 20 degrees, which serves these tropical aeroids really well.
17:10I also live quite close to the ocean.
17:12So, naturally, humidity is high.
17:15Approximately 60%, which again suits them really well.
17:18And when it comes to air flow, I don't mean blasting them with wind or cool draft, but I just mean fresh air and air circulation.
17:26And that just really makes the plant grow strong and healthy and prevents fungal diseases or fungal issues with your plants.
17:33So, how do you water and feed them?
17:35It's actually super easy and efficient.
17:37I just have a bottle with water and nutrients in here and I flip it upside down on the moss pole and I let gravity do the rest for me.
17:49So, Costa, when the plants outgrow my indoor space, they go out here.
17:53Look at this.
17:54I mean, that is a really impressive green wall.
17:59And again, you've just got small pots, yet all of this foliage and growth and a screen to, you know, two and a bit metres.
18:08Yeah, I mean, it's pretty much instant privacy from the neighbours.
18:12But yeah, it's this same approach as inside.
18:14I just use moss poles and I just arrange them and I can just switch them around.
18:19It's that modular approach in creating a green wall to fill a space, but I can always take it with me wherever I go.
18:26How lovely is it that plants have really captured not just your heart now, but your whole life?
18:34Yeah, it definitely was life changing for me.
18:37The whole journey started off by just trying to grow plants as artworks in my house.
18:42I'm drawn to these aeroids because they have these stunning foliage like anthuriums with their velvets and the veining.
18:49But over the years, I've really developed this heightened appreciation for plants and nature at large.
18:54And I really enjoy the journey that I've made as a result of that.
18:58From an indoor jungle to the bracing sea air of Tassie now, as we join Hannah on her journey to an extraordinary productive garden.
19:17I'm taking a trip off Tasmania's south east coast to wild and beautiful Bruni Island.
19:24And as we cross the Dontrecasto Channel, it really does feel like we're travelling to a special place.
19:38Bruni Island is really two land masses joined by a sandy isthmus known as the Neck.
19:44Apart from the absolutely stunning views up here on this lookout, you can also clearly see North and South Bruni.
19:54Now, both have the same cool temperate climate.
19:57However, South Bruni has more rain while North Bruni is a bit drier.
20:02And that's where I'm heading today.
20:05Off to visit a market gardener who still managed to create an incredibly productive patch despite North Bruni's sometimes challenging conditions.
20:1312 years ago, Jo Smith moved from her Hobart apartment to North Bruni Island.
20:22G'day Jo.
20:23Oh, hi Hannah. How are you going?
20:25Oh, so happy to be here.
20:27So nice to see you. Welcome to our garden.
20:29It's looking so beautiful.
20:31Oh, thank you. Yes, we're just trying to plant every nook and cranny with seedlings.
20:37I can see that. It's definitely full of everything but so much life everywhere.
20:42Yeah, yeah. Do you want to come and have a look?
20:44Oh, I'd love to. Yeah, come on then.
20:47So what kind of things are happening this time of the year, Jo?
20:50Well, it's so busy. We're transitioning from our summer crops with the pumpkins.
20:55And then we're moving into the autumn winter gardens where we've got the kales and the brassicas, the broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, which is all my favourite.
21:03I love growing in autumn.
21:05Do you know what's really cool? The fact that 12 years ago, you didn't know any of this.
21:09I didn't even know how to grow a carrot, Hannah.
21:11Yeah.
21:12So I've taught myself basically everything and I've just really connected to the season and what's going on with the climate and just taught myself how to grow food.
21:23It's so great to remember that even in cool temperate Tasmania, you can grow and eat all year round.
21:28All year round. Yeah, so we eat mostly all our own produce all year round and it's just about the timing.
21:35We've got the kiwi fruit here. Yep. And then through here, beautiful silver beet. Pumping along. Pumping along with lettuces.
21:50So big. I just love these sunflowers. I know. So beautiful. I want to pat them. I know.
21:58So Jo, when you first got here, this whole area was just a compacted empty paddock.
22:03How have we managed to grow such a pumping garden?
22:06Yeah. So it was a whole paddock of capeweed and we wanted to really preserve the land and to regenerate the land.
22:14And so we started with a no dig approach. So a layer of cardboard.
22:19And so we did a whole paddock in cardboard and then a layer of straw and then lots of manure and then compost.
22:27And then we just kept going and like we built like a big healthy lasagna. And the best thing is about it is that you can plant in it straight away.
22:34Yes. Which I love. And you can see just what an amazing productive garden that creates.
22:39Yeah. I think it's one of the best ways to garden, especially for us because we have clay soil.
22:44So you can't even get a crowbar into the earth.
22:49I imagine creating this productive garden has helped integrate yourself with the broader Bruni Island community.
22:55Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I love giving people food. I love supporting their health and their wellbeing.
23:01But not only that, I love seeing like my children in the garden with their friends and running through and getting berries or carrots out of the ground.
23:12And it just feels really wholesome, really nourishing.
23:16Only around 1000 people live year round on Bruni and there's very limited access to fresh food.
23:23Jo started selling and donating veggie boxes to community members and nowadays she also supplies fresh organic produce to local restaurants and chefs.
23:32Oh, fantastic.
23:35While I've been getting a tour, Jo's friend and local chef, Simon Ford, has been whipping up a delicious lunch for us using fresh organic produce from the garden.
23:46What have we got in all this amazing food, Simon?
23:49I've just done a frittata with just whatever she had.
23:53She's got some squash in there, tomatoes.
23:56There's some chicken eggs from Jo as well.
23:58And there's the eggplant kasundi on top.
24:00Everything comes straight out of the ground and basically onto the plate.
24:03So it's just fantastic.
24:05Doesn't get any better than that.
24:06No, it doesn't.
24:12That kasundi is delicious.
24:15With produce, it's good.
24:17It sounds funny coming from a chef, but it requires very little intervention from me.
24:22You know, a bit of salt and pepper, a little bit of butter because I am a chef.
24:26That's about it most of the time.
24:28Yeah, the food speaks for itself, doesn't it?
24:31The flavours are already there.
24:33It's got to let them shine through.
24:35You can't beat homegrown veggies at all.
24:38It's the best, Jo.
24:39Oh, no, thank you.
24:40Yeah, good job, Simon.
24:41Yeah, well done, Simon.
24:42For people watching along at home, Jo, they might think you actually have some pretty easy growing here
24:52because everything looks so lush.
24:54Yeah, well, that's thanks to no-dig gardening.
24:56But you would say that we grow in a dry climate.
25:00It's so dry here.
25:03I kind of wish I knew that when we brought the land and I probably would have, you know,
25:07purchased a house down south of the island because they get a lot more rainfall down south.
25:12You know, if it's going to be 20 mils of rain for Bruni Island, we'll probably get 5 mil, you know,
25:17because that's how dry it is.
25:19And not only that we have less rainfall, but we also struggle with the wind here.
25:25We have winds coming in sometimes at 80 to 100km smashing through the garden.
25:32So it's a really hard place to grow food.
25:35And so we've put in lots of microclimates.
25:38I think that's really important to do, whether it's like adding in like the wind breaks as we've done with the corrugated iron or, you know, planting trees.
25:45And then you've just got to work with Mother Nature, you know, fortunately, unfortunately.
25:58There are two dams on the four hectare property, which have helped keep the garden going during dry times.
26:09As well as contending with challenging growing conditions on North Bruni,
26:14Jo's also faced some difficult personal times here.
26:19There's lots of reasons why I've started this garden.
26:22Obviously, I wanted to grow food to be more self-sufficient.
26:26And I think that's really important.
26:28But the other thing that I really love about this garden in particular is it's got me through postnatal depression.
26:35It really got me through some really dark times.
26:39So if you can imagine, I'm a brand new mum.
26:42I've come home from hospital to what can be an isolating island.
26:46And it was just a way for me to, I don't know, find myself again.
26:53Not that I was ever lost.
26:55But when you're a brand new mother to twins, it's really hard.
26:59And it was just a way for me to kind of nurture myself and get my hands into the earth.
27:07And that's really, really supportive to one's wellbeing is when your hands are in the soil.
27:12It's like my meditation.
27:14It's like I come out here and I don't have to think.
27:17I don't have to.
27:18I can just let go of the world.
27:20I love this community so much.
27:26Like they're really special to me and I love nurturing them.
27:29And I get really emotional about it because you have to be really resilient here to live here.
27:35And I think that I've worked so hard in this garden.
27:40And I think it really does mean a lot to the community.
27:44Yeah.
27:45What would you say to Jo 12 years ago from Jo today?
27:49Well done, Jo.
27:52You did it.
27:54It's been really hard work, Hannah, but it's been really worth it.
27:58Yeah.
27:59Congratulations.
28:03Still to come on Gardening Australia,
28:06Jerry's busting some myths about growing natives.
28:11Sophie profiles some hardy Mediterranean plants that could be useful in your garden.
28:18And Josh is in the tropics.
28:20Well, an unlikely tropical garden in the Perth Hills.
28:30Flowers are so beautiful, but they only bloom for a short time and then they're gone.
28:35But what about if you could have them as a keepsake forever?
28:38Well, now you can.
28:39Using a nifty process using clear resin to make some flower coasters.
28:44With this method, the flowers keep their colour and their shape and stay protected.
28:49And we'll make a stylish addition to your home decor.
28:52Even though we're going to shape them into coasters to put your drink on,
28:56you can apply the same technique using different moulds to make things like jewellery and Christmas decorations.
29:02To make the coasters, here's what you'll need.
29:05Dried flowers.
29:07Resin kit, available at craft stores.
29:10Silicone mould.
29:11The resin won't stick to the silicone.
29:13Eye protection.
29:16Gloves.
29:17And a mixer.
29:18Like a chopstick or ice cream stick.
29:21Before we start mixing, let's sort out our flowers.
29:24We need to use dried flowers because we need to stop the moisture in the flowers from creating pockets of mould inside the resin.
29:32Flowers can be picked from your garden and left to dry on a paper towel by a sunny windowsill.
29:37It should take about a week.
29:39Try to avoid fleshy flowers like camellias and roses as they're too hard to dry out properly.
29:47Assemble your flowers in the base of the mould.
29:49Feel free to try a few different patterns because once the resin's poured in, there's no going back.
29:55Now it's time to mix the resin, but before we do, a couple of precautions.
30:07We're using two chemical components triggering a reaction to create a solid.
30:12It's very important to do this outside in a well-ventilated area.
30:16Have protective gloves, glasses and a mask.
30:19Resin drips don't come out of clothing, so maybe wear something from the back of the closet.
30:24Also, any equipment we use cannot be reused for food purposes.
30:28You'll need to know the capacity of your mould to understand how much resin and hardener you'll need.
30:34For example, if your mould was 50ml, you'll need 25ml of resin and 25ml of hardener.
30:43Once you've measured them out, pour them both into a mixing jug
30:47and mix the contents with a paddle pop stick or disposable chopstick.
30:52Make sure you mix slowly because otherwise, if you do it too quickly, you'll create air bubbles and you don't want that.
31:02Now slowly pour the resin into the mould over the top of the flowers.
31:06You may need to use your paddle pop stick to press the leaves or the flowers to the base of the mould.
31:23They have a tendency to float to the top when you pour the resin in.
31:27And if you've got any air bubbles, I've got a tip for you.
31:32Use alcohol spray and just gently spray the surface.
31:40Now let your coaster set for about 24 hours.
31:47Now that it's hard, we can remove it from its mould.
31:49Doesn't it look great?
31:50The good thing about this coaster is that it's unique, one of a kind, and you can remember your garden every time you have a drink.
32:02Did you enjoy our native plant special last week?
32:20If you missed it, head on over to iview and catch up.
32:24I know you'll enjoy it.
32:25Now we hope it inspired you to get experimenting with growing natives in your garden.
32:33But look, if you're still sitting on the fence, Gerry's here to push you over the edge by busting a few common myths.
32:41Australia is home to a beautiful diversity of native plants.
32:55There's at least 23,000 species and counting that can be found here.
33:01Many are well-suited additions to any garden, where they provide visual appeal, seasonal interest,
33:07habitat for local wildlife, and an authentic sense of place.
33:13But as the industry has grown, so too has some of the misinformation about what it takes to garden with these unique plants.
33:22So it's time to put some of these ideas to bed once and for all, and to do some native plant myth-busting.
33:30The first myth going around about Australian native plants is that they're all drought-loving survivors, happy in arid environments, dry soils and roasting sunlight.
33:45But it's not true.
33:46Plants that are native to wet tropical cairns, or soggy parts of southwest Tasmania, are just as native as the plants that grow in the goldfields of Western Australia.
33:57But there are some plants that must have some water just to survive.
34:04And here's two examples.
34:05This delicious native mint, and this wonderful herb, paddy herb from northern Queensland.
34:15For home gardeners, this means if there's a damp, shady corner in your garden, or a pond, a dam, or even a birdbath,
34:23there's plenty of native plants to fill that hole.
34:28Some of my favourites are Crinum Asiaticum Variety pedunculatum, the world's largest bulb,
34:35and my Pouteria australis, or rainforest plum, which hails from wet rainforests.
34:42And there's my Boenia cycad and fork fern.
34:45The second myth is that native plants are messy.
34:50Some people are hesitant to take the plunge into the native plant world,
34:55because they fear those plants won't fit their particular garden aesthetic.
35:00Something which is neat, trimmed and tidy.
35:03Many native plants look better if they're allowed to achieve their natural form, a bit like this Pandanus.
35:13But there are plenty which respond really well to a heavy prune, and some can even be hedged.
35:19One of the most popular hedging plants around is claret tops.
35:26This Melaleuca can be trimmed to any shape or size.
35:30You can even bonsai them.
35:32Also, Great Balls of Fire is a bottle brush which makes a beautiful, lush, neat hedge.
35:39It pays to experiment.
35:41This is a hedge of Hibiscus insularis.
35:43There's only one plant left in the wild.
35:46It doesn't get rarer than that.
35:48But what I was looking for when I created this hedge were two things.
35:53Firstly, there's a short internode.
35:56That's the gap between the branches.
35:58And that allows you to clip a plant into tight, interesting shapes.
36:04The other thing is small leaves.
36:06They don't look bad and tatty after you've done the trimming.
36:09So if you have a native plant with both of those characteristics in your garden,
36:15you might be able to create an entirely unique hedge.
36:19Westringer is another native classic widely used exactly because it can be pruned and clipped into almost any shape required.
36:28Even Malaeucalyptus can be coppiced right down to the base from where they'll happily regrow.
36:34If you're not sure how a native plant will respond to pruning, ask at the nursery.
36:41Or have a look online and you'll find some really inspirational ways that people are using them in their gardens.
36:49The next myth I'd like to bust is that native plants don't need much care.
36:54Part of the fun when looking for new things for your garden is looking for new varieties of plants.
37:04Things like new flower colours or new forms or perhaps some fun frilly foliage.
37:10Many of these creations are what's known as cultivars, varieties of plants created by plant breeders for specific characteristics like flower size and colour, habit, shape or overall size.
37:26These are distinct from the wild type species which remain unchanged from those that you would see growing in natural areas.
37:37Native plants are no exception and indeed many of our favourite plants are actually cultivars.
37:43Grevillea Robin Gordon, Banksia Birthday Candles and Harden Burgia Happy Wanderer are three famous examples.
37:52Compared to their original wild parents, the cultivars will often have larger flowers, leaves and grow in a particular form.
38:00Generally speaking, cultivars require more water, fertiliser and care than their wild ancestors needed.
38:10And that's because they've been specifically bred to look pretty in a garden or to fruit, rather than subsist on what Mother Nature throws at them.
38:21For example, this finger lime is grafted so it can grow on a wide range of soil types.
38:26For the first 10 years I got hardly any fruit at all because I didn't understand just how much water this needs to fruit prolifically.
38:36For the home gardener, this means if you buy a cultivar, be aware it will need slightly more upkeep to perform at its best.
38:45And the last myth that I'm busting is native plants aren't weeds.
38:50Weeds are a serious problem in Australia. Every year they cost the government, us, billions of dollars to limit the damage they cause.
39:03Worse, they threaten the livelihoods of our precious native plants and animals.
39:09Unfortunately, many of them arrived as innocent garden plants.
39:14While the vast majority of environmental weeds are exotic species, some are from Australia, including our national wattle, Acacia pycnantha.
39:26And along the east coast of Australia, the umbrella tree from North Queensland can be a significant weed.
39:33It is known to produce 300 seedlings per square metre in Brisbane.
39:38Australia is a big place, and when certain species are planted in an area where they never naturally occur,
39:46they may have a sudden opportunity to exploit the environment in a way that nature never intended.
39:53Another good example is Acacia baileana, or Cootamundra wattle.
39:58Originally hailing from a very limited pocket of inland southern New South Wales, its use in gardens, and as a street tree, spread it around,
40:08where it was able to shed copious seeds.
40:11As a result, it's become naturalised and a weed in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT.
40:20And wherever it's been planted overseas, it's become a common weed.
40:25Ask any gardener in South Africa, New Zealand or the USA.
40:32As home gardeners, it's important for us to do the responsible thing.
40:37Check your plant wish list for potential weeds.
40:42You see, the wrong native plant in the wrong place can be just as problematic as an exotic one.
40:49So, don't let myths and misconceptions get in the way of your gardening game.
40:55Do the research and, in full knowledge, enjoy!
40:58When people ask what plants to choose, that are stylish, water-wise and easy to grow,
41:14Mediterranean plants quickly come to mind.
41:17It's a rich vein to mind for horticultural inspiration.
41:21There are literally thousands of plants that are not only highly ornamental,
41:26they'll also survive and thrive in uncompromising weather,
41:30which is handy if you live in a climate such as mine.
41:32This is Flomus or Jerusalem sage.
41:37It gets its name from its furry foliage, which looks like culinary sage,
41:41but this is not one that you can eat.
41:43It's a family of plants and most have yellow or lemon flowers.
41:47And they're characterised by these interesting hooded flowers that come in whirls up the stem.
41:52This one's been flowering for several months and they usually flower from spring till autumn.
41:57The interesting thing about them is that when they finish flowering,
42:01if you look down the stem, you'll see new shoots coming and you cut just above that.
42:06It's showing you where to prune it.
42:10Artemisia, or wormwood, is a family of fabulous foliage plants.
42:15They rain from ground covers up to tall hedges.
42:18And most of them have silvery, ferny foliage.
42:21This particular one is called Artemisia absinthum.
42:25It's what they make absinth from.
42:26And it grows to about a metre high.
42:29Whereas I also grow the taller hedging variety called tree wormwood,
42:33Artemisia arborescens, which can get two metres high and forms a great hedge.
42:43Salvias are garden staples and with good reason.
42:47They're adaptable, reliable and so generous with their colour.
42:50So it's little wonder that you see them on Gardening Australia all the time.
42:55There are two that are my particular favourites.
42:58This one is called African Skies.
43:01It comes from South Africa.
43:03It has hardy, fresh green leaves and smothered itself with these beautiful blue flowers for most of the year.
43:10Another one is Celestial Blue.
43:13That comes from California.
43:14It's got greyish, aromatic foliage and interesting whirls of flowers up the stems.
43:20It also flowers for a long period from spring till autumn.
43:24And both of these take full sun, harsh conditions and once established, they'll even survive here without supplementary watering.
43:32If you're looking for a tough plant that will bloom for many months with very little pampering and won't get ahead of itself.
43:41Well, you can't go past Nepeta or Cat Mint.
43:44There are lots of different forms.
43:45The most popular form is the low one called Walker's Blue or Walker's Low.
43:50It gets to about 30 centimetres high, flowers from spring till autumn with beautiful purple blue flowers and makes a great edging for a garden bed.
43:59This is a taller form called Six Hill Giants.
44:02It's still just as beautiful, doesn't flower quite as long, but it's just as popular with the bees and gardeners around the world.
44:08So why not give one a go?
44:19Of all the things I love about working on Gardening Australia, and look, I use the word work very loosely, it would be the opportunity to uncover so many delightfully surprising gardens.
44:32Well, Josh has found an absolute cracker in the Perth Hills.
44:40Perth may be situated on the west coast, but residents here in the hills of the city's eastern fringe are the last to feel the cooling afternoon sea breeze.
44:49In summer, it gets hot, so coming up here to find a tropical oasis is a lush and cooling surprise.
45:08All of this is the work of Hazel Granville, whose knack for gardening goes hand in hand with the design and construction talents of her husband, Alec.
45:17Hello, welcome, Josh.
45:21Thank you. Wow. Look at this.
45:24Oh, yes, I love my tropical garden.
45:28I feel like I've been transported to an exotic location.
45:32What inspired you to create this style of garden?
45:35Well, I was born in Malaysia and grew up in Penang.
45:38And so to me, a garden is lush, lots of green, lots of foliage.
45:42And when I became interested in gardening many, many years later, I thought I wanted to recreate something of my childhood.
45:51It was going to be a tropical look garden.
45:53So that's what we came up with.
45:55It's amazing looking out into this lush canopy, but I've got this sense I want to get down there and have a close look.
46:00Yes, there are lots of nooks and crannies you can get round to and twists and turns.
46:05You can get lost down there.
46:12This type of garden does rely heavily on water.
46:16What is it about this site that's made that possible?
46:18Well, when we first bought the block, there was nothing.
46:22It was swamp.
46:24So we tried our first garden was normal garden.
46:27We had lawn for the children to play on, to run, to play cricket.
46:30But it was too wet.
46:32It just didn't grow.
46:34We grew trees to try and soak up the water.
46:36We had melaleucas down the bottom.
46:38They're enormous now, but it still wasn't successful.
46:42This was just a mud hole.
46:43So we thought we'd go with the flow.
46:46We'd plant things that like the water.
46:49So we experimented and anything that grew well, we just kept repeating.
46:54And that's what we've ended up with.
46:57You've got a range of palm types here.
46:59How did you go about choosing the right ones for this spot?
47:02Well, when we first started, we didn't have much money.
47:06We wanted something that was quick growing.
47:08So we didn't know much about palms.
47:10So we found vangalows.
47:13We've got alexandras.
47:15We have the phoenix robellini, the little pygmy date palm.
47:19We have the flamethrower palm, which is one of my favourites.
47:23We have the queen palm.
47:25I can't remember all the other palms.
47:27I love them all.
47:29But my favourites are the tree ferns.
47:32They've just grown huge and now they're self-perpetuating.
47:36I don't even have to buy any more tree ferns.
47:37It's such a thrill to see a little bit of green and then eventually it shoots up into a little tree fern.
47:52The tropical vibe moves out into your mixed orchard here as well.
47:55Well, I started off with two candlenut trees.
47:59They were this big and now they've grown enormous.
48:02I use the candlenut for Indonesian cooking for rendang.
48:05It makes it really nice and rich.
48:07I've also got a longan.
48:09This year it's full of blossom and I know I will get lots of visitors when the fruit are right.
48:14Family love them.
48:15My other favourite is my lychee.
48:18This is a good year full of blossom.
48:20We must net it before the possums beat me to the fruit.
48:23I've also got mangoes, guava, avocado, lime, persimmon.
48:31When they're ripe, we just pop out here and we pick a fruit or two and carry on working in the garden.
48:36Come on, chooky-chook-chooks.
48:41Yeah, chooky-chook-chooks.
48:43And you found a sunny spot for your veggie garden.
48:46About the only sunny spot in the whole garden here.
48:49We've got rotational beds, we've got worm farm, we've got compost and the chickens.
48:55It works really well and you know what?
48:58I learnt that from Gardening Australia.
49:00Keep it all together and it's successful. We've done it.
49:02Well, it looks great and well done for you for putting it all into practice.
49:11Because we moved here in 1983.
49:15We didn't actually start the garden at that time.
49:18We started it quite a bit later.
49:20Probably 20 years ago is when we worked on it in earnest.
49:24When the children were a bit older, we had more time and a bit more money.
49:28And we had the vision then.
49:30Not in the very beginning.
49:31I love that bit up there.
49:33Anything with the actual gardening is Hazel's responsibility.
49:37Anything about creating things that are not gardens is mine.
49:44One of the main reasons for getting this part of the garden done was our daughter's wedding.
49:49She wanted to get married in our garden and we had only eight months to do it.
49:53My daughter said, I'd really like to have a photograph of all the people in the wedding in this position, but I can't do it in the middle of a creek bed.
50:03So can you build a boardwalk over the top, Dad?
50:07Ah, yes, dear.
50:09So I did.
50:10What has been your design process here?
50:14After our first initial mistakes, we read a lot and we drew up a plan because all the books say you've got to draw a plan, you've got to have an idea.
50:23So we did and we plotted out the plants.
50:26We didn't plot specific plants.
50:27We just said we need a fast growing one here.
50:30We need shade plants here.
50:31And then we sourced the plants.
50:34It grew that way, but then it's kind of taken over on its own now.
50:38We started that way, but now the garden has grown organically.
50:41Yeah, and we really wanted to make it look as if the garden's been here for a long time and we've moved into it, not the other way around.
50:50I think we hopefully have achieved that.
50:56Water is necessary in a tropical garden, but it's the sound of water that really is nice as well.
51:03We have the main pond with the fish in.
51:05I pump the water up into this pond and it gravity feeds back.
51:11So we have a swimming pool, which is actually an above ground pool, but I've built a deck around it.
51:16So, yeah, we really like water in this garden.
51:20Whilst tropical plantings are a key feature of this part of the garden, I see that you've also got an area dedicated to native species.
51:28Yes.
51:29Well, when I was young at university, I learnt about the Wallace Line.
51:33It fascinated me.
51:35You're referring to the biogeographical boundary that separates species from Australia and Papua New Guinea.
51:41And Southeast Asia.
51:42That's right.
51:43When we were building this house, the top half of the garden was natural bush anyway.
51:48So I thought, well, why don't we go with the flow and make that the Australian side?
51:53That's the other side of the Wallace Line and the house and the driveway are the line.
51:57So we've got both worlds meeting, you see, the Australian side and then the Asian side.
52:02Oh, great, Alec.
52:03I'm here.
52:04Good.
52:05Has designing the garden into these different zones helped you manage your watering and fertilising needs?
52:14Definitely.
52:15Definitely.
52:16So much easier.
52:17The top garden doesn't need as much water.
52:19So the plants there are thriving.
52:21We have mainly plants that are native to this area and plants that would attract the birds and the insects of Australia.
52:31This part of the garden actually requires very little fertilising.
52:34It's a lot of leaf litter and a lot of natural fertilising.
52:38It certainly is a lot less maintenance down here now.
52:41There's no weeds.
52:42All the mulch and the leaf litter that stops the weeds from growing.
52:46And as the mulch ages, we throw the old mulch into the garden, into the plants,
52:51and then Alec refreshes it with new mulch.
52:58We've worked together pretty well, I think.
53:00Yeah, I think we do.
53:01Yeah.
53:02I feel like there's no major projects to go anymore now.
53:04It's really just maintenance and relaxing and enjoying it.
53:08You know, come out here and have a coffee on the deck in the morning.
53:11It's really just lovely being in this nice environment.
53:18We're happy.
53:19We're happy with what we've done.
53:20We love it here.
53:29You know what I'm delivering in my cart right now?
53:32It's your list of jobs for the weekend.
53:34So head on out there and tick a few off.
53:37Enjoy your time in the garden.
53:41We love it.
53:42We love it.
53:46In cool areas of the country, it's time to get your garlic in.
53:50Remember to soak cloves in water overnight before planting.
53:55Give summer flowering perennials a good tidy up prune to keep the good times rolling for next year.
54:02If you're giving woody herbs like rosemary and lavender an autumn cutback, remember to save and dry the clippings to keep your linen cupboards smelling fresh.
54:13In warm temperate areas, look out for aphids on epiphytic orchids like dendrobiums.
54:19Take them out with your fingers or apply pyrethrum.
54:23Sow broad beans directly into the soil.
54:26To avoid over-watering, water at planting and then hold off until you see two open leaves.
54:32Looking for a quick feed in the turnover between summer and winter crops?
54:37Plant seedlings of Asian greens now.
54:41Subtropical gardeners, apply some sieved compost to your lawn to build up nutrients before winter rains.
54:49Plant ochre tubers after chilling in the crisper of your fridge for a few weeks.
54:53Harvest before the humidity of summer starts.
54:57As multiplier leaks start to resume growth, lift and divide any offsets to replant or share.
55:05In the tropics, if the foliage of your galangal has started to die back, it's time to harvest the rhizome.
55:12Watermelon seed can go in now.
55:15Sow direct in raised mounds and make sure there's enough room for them to grow.
55:19Snow pea seeds can also go in.
55:23Try supersized varieties like Oregon Giant and Mammoth for ginormous results.
55:30Arid gardeners, now's the time to plant passion fruit.
55:34Remember they like company, so plant two spaced 50 centimetres apart.
55:40Get your hands on the tough native lemongrass to add some verve to your herb bed.
55:45Ethiopian cabbage can be grown year round in arid areas.
55:50But the best time to sow is now.
55:53Autumn's a great time to be out in the garden.
55:56Let us know what you've been up to in your patch by heading over to the Gardening Australia pages on social media.
56:03I say it often, but seriously, where did that hour go?
56:15Time flies when you're lost in a garden.
56:18And we hope that it flies by until next week, when we can all be together again.
56:23Here's what's in store.
56:28I've got the lowdown on where our chocolate comes from.
56:32As well as some ideas to decorate your eggs.
56:36Using plants of course.
56:38And we find out how the RSPCA is helping rescue bunnies feel right at home.
56:45Did I mention plants are the key?
56:47It's time to think about autumn planting.
56:50And we've all got places in the garden that need a change or a complete reset.
56:54I'm going to take this native frangipani as part a place in the centre of some beautiful native colour.
56:59Convert this into a garden space that gives you rewards rolling into summer and many years to come.
57:03I'm thrilled to be visiting the home veggie garden of an Australian legend, the incomparable Maggie Beer.
57:12And I'm hoping I might even get to sample some of her cooking.