Gardening Australia episode 19 2020: Clarence Slockee visits an herbalist’s home garden, Costa Georgiadis drops by the home of former GA presenter Mary Moody, Jane Edmanson discovers the art of hedging and Tino Carnevale visits a garden designed for wildlife.
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 episode 19 2020
Living on a Hedge
Jane heads to one of Australia’s most spectacular gardens to learn the fine art of hedging from a man who is an expert in the craft. Jane visits Cloudehill garden, in the cool Dandenong Ranges, to see how the fine art of hedging can help define and unify a space. Jeremy Francis is the owner and creator of Cloudehill, and says the garden probably has 50 hedges using 30 different species. Over the 2-hectare space, hedges are used to separate out about 25 different areas, some tiny and some huge.
Hedges help focus attention, to conceal features or provide an element of surprise. The oldest hedge, planted with hornbeams, is 27 years old and needed renovating. Jeremy has done this over three years, taking 2m off the top in the first year, then cutting one ‘face’ of the hedge right back to the trunks in the second year, then in the third year cutting back the other ‘face’. It has to be done in stages to avoid killing the plants.
FAQs – Above-ground roots | Frosted frangipani | Composting citrus and onion
Gardening Australia presenters answer commonly asked gardening questions.
Bare Rooted Basics
Winter is the best time to plant bare rooted fruit trees, and Sophie is finding space in her well-established orchard to squeeze a few more in! Sophie’s orchard is well established, with more than 100 fruit and nut trees planted since 2011, but there’s still room for a few more fruit trees and winter is the best time to plant bare-rooted stock.
The orchard was planted out in rows, with trees spaced 3 – 4m apart, depending on the variety. Sophie says that this is relatively close planting and as a result, the trees are stunted in size but are productive. They are pruned low so Sophie can pick without ladders and pruned to restrict growth. Sophie is replacing trees that have been damaged by her geese, (not damaged by disease) so she is safe to replant in the same area.
What is the Water Table?
Josh explains what the water table is and how gardening can impact it. Josh explains that the water table is the boundary under the ground that separates the saturated zone from the unsaturated zone. Above the water table, the spaces between rock and soil particles are filled with air. Below it, they are filled with water.
In some areas, trees reach their roots down to the water table to survive. Water bores reach down to the water table to pull up water for irrigation. In some parts of Perth, the wetlands are visible sections of the water table and if you overfertilise in gardens, the nutrients can get into the wetlands and rivers and cause pollution.
Growing Tumeric
Jerry shares tips for home grown turmeric. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is one of Jerry Coleby-Williams favourite spices. He uses it to colour and flavour food, and to make tea. All parts of the plant are edible. You can use the leaves, stem and flowers, but the part most people are familiar with is the rhizome.
It’s a tropical herb that can be grown as far south as Sydney, but it does go dormant in winter. When it starts to look a little sad in late autumn or early winter, it’s a good time to lift the plant and harvest the rhizomes. Jerry lifts the whole clump with a fork and places it on an old sack. He then rubs away any loose soil with his fingers and then separates the rhizomes into pieces. Cuts off any green stems with secateurs.
Family Mood
Costa visits former Gardening Australia presenter Mary Moody, at her intergenerational home in the Blue Mountains.
Plant Profile: Red-flowering Kurrajong
We take a close up look at Brachychiton megaphyllus – an iconic Top End plant that would look great in any tropical garden!
Gardens for Wildlife
Tino visits a backyard that has been transformed to provide habitat for all creatures great and small and provides some handy tips on how to do it in your own garden.
Healing Plants
Clarence ventures into the jungle garden of a traditional herbalist to talk herbs and healing across generations and cultures.
Frost and Sun Protector
Jerry shows you how you can make a simple raised cover to protect plants from frosts in the winter and sun in the summer!
Winter Work
Millie does some winter maintenance on an ornamental garden bed to make sure it has everything it needs to spring into spring.
My Garden Path
We meet horticulturalist and indoor plant collector Jane Rose-Lloyd, to discover her passion for rare species and meet some of the stranger plants in her collection.
