Gardening Australia – Christmas Special 2019: In a Christmas special, Costa and Sophie plant summer shade to protect Sophie’s new summer retreat; Millie uncovers an urban mistletoe project, Josh gets crafty for the holidays and Costa meets a tropical fruit carver.
Gardening Australia has always provided practical, trustworthy and credible gardening advice to inspire and entertain. Inspiring, entertaining and full of practical advice, join Costa Georgiadis and the team as they unearth gardening ideas, meet avid gardeners and look at some of the most inspiring gardens from across the country.
Gardening Australia – Christmas Special 2019
Summer Shade
Costa and Sophie set to work planting summer shade to protect Sophie’s new summer retreat. Costa visits Sophie to help with a major project – creating some seasonal shade in Sophie’s garden. Sophie has a new outbuilding in her garden – a shipping container that is going to be a temporary outdoor room – but it has no insulation and faces north and west, so she needs to shield it from the sun. Her plan is to hang some metal reinforcing panels on the walls of the container for plants to climb; she has already placed some panels on top of the container to form a roof.
Aussie Roses
Jane visits a small country-style garden that holds the most complete collection of Alister Clark roses, a pioneer of rose breeding for Australia’s tough climate. The garden was created to honour the memory of rose breeder Alister Clark, who was born in Bulla in 1864 and lived there until his death in 1949. It holds the largest collection of Alister-Clark-bred roses – more than 70 of the 150 or so that he released, although he bred more than 1000 in his lifetime.
A Sucker for Biodiversity – Mistletoe
Millie is on a mistletoe mission and hits the streets of Melbourne’s in search of this festive favourite. Mistletoes are woody, parasitic plants that parasitise above ground on branches, as opposed to in the soil. There are almost 100 species of mistletoe in Australia and all of them are native – none is introduced.
My Garden Path – Leonie Norrington
We catch up with Gardening Australia’s former Top End presenter, Leonie Norrington, at her home and garden near Darwin. We visit Leonie Norrington, who was a Gardening Australia presenter from 2004 to 2011, filming many segments from her property near Darwin.
Salad Days
Tino plants a patch with all you need for a tasty, nutritious and colourful summer salad. Last winter Tino planted out a soup patch, including all the ingredients for making a vegetable soup. It’s been a great success but now it’s time to refresh the patch and plant a new bed with tasty goodies for making a summer salad.
Plant Profile – Poinsettia
We learn a bit about a Christmas classic, the Poinsettia.
Tropical Joy
Costa meets a Sydney couple who have carved out a tropical garden oasis – in more ways than one. Costa visits the North Sydney of Joy Khamma and John Fowler, whose typical suburban house hides a magical tropical retreat inspired by the lush resorts of south-east Asia. There are lots of colourful coleus and cordylines, shady boardwalks fringed by filigreed ferns, potted palms, hanging baskets of rhipsalis, succulents and orchids, and life-sized statues of Buddha amid the tree ferns and wind chimes.
Love Your Lawn
Jerry shows us how to organically keep a lawn healthy and weed free.
Christmas Crafternoon
Josh joins his children with a fun garden project – making drip painted pots.
