Gardening Australia episode 31 2020

Gardening Australia episode 31 2020: Jane Edmanson has the low-down on native groundcovers, Jerry Coleby-Williams suggests sub-tropical options for traditional veg, Costa Georgiadis meets two Lane Cove legends, and Millie Ross builds a harvest basket.

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 31 2020

Lane Cove Legends

Costa meets two garden stalwarts who welcome thousands of people to their home each year, when they sell plants for cancer research. At an age when most people are looking to downsize their homes, Keith and Maureene Smith moved to a bigger block in Lane Cove to indulge in their love of gardening. Within a couple of years, they had turned the formal garden (and nature strip lawns) into what they describe as a “botanical zoo”, an eclectic mix of plants grown for interest, colour, form and function.

Opening the garden to the public in 2011 as part of the (now defunct) Australian Open Garden Scheme, the Smiths started selling a few plants and really enjoyed having people through their space.

One thing led to another and the Smiths begun propagating on a much bigger scale and their ‘Huge Plant Sale’, which is now an institution for Sydney gardeners, was born. The sales are held twice yearly – in April and October – and attract massive numbers of gardeners and plant enthusiasts who pile into the Smith’s garage and garden, choosing from around 2000 potted plants for sale. With an average sale price per pot of $6, the sale is affordable and yet last year they raised $14,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation! Keith says, “The people that come to our sale like to support charity, but they also like to have a bargain!”

FAQs – Compost vs mulch | Herbs in shade | Protecting seedlings

Gardening Australia presenters answer commonly asked gardening questions.

Subtropical Substitutes

Rather than battle to grow cool-climate vegetables, Jerry grows a number of sub-tropical alternatives that are much better suited to his garden.

The Palm House

Sophie discovers the story of a historic glass house and how it has finally been teamed up with a perfectly suited set of plants all the way from Madagascar. Sophie visits the Palm House at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and discovers the unique Madagascan species that are right at home here. More than 140 years ago the German-built Palm House was brought out to Adelaide and filled with one of the trendiest plants of the time – palms.

However, the botanic gardens team soon realised the palms grew much better outside than in. Shading was added to protect the house from the hot, dry summers, and it was used to house tropical species such as ferns and begonias. This posed another challenge – the increased humidity degraded the cast-iron structure to the point where it required restoration in the 1990s.

Once restored the team decided to focus on plants from the south-west region of Madagascar where the climate is also hot and dry, and the house could protect them from rain – so now “the house suits the plants and the plants suit the house!” says Collection Development Officer, John Sandham.

Native Groundcovers

Jane celebrates the beautiful range of ground-hugging native plants and the important roles they can play in a garden.

More to Discover in Gardening Australia episode 31 2020

Josh explores the process of naming new plants and discovers some rare species that scientists have only recently recorded.

Hand-made Harvest Basket

Millie designs and builds a wire-mesh basket that is perfect for harvesting and washing crops from her garden.

Solid Gold Garden in Gardening Australia episode 31 2020

Tino visits a school garden project with a difference and learns why it is such a growing success.

My Garden Path – Trace Balla

To celebrate book week, we meet illustrator and author Trace Balla, who paints delicately detailed pictures of plants and wildlife in her storybooks for children.