Gardening Australia episode 36 2020

Gardening Australia episode 36 2020: Jane Edmanson profiles natives for the cottage garden, Costa Georgiadis finds a secret suburban greenwall, Tino Carnevale creates useful biochar, Guest Presenter Craig Miller-Randle handles indoor pests and diseases.

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 36 2020

Guerrilla Green Walls

Costa visits a secret garden in the suburbs where brick walls are transformed into green space. Landscaper Newton Bishop has taken on the task of caring for his block’s communal garden, even the brick ventilation vent for the underground carpark, which he has covered with bromeliads and tillandsias that can cope with the heat and exposure of this open setting.

On the shadier side of the vent are epiphytic ferns that are also adapted to living on the trunk of a tree, and so don’t need soil. The frames of living plants he makes are also useful in rental situations, as they can easily be removed and taken with you.

Newton hangs the plants on timber boards and shows Costa how to make one.

FAQS – Growing Tea | Flowering coriander | Cockatoos and Vegies

Millie Ross explains how to grow your own tea, Tino Carnevale explains what to do when coriander goes to flower, and Clarence Slockee shares a tip to stop cockatoos pinching new growth from your vegie patch.

Cottage Garden Natives – Gardening Australia episode 36 2020

Jane shows how to update the classic cottage look with dazzling Australian natives. Who doesn’t love a cottage-garden with its generous, billowing mounds of soft, grey-leafed plants flowering in pastel shades and contrasting with tall spikes of colour and scented with fragrant herbs? However, many of the tradition plants such as foxgloves and hollyhocks, clematis and lady’s mantle simply don’t do well in many parts of Australia.

Jane has some suggestions of how you can create that chocolate-box look with a range of hardy Australian native plants that will cope much better with our hot, dry weather.

Pruning Ever-blooming Perennials

Sophie demonstrates how and when to prune ever-blooming perennials.

Consider Calcium – Gardening Australia episode 36 2020

Jerry explains the importance of calcium in a balanced plant diet for strong and healthy growth. Calcium is an essential nutrient for healthy plant growth, photosynthesis and cellular structure. Without calcium, plants can be stunted, become chlorotic (where leaves become pale or yellow due to lack of chlorophyll), or suffer from fruit drop and blossom end rot. A steady supply of calcium can prevent these issues, and is available with the addition of garden lime, dolomite, or gypsum to the soil.

Plant Profile – Snow Flake

We profile this delicate shrub from Central America that thrives in subtropical climates.

Secret Life of Seeds – Gardening Australia episode 36 2020

Millie shares simple tricks and tools for creating seed raising magic.

The Great Indoors – Pests and Diseases

Guest Presenter Craig Miller-Randle shows us how to identify and treat houseplant problems to keep indoor jungles thriving.

Beneficial Biochar

Tino creates his own biochar that will boost crops and soil quality. Biochar is a soil additive that improves soil health and fertility. It’s essentially charcoal – organic material that’s burnt at high temperatures in a low oxygen environment, and then added to compost. Tino’s been experimenting with using biochar on vegetable crops and found it helps increase biological activity, and the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil.

There are many ways to make your own biochar and Tino simply starts by digging a hole in the ground. It’s best to dig a cone shaped hole, around 1 metre deep by 1 metre wide. Always make sure to check and comply with fire restrictions in your area and have a reliable water source close at hand.

Plant Profile – Blue-leafed Honeysuckle

Sophie takes a close look at the Blue-leafed honeysuckle – a shrub that produces soft-pink flowers that smell as good as they look!

Future Forests

Josh explores how an Urban Forest Strategy developed by community volunteers is successfully bringing nature into the city. In built up urban areas, trees are under pressure from development, so some councils are implementing urban forest strategies to address the crucial role trees play in mitigating the impacts of climate change and providing a more liveable environment.

The Town of Victoria Park in Perth has an active strategy that started with good data to determine targets. The town measured an average of 10% canopy cover in 2016 and the aim is to double it!

Doubling canopy cover is no small task, and their strategy prioritises both targeted street tree plantings in pedestrian areas and protecting and expanding areas of remnant bushland. The much loved Kensington Bushland Reserve is one such area, and is not only protected for biodiversity and greenspace benefits, but the plants here are also used as stock for plantings across town to maintain local provenance – plants that are already well adapted to the local environment. Trees and shrubs are propagated at the City of South Perth Nursery and a team of passionate volunteers get them in the ground.

Noisy Miners

Clarence shares a tip to welcome a variety of native birds into your garden.