- 7/4/2025
Gardening Australia Season 36 Episode 19
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00:00Ooh!
00:02Ooh!
00:04Ooh!
00:06Hey!
00:08Hey!
00:10Ooh!
00:12Ooh!
00:14Hey!
00:16Hey!
00:18Hey!
00:20Hey!
00:22Hey!
00:24Oh!
00:26Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:36I'm so happy when I'm surrounded
00:38by plants. They just catch
00:40my attention. Look at these yellow
00:42aloe flowers. They're saying look over here
00:44but the crassula, the crinkly
00:46leaves with different shades of green
00:48are capturing my attention
00:50but together they're leading me
00:52to this beautiful feature frangipani.
00:54Gardens, they
00:56bring so much joy
00:58through their beauty, their produce
01:00and of course their ability
01:02to connect people. We've got
01:04gardens on the show this week that
01:06do all that and more. Here's
01:08what's in store.
01:10I'm
01:12planting for natural temperature control
01:14to keep our home cool in summer
01:16and let the light and warm
01:18thin in winter. There's no doubt
01:20that one of the best ways to warm up
01:22on a freezing winter's day
01:24is to do a little bit of gardening work.
01:26It's a great time to edit
01:28your garden. Take a few things out
01:30do a bit of work and of course
01:32get some new plants in the ground.
01:34I'm in Castlemaine
01:36in central Victoria.
01:38A small town known for its
01:40gold rush history. And while
01:42gold digging may be a thing of the past
01:44there's plenty of locals
01:46now turning their hand to creating
01:48garden gold.
01:50I really love ferns
01:52and I'm visiting a nursery
01:54that's one of Australia's largest
01:56specialist fern nurseries
01:58and meeting a man who knows all
02:00about them and how to grow ferns.
02:02Wouldn't we all love a garden
02:10with coastal views?
02:12But wind, salt
02:14and sandy soil make
02:16coastal sites a real challenge.
02:18Clarence is visiting a garden
02:20that embraces these difficult
02:22conditions with clever design
02:24and hardy planting.
02:40In all of Sydney this northern beaches garden
02:42must have one of the best outlooks.
02:44That's Wild Beach just down there
02:46and it is breathtaking.
02:48But as you can see the terrain is steep
02:50and is full of very difficult
02:52gardening challenges.
02:54Nicola Cameron was given the task
02:58of creating a resilient garden
03:00that would test the limits of any
03:02plant or designer.
03:04Well look at this.
03:06Million dollar location.
03:07Unbelievable.
03:08But I'm guessing it all comes at a price
03:10for the garden?
03:11Absolutely.
03:12It's got it all.
03:13It's got erosion, exposure,
03:15wind, rain.
03:16We've got a creek bed
03:18or a course of water that runs
03:20from the street up the top.
03:22And generally a challenging site.
03:25We started working on this project
03:26about five years ago.
03:28And the brief was keep the view
03:31and make sure that the planting is
03:34sculptural, interesting, colourful.
03:37And also it was very much a request of theirs
03:42also to sort of have native species
03:44because they could cope with these
03:46kind of conditions.
03:52So this part of the garden you can really
03:54get a sense of how challenging the topography
03:56is here.
03:57How did you manage such a steep block?
03:58So we couldn't use any built retaining walls.
04:01So we used core logs, which are a fibre log
04:04and staked them into the ground
04:07so that they were holding back any erosion
04:10that we might have while the garden was young.
04:12And then as the garden grew, the core logs
04:15just dissolved into the soil.
04:17So it was a really low impact solution for erosion.
04:21This part of the garden you can really see
04:24with the form and the plant choice
04:26the sculptural elements that are part and parcel
04:29of this garden.
04:30This is where we really had to use the plants
04:33in a very strange way.
04:34We've toporied these Casuarina green waves
04:37and they look fantastic.
04:39They really create that sculptural look.
04:42The foliage is unmistakable.
04:44The old botanists determined that the foliage
04:47looked like cassowary feathers.
04:49So Casuarina, Casuarina.
04:51They're beautiful form though.
04:52I love what you've done here.
04:53I haven't seen them in this shape.
04:55They're amazing.
04:56Yeah, they are.
04:57They really are.
04:59And they've performed really well.
05:00We were worried that they might sort of
05:02outgrow themselves because obviously
05:04a Casuarina is usually a large tree
05:06but this is a great little cultivar
05:07that takes a lot of management.
05:09We regularly prune it probably every single
05:11six weeks a bit of a light trim
05:13and then every six months we give them a hard prune.
05:21That's a completely different aspect here.
05:23You can really see the form
05:24and the small natives doing their work.
05:27You do.
05:28We've got quite a range here.
05:29We've got the Wistringer.
05:31We've also got some of the lovely Saltbush
05:34which is always a great plant.
05:36We've got some Banksia birthday candles
05:39and some Myoporum which is a great little spillover
05:42and the Carpa Brodus along the edges.
05:45I mean Carpa Brodus is a great coastal plant
05:47that holds that ground really nicely.
05:49So there is a really lovely range here.
05:52It works really well.
05:54Is this the Lomandra Katie Bells?
05:57It is the Lomandra Katie Bells.
05:59What we do with them is we cut them back once a year.
06:02So we really cut all the foliage off so they're just a mound.
06:06And then what we see at this time of year
06:08is the beautiful flowers coming through.
06:10Often we'll use Lomandra as a strappy foliage
06:14and you don't think of it as a flowering plant
06:16but this one looks fantastic.
06:19The yellow in contrast to the green.
06:21It works really well in this garden.
06:23And there's a really nice contrast here
06:29with that lime green of the acacia up against the Cajurina.
06:32Yeah, so I love that little spot.
06:35It's a good little contrast that Cajurina is so hard
06:39and it doesn't really move
06:40but then you've got this light foliage underneath it
06:43that just kind of sways in the breeze
06:45and sort of nestles in there quite beautifully.
06:48I really find this plant panel, it's a really smart planting.
06:54The native species that you would find literally
06:58on exposed headlands and on the dunes,
07:00they're all here and they're doing quite well.
07:02We've had a great success with it really.
07:04Some of them are trial and error
07:06and some things have taken a while to really establish.
07:08The Banksia birthday candles,
07:10they've taken three or four years
07:12to really get their legs and sort of get established.
07:16It's an interesting sculpture.
07:19Did you know that whales have the light fingerprints?
07:22They're unique to each whale?
07:24No, that's great. I love that.
07:30Different parts of the garden, this,
07:32they really are quite unique.
07:34This area, you can really see the topography.
07:36In the wet, I'm guessing there's a lot of water coming through here?
07:39There is, yep.
07:40It comes from the street and it comes right down through here.
07:43So this is a really, really wet area,
07:45but it's also really dry and hot in the summer.
07:48So we had to really consider what plants we were using
07:52because obviously in the summertime or when it's dry,
07:54it gets really hot because it's so exposed.
07:57The owner really loved the irises.
08:00So they were obviously kept
08:02and we've got some Dianella and different native grasses in there.
08:06It is mass planted, so it slows that water down.
08:10They all are fine with wet feet,
08:13but they can also handle dry conditions as well,
08:16which is what has to happen in this area of the garden.
08:19And it also encourages things like frogs and animals
08:23to live in those spaces where they feel protected
08:26and it's a nice wet area for them.
08:29So it's worked well.
08:30The mass planting, you see with the wind,
08:32there's a lovely play at work here.
08:34Yes, yep, definitely.
08:36And the architecture of the home is quite bold.
08:39And also the casuarina balls and the sculptures and the rock
08:42are really formed.
08:43So to have a bit of breeze and to have a bit of movement
08:46in the garden is a really...
08:48It just gives a gentle nature, which is also important.
08:51It makes you feel like you're in a nice place.
09:00Such a tough site, but, you know,
09:02one thing that I really appreciate is that, you know,
09:05I feel gardens are art pieces.
09:07This one truly does have form and texture and sculpture
09:11and, you know, through planting.
09:14It was a joy to design, a challenge to install
09:18and it continues to grow and evolve.
09:20And that's what a garden is.
09:22It's never finished, it's never complete,
09:25but we love the sculptural elements.
09:27We love the rock that sits here for thousands of years
09:32and we've managed to integrate that planting in to soften
09:35and to create a part of the journey through the garden.
09:39It's a real joy, this garden.
09:42Can I cut the top off my tree to stop it growing?
10:01Well, you can cut the top off the tree and I do this regularly.
10:06I have a range of fruit trees in my garden which I prune to a certain height,
10:11which for me is a safe picking height.
10:14My jackfruit, left to its own devices, would be far too big for a garden
10:19and I only need to repeat that prune every five years.
10:24And you'll find that with different species, the amount of times you need to repeat the cut will vary.
10:30For a mulberry or a willow, you might have to do that every single year.
10:35Why avoid using sphagnum moss?
10:38If you grow indoor plants, chances are you may have them growing in this.
10:42It's sphagnum moss.
10:43It's a naturally occurring moss that can absorb 20 times its weight in water
10:47without getting waterlogged.
10:49It's amazing stuff, but the problem is it's very slow growing
10:53and most of it is wild harvested from Tasmania's alpine wetlands.
10:58These fragile regions can take centuries to regenerate.
11:01They also store vast amounts of carbon.
11:04Harvesting sphagnum moss can contribute to climate change
11:07and loss of habitat and biodiversity.
11:10A great alternative is this, coir peat.
11:14It's sustainably produced from coconut husks
11:17and you can always add perlite to improve drainage if needed.
11:20That way, our indoor plants can thrive while we protect our planet and its ecosystem.
11:25Where do I find garden inspiration?
11:27Well, for me, the number one way is by visiting other gardens.
11:31It doesn't matter what size they are or where they're located.
11:35I can always learn something.
11:37It might be information about plants and plant combinations.
11:40It might be ideas on garden design or garden art.
11:43Or practical ideas on how to set up racks in your potting shed.
11:47However, if you can't get there in person, the next best thing is to look to books, the internet or TV for inspiration.
11:56It's deep winter in Lituuta Tasmania and berry season may feel like a distant summer dream.
12:09But now is the perfect time to get them in the ground.
12:12My raspberry plants have been on a bit of a slow migration around my patch.
12:19Just while I play with the garden layout and also while I find the spot that they like best.
12:25First, they were here.
12:27Then, a few years ago, I moved them here.
12:31And today, the journey continues.
12:34As you can see, they're no longer here in the ground
12:37because this area is just simply too heavy clay.
12:40So today, they're on the move further down the hill to a new home
12:44where hopefully they'll live happily ever after.
12:49I've got a bit of a bed here which is raised and I've gone in, removed all that heavy clay soil
12:54and filled it in with the no-dig garden method which involves layers of goat and chicken manure,
13:00aged wood chips, straw and some blood and bone.
13:04It's ready and perfect for planting.
13:07This is a summer fruiting variety called Chilcotton.
13:11I'm trimming off about a third of the height of the canes and getting rid of the leaves.
13:17When I dug them up for transplanting, I also pruned off last summer's spent fruiting canes.
13:23I'm spacing them out around 30 centimetres apart.
13:28This soil is so soft and fluffy, which is the product of the no-dig garden method.
13:33It's so easy to dig, I don't need any garden tools at all.
13:37I reckon these raspberries are going to love it.
13:40Already in this bed, I've got three berries.
13:43Silvanberry, Tayberry and Youngberry.
13:47Unlike raspberries, which grow upright, these are all ramblers
13:51and would take over if I let them.
13:53So, I've got just one of each and spaced them several metres apart.
13:57I'll train them over this rio mesh.
14:01They fruit at different times over summer, meaning I'm extending my harvest over months.
14:07Now, I'm hoping this location will be my berries' forever home,
14:11but who knows?
14:13Gardens are living, evolving creatures, so we'll take it as it comes.
14:17But in the meantime, I'll gratefully eat any berries they gift me.
14:21Thoughtful planting has been one of the ways that Josh has been able to keep his home
14:33cool in summer and warm in winter.
14:36And he's letting us in on some great tips that you can try at your place.
14:41The last few months have seen a few changes in our backyard.
14:52I've had to move some plants to make way for a small extension to our home,
14:56which will better suit the needs of our kids.
14:59Both are now in their teens.
15:01The build's just been completed, and I'm really happy with the result.
15:05The main windows face east to connect with the garden.
15:08That means they do cop the morning sun in summer, which can be brutal here in Perth.
15:13So as a temporary measure, I've hung some bamboo blinds
15:16to keep that sun from coming in through the windows.
15:19But a longer term solution is needed, both for shade as well as to beautify.
15:25Deciduous plantings are the key.
15:28This ornamental grapevine will eventually cover the extended pergola,
15:32much like this edible grape variety has done, which was planted back in 2013.
15:38And this crepe myrtle will eventually provide excellent shade
15:41to this part of the building.
15:43But importantly, they'll both lose their leaves in late autumn,
15:47allowing in sunlight when it's needed.
15:50Now, this variety of crepe myrtle is called Twilight Magic.
15:53It's a small variety and it will fill out that space nicely
15:56with a little bit of pruning.
15:58But I've also chosen it because of its purple foliage and pink flowers,
16:02which will contrast against the pale grey wall of the building beautifully.
16:09The hole I've dug is the same depth as the root ball,
16:12but there's loads of space around it, roughly three times the width.
16:16By digging a wider hole, I can improve the soil around the root ball
16:20to encourage the roots to grow out, to help the tree establish,
16:24and become strong and stable.
16:27I'm backfilling with the original sandy soil that came out of the hole,
16:31but I've improved it by blending with around 20% soil conditioner
16:37and some organic fertiliser.
16:41Gently watering helps to settle the soil and flush out air pockets.
16:45A loop of drip irrigation around the base,
16:50and topped off with a layer of mulch to keep the moisture in.
17:00I've got two other larger varieties of crepe myrtle in the garden,
17:03which are absolutely thriving in similar conditions,
17:06providing good shade.
17:07I can't wait to see this one fill out this space.
17:11Another proven performer in Perth's climate is the ornamental grapevine,
17:16so I know this one will be a winner.
17:19I'm preparing the hole with some soil conditioner,
17:23a little fertiliser,
17:26in goes the plant,
17:28backfill,
17:30and some mulch over the top.
17:33The timber and steel trellis poles for this section of Pergola
17:37came from the original structure,
17:40which had to be shortened to make room for the new building.
17:43So the whole thing ties together beautifully.
17:46This rope will provide something for the vine's tendrils to hold onto
17:50as it climbs up.
17:52By the end of year two, I expect it will be to the top of this pole.
17:55In year three, I'll train it across the timber
17:58and onto these steel rod trellises,
18:00where it'll start to provide some shade.
18:01Now eventually, this rope will go,
18:04and the vine will form a nice thick trunk,
18:06like the one over there.
18:09The main reason for choosing this ornamental grape
18:12over another fruiting variety
18:14is the burgundy autumn leaf colour
18:16that will light this place up.
18:18Utilising deciduous trees and vines for natural shading
18:21is a low energy, low cost way to keep the heat out during summer.
18:26And with a bit of thought, they can look terrific as well.
18:28Why not put the cooling power of plants to work in your garden?
18:40Things may be a little slower in the garden in winter,
18:42but even in the off-season, there's always room for a bit of tinkering.
18:48Millie's out in a patch and there's plenty to dig into.
18:51Here in central Victoria, we live at quite a high elevation,
19:02which means it is extremely cold in the wintertime.
19:06But it is still a great time to make change in the garden.
19:09Maybe do a bit of editing, removing those things that haven't worked as well as you hoped,
19:14moving some things around and, of course, adding some new plants to play with.
19:22You might remember this little strip on the north side of my house.
19:27Now, I call it the treasure garden because I absolutely adore everything in here.
19:31Of course, it's great. We can see it from the house.
19:35But also, it is such a place for experimenting with lots of plants.
19:40I've jammed them in on the fence line.
19:42I've put them all throughout the ground.
19:44And this time of the year, it's a really important time to pull a few back
19:48to make the most of this little space.
19:49I'm starting with the smoke bush, also known as cottonus.
19:56You can see how vigorous and tall this plant can get.
20:01And that actually happens as a growth response to pruning.
20:05I pruned it at about this point last year and there's two metres of growth up top.
20:09So what I need to do is just clean out some of this twiggy growth
20:12because I don't want it getting me in the eyes while I'm doing this.
20:15And then I'm going to cut it at a similar height.
20:21And what that'll do is as soon as that warmer weather hits,
20:25it will explode with beautiful burgundy growth all over the place.
20:34You can kind of sculpt a plant by pruning, not just things like roses.
20:40You can do it with this too.
20:41Wherever a bud is pointing, prune above it
20:43and it'll shoot in that direction.
20:54The next thing I need to prune is this ornamental grape.
20:57And the cottonus has actually joined it over here.
20:59They're now intertwined.
21:01I didn't intend it, but I completely love the foliage contrast between the two.
21:05So I'm going to prune to support that relationship.
21:08Now that I've cleared the access, my next job is to move some plants from under the cottonus.
21:14These are autumn crocus or colchicums, and they're a really fantastic little bright purple flower in the autumn time.
21:25But the problem is, now that the garden's built up here, when they flower, I can't actually see them for all the foliage growth.
21:31So I want to carefully lift these clumps out and move them to another spot.
21:35And they're different to a lot of bulbs in that they have two periods of dormancy.
21:39One in midsummer before those flowers come out in autumn, and then another one before the leaf growth happens, which has already started here.
21:48So I'm going to carefully dig them up and then I'll move them into a spot that I get a much better view all year round.
21:54They're already shooting away, and I'm sure they're going to settle in really quickly to their new spot.
22:06And then in autumn, I'll get beautiful blooms that I can actually see.
22:10But one word of warning, while they are known as autumn crocus, that's a common name.
22:15And they are not crocus sativus, which is the edible spice.
22:19So just enjoy these in the garden, keep your gloves on, and don't put them in a risotto.
22:28One of the things I've always planted for in this garden is to attract birds.
22:33And the eastern spinebills love this grevillea.
22:35So I'm going to add another.
22:38This is a fantastic cultivar of grevillea victoriae, which is really, really cold hardy.
22:44It comes from colder, high altitude areas.
22:47And I reckon it's a bomb-proof plant.
22:49It makes a fantastic hedge, but I'm just putting this one in here for the birds.
23:08I've finished doing a little bit of planting around the side, but you can see that the back garden has had a big makeover.
23:15I've actually put down this really durable surface.
23:19It's a recycled concrete mulch, and it's going to keep it really accessible and usable in cold, wet weather.
23:25It does look a little bit stark right now, but that really just is a canvas for so many more plants.
23:31One of the best ways that you can fill a new garden is to propagate plants yourself.
23:41It's really cheap, and it can be quite easy.
23:43And the ones that are already succeeding here are obviously a great choice.
23:47I've got this gorgeous little Santolina.
23:49It's a cultivar with this incredible limey green foliage, which matches beautifully well with the tree above when it shoots in spring.
23:57So I've taken some cuttings, and I'm going to add more of that plant into the garden.
24:12I reckon that's going to do a beautiful job softening those rocks.
24:16Squiddy likes it too.
24:19One of the most important spots in the garden is this one.
24:22Now, you want to see a bit of garden from the house, but I also really want to be able to look through it to see the rest of the garden.
24:28And I chucked this Cassinia in, which is really a shrub, but I've sort of pruned it into being a small tree.
24:35And now it's really at the end of its lifespan.
24:38So it's time to replace it.
24:40What I want to do is establish this permanent planting of Leptospermum brachyandrum, which is a small tree or large shrub.
24:48It's got this beautiful silver foliage, which weeps, great bark, just one of my favourite plants.
24:54Over time, this plant will be trained to have pretty much the same form as the Cassinia.
24:59I want those lovely bare stems and then that weeping habit.
25:03But instead of ripping it out now and replacing it, I'm leaving this in place.
25:07It's like a succession planting.
25:09It'll give me a little bit of shade on the windows for one more summer, and then it'll come out.
25:13And this can have the space to grow into a perfect tree.
25:18And to keep the tea tree company with those beautiful silver tones, I'm going to plant a compact form of Spiridium,
25:24also known as Dusty Miller.
25:26And this one was named after the legend Edna Walling.
25:30One way to get a lot of colour quickly when you're doing a new planting is to use a beautiful pot.
25:35And this is one of my favourite little treasures.
25:37It's had lots of lives over the years, but it's getting a whole new planting.
25:40I've filled it with a quality potting mix.
25:42It's a native potting mix because that's what I'm going to use to fill it.
25:45Lots of drought-tolerant species.
25:47I've got this beautiful isopogen from WA.
25:49Some bulbing glaucas.
25:51I've got a little inland pig face and some chrysocephalum.
25:54I'm going to get it potted up.
25:56A little bit of broken brick mulch.
26:13That will go great, Guns.
26:17Well, I reckon that is going to be a beautiful burst of colour right at the back door.
26:22You really should never be afraid to make change in the garden.
26:25It's one of the great pleasures.
26:27If something's not working, you can move it.
26:29You can remove it completely and you can always add new things.
26:32There are so many ideas and you can always edit.
26:35Well, I reckon I've earned a nice hot drink.
26:38And I better give all those plants a cool one.
26:40See ya.
26:41Come on, Squidder.
26:42Let's go.
26:43Where's your ball?
26:48Still to come on Gardening Australia,
26:50Sophie gives her plants a bit of protection for when the breeze turns blustery.
26:56Jane's exploring a family-run fernery.
26:59And we meet a fine artist helping people fall in love with plants.
27:05Castlemaine in central Victoria is a small town of about 10,000 people.
27:20About an hour and a half north-west of Melbourne.
27:23To the local Dja Dja Wurrung people, it's known as upside down country
27:29because historic gold mining literally turned the skeletal soils upside down.
27:38But what the area might lack in topsoil is made up in top people.
27:44This is a creative, active and community-focused bunch
27:48who are behind a successful backyard composting scheme called YIMBY,
27:53short for Yes In My Backyard.
27:59Michaela.
28:00Hello. How are you, Costa?
28:01Great to meet you.
28:03Tell me about your project.
28:05It's a community composting initiative that was started up in Castlemaine.
28:10And so we have 24 composters at the moment.
28:15Morning, Ken.
28:17And each composter, like myself, door knocks their neighbourhood
28:21and asks the people that aren't composting
28:25if they would be happy to put their kitchen scraps in a bucket.
28:30See you.
28:31Because we're using a hot composting method,
28:34we can take meat, we can take citrus, you know, dairy,
28:38all the things that you hear you shouldn't put in compost.
28:41Our compost system will deal with that.
28:47And every week we come around and collect it
28:50and take it back to our backyards
28:52and there we make an amazing compost using our unique hot composting method.
28:59YIMBY has been collecting and composting since 2020.
29:04Co-founder Lucy Young believes there are many benefits,
29:08including reducing landfill.
29:10Our capacity at the moment is almost a tonne a week,
29:15processing our community's food scraps.
29:18What we can't easily quantify are the connections that are made between people.
29:25The benefits of that come in all sorts of forms.
29:28Volunteer Sarah Newsome was already a composter,
29:32but joined up as a YIMBY volunteer.
29:35You are up to your knees in compost.
29:38Why did you get involved?
29:40Well, I love gardening, I love growing vegetables,
29:44but there's not enough soil here for them to thrive.
29:47And so even though I made compost,
29:50it wasn't great and there wasn't a lot of it.
29:52So I love doing it, I love getting the compost.
29:54I like now connecting with my community a bit more
29:57and getting to know my neighbours.
29:59That's been really good.
30:00One of my dreams is to be able to grow good vegetables
30:02and enough of them so that I can share them.
30:05Part of YIMBY is offering training to community volunteers
30:09that Michaela, along with co-founder Joel Meadows, run together.
30:14Our workshops are open to the whole community.
30:18Like, we just want to raise the skill level of composting
30:23within the entire community.
30:25We don't, you know, we see it as a craft that we don't want to lose.
30:29We need people to compost well and we need things like YIMBY,
30:33but we also need to make sure those people who are composting
30:35are doing it at a top-notch level.
30:37So, yeah, part of that's just building that skill level in the community.
30:42A specially designed compost bay is key to the process.
30:47Affectionately known as a Beckley bay, named after Michaela.
30:52With my brother's help, I came up with this system
30:55where you can just open up your bay.
30:58Yeah.
30:59And then you just, you know, literally take it to next door
31:03from where you're turning it
31:05and you can pop it back together using the pegs.
31:08So, you could move it?
31:10Yeah.
31:11It's also got a setting where you can just,
31:14when we do our second turn,
31:16we turn into the smaller version
31:20and you just pop the pegs back in.
31:22So, the whole thing is 3.6 metres
31:26and it's just like wire mesh covered with shade cloth.
31:31So, we have compost bay making sessions
31:34and then the composters all go home with their compost
31:37and then they can set up wherever they like.
31:39And Sarah's got several different bays around her backyard,
31:44all at different stages of our composting process.
31:48For those struggling with some of the physicality of composting,
31:52Yimby offers support.
31:54A crew of young folk help to tackle
31:57the more physical aspects of composting.
32:00Ed Resic and Connie Hidalgo have been involved for nearly a year now.
32:06Now, I heard that you guys were here.
32:08I didn't realise that you were part of some sort
32:10of secret composting cult here.
32:12What's going on with Yimby?
32:14It's gymby.
32:16It's another part of Yimby.
32:18It's the workout part.
32:20Oh, so gym as in physical.
32:23As you can see, it's a lot of work here.
32:24So, for one person to do this just alone, it's a lot.
32:28So, we come around and we do it together.
32:30There's like, you know, three or four of us at a time
32:32and we come and we make this compost into another pile
32:36and we do it pretty quickly and we have fun doing it.
32:39We put the outside of the bay in the inside here
32:43so we make sure to have a whole turn.
32:46So, that way whatever was perhaps cooler on the outside
32:49now gets heated up and broken down.
32:52We can also at this point check how the compost is going.
32:55So, if there's not enough sticks or too much air
32:58or not enough air or too much water, we can work on that now.
33:02We can add more, take away.
33:04We can really just see what's going on.
33:06And we are able to see different yards of our neighbours
33:09so we see a lot of compost in the area.
33:12So, it's pretty cool.
33:14Because we're processing such a large volume of kitchen scraps
33:19every week, we need it to move as fast as possible.
33:22And hot compost is only hot because it's just really an indicator
33:26of how happy your microbes are and they're reproducing,
33:30giving off tiny bits of heat and that's bringing up the temperature
33:34to above 55 degrees.
33:36We also want to kill the weeds and seeds that we're putting into the compost
33:41and not spread them around later on.
33:43And importantly with food, we want it to be too hot for rodents
33:47to be able to get in and eat any of that food.
33:50So, we'd come along every week and dig down and test.
33:54You can see the steams coming off that.
33:56But then when it cools down, that's when the worm and the fungi come in.
34:01They break down the carbon sources in there.
34:05And this is the best part because this is the finished product
34:09and you can see it's just beautiful.
34:15Yes.
34:16Castleman Gold.
34:18It's a way to get to know your community
34:23and also to take a tangible sort of direct action on climate change
34:30that seems really doable, not overwhelming.
34:34But it also commits us to some time spent in our garden
34:39and all the benefits of having that time outside
34:43with your hands in the soil.
34:45And our composters often comment on how it's kind of like
34:50a special time in their week, their composting time.
34:54It is about how we work on those collaborative systems,
34:59the decentralised systems.
35:01And I don't know if something like this can work everywhere,
35:05but it seems to be working here.
35:07Yeah, and I love it.
35:09Wind can play havoc in a garden.
35:22Strong winds can break branches or defoliate a plant,
35:25and hot, dry winds strip the moisture out of your plants and the soil.
35:29Fortunately, there are some simple things that you can do
35:32if you live in a windy area or if strong winds are forecast.
35:37Planting windbreaks or wind-resistant trees and shrubs
35:40can act as a barrier and help to break the force of the wind.
35:44Choosing native plants that will suit your area is a great way to go,
35:48like my saltbush hedge.
35:50Remember, the bigger the area you're trying to protect from the wind,
35:54the taller your windbreak needs to be.
35:58Solid or slatted fences help to block the wind in your garden.
36:02A sturdy fence creates a wind shadow,
36:05reducing the strength of the wind in your garden.
36:08Wooden or metal fences work well.
36:11If you've been caught short and don't have time to build a fence
36:14or plant a windbreak, consider temporary windbreak structures,
36:18like shave cloth, trellis or bamboo screening.
36:21These can be positioned strategically to block the wind
36:25without being a permanent fixture.
36:28In the warmer weather, taller plants like sunflowers and tomatoes
36:32may need staking to protect them from wind.
36:35Use flexible ties with your stakes because rigid ties like wire
36:40can act like a garrote and cause damage to your plant in strong wind.
36:44Consider container gardening for delicate or smaller plants
36:48because they can be moved to a sheltered location for windy periods.
36:57Apply a layer of mulch around your plants.
37:00That will help to anchor the soil and prevent it being eroded by the wind.
37:05It'll also help to protect the plant roots
37:07and stop moisture being wicked out of the soil by the wind.
37:11Create microclimates in your garden by using walls, rockeries and raised beds.
37:17This can help to give protection to groups of delicate plants
37:21and as a group they're more resistant to damage by the wind.
37:30Have you ever imagined paradise?
37:32What would it look like being surrounded by endless green lush foliage
37:38with dappled light coming through the canopy and cool, fresh air to breathe?
37:43Well, guess what? Jane has found it.
37:51I'm just over an hour northeast from Melbourne in King Lake West,
37:55but I feel like I've entered a rainforest.
37:58But this dense, fern-filled haven is in fact a nursery that specialises in one plant.
38:05And you guessed it, the fern.
38:07And there's certainly lots of them.
38:11The site is set on five acres with one and a half dedicated to the nursery.
38:16It's a family-run business that's both retail and wholesale.
38:25Headed up by Eddie Sabaljack.
38:29G'day, Eddie.
38:30Hi, Jane.
38:31Nice to see you.
38:32Nice to meet you.
38:33It's really nice to be here amongst these beautiful ferns.
38:36It's such a natural setting.
38:37Welcome to our wonderland.
38:39It's a wonderland indeed.
38:40How many have you got growing here?
38:42We grow approximately 45 different species,
38:45mostly New Zealand and Australian,
38:47and generally all cold hardy varieties
38:50most growers of ferns will have success with.
38:53That's good.
38:54I'm really looking forward to having a look at all your treasures
38:57and your hardy ones as well.
38:59Let's go.
39:00Okay, good.
39:06Now, what have we got here?
39:07That's quite a tough fern, isn't it?
39:09Well, one of the hardiest of all the ferns we produce
39:12are the blackenum nudum or the native fishbone water ferns.
39:16Yeah.
39:17A lot of people confuse it with the Boston fern,
39:20which was used heavily in the 70s.
39:23Very common.
39:24By most landscape architects.
39:26How big would it get?
39:27It grows just under a metre tall.
39:30It's quite different to the Boston in the...
39:33It's a broader, wider leaf.
39:35Even if they die back, they'll regenerate come spring.
39:40Mm.
39:41And you can't not have one in your garden.
39:44And also the mother shield fern.
39:48Oh, yeah, this one. Yeah.
39:50These are...
39:52Obviously, they're named mother shield
39:54because they get the little pups on the end of the leaf.
39:56It's cute, isn't it?
39:57So, in the bush, they just grow down like that and touch the soil.
40:00They do, and you always see a whole colony of them.
40:02Yeah.
40:03Let's go and have a look at these tree ferns.
40:06Yeah.
40:08Here we have one of my favourites, the Cypher Cunningham.
40:17Yeah.
40:18It's a slender tree fern.
40:19It's one of the rare ferns that grows both in Australia and New Zealand.
40:23Is that right?
40:24True to its name, it's a very slender trunk,
40:27even though it can get up to maybe 20 feet tall.
40:29And it grows quite quickly?
40:31Roughly three inches a year.
40:33Wow.
40:34To the one you're standing next to.
40:36Yes.
40:37Which is the Sonia Antarctica, or soft tree fern.
40:39Yeah.
40:40They generally grow an inch a year.
40:42I love it.
40:43And then you've got this sort of mossy stuff growing up.
40:45Mosses.
40:46It looks beautiful.
40:47It's 70-odd years old,
40:48and it's the pride of our little walk-through garden here.
40:51Yeah.
40:52Now, there's an old adage that you put a cup of sugar
40:55down the centre of the tree ferns.
40:57That's...
40:58That's rubbish, isn't it?
40:59We always ask which sugar fairies live out in the bush.
41:03Yeah.
41:04So sugar really is not doing much good anyway.
41:06It's just bringing probably flies and insects
41:09that you really don't want in there.
41:10No.
41:11So we don't recommend it.
41:12It can create problems with scale,
41:14but you don't really want to get in your fern
41:16because you'll never get rid of it.
41:17Water's the key.
41:18The more water, the better,
41:20and the happier to plant.
41:22Hmm.
41:23Now, there's another thing we've got to solve.
41:25Another way of planting them is,
41:27I've always said, plant them deeper
41:29so that they don't wobble around.
41:31We recommend 200mm in the ground,
41:34a stake at the back where you won't see it for six months.
41:38In that time, the roots have redeveloped
41:41and that fern will not fall over.
41:43You can have that final height
41:45that you purchased in the beginning for your garden.
41:48Why did you get specially interested in ferns, though?
41:54I'm a qualified fitter and turner.
41:56Hmm.
41:57And like they say in life,
41:58you bump into the right person,
42:00steers you in a totally opposite direction.
42:02And before we knew it,
42:04we were shaking hands on purchasing this property 30 years ago.
42:08Wow.
42:09And the rest is history.
42:11Fantastic.
42:16Wowee.
42:17It really is a wonderland of...
42:18These are the small Dixonias, aren't they?
42:20Gorgeous.
42:21They're very gorgeous understory.
42:23Yeah.
42:24But you've also got a great collection of New Zealand tree ferns.
42:27We do.
42:28We grow five of the New Zealand species that you can grow.
42:32Wow.
42:33The New Zealand blacks.
42:34That's the one that really is eye-catching, isn't it?
42:37Wow.
42:38Extremely eye-catching.
42:39Very sought after.
42:40Hmm.
42:41Probably one of the quickest of all the tree ferns to grow.
42:44I love the way it just fans out like that.
42:47It's beautiful.
42:48It does.
42:51While ferns aren't that difficult to look after,
42:54they are more difficult to propagate,
42:56especially on a commercial scale.
42:58With no seeds or flowers,
43:00they reproduce via spores.
43:04Come on in, Jane.
43:06Wowee.
43:07This is pretty amazing.
43:08This is where they stay for the first six months.
43:11Ooh.
43:12They look good.
43:14Gee whiz.
43:15We source our tube stock from two specialist propagators based in Tassie.
43:20Here's an example of one of the rarer ferns that we grow.
43:23Yeah.
43:24It's called the Upside Down fern.
43:26Wow.
43:27It comes in a tray of 48 cells.
43:29Yeah.
43:30That's one individual plantlet.
43:32Look at that.
43:33Wow.
43:34That's the next day.
43:35Just three months from a plug.
43:38Six months later.
43:41We pop it up into a six.
43:43Oh, I can see why it's called the Upside Down fern.
43:45Upside Down fern because the rib is on top of the leaf.
43:49Oh, that's amazing.
43:50And the underside looks like a normal...
43:52Yes.
43:53...top of a plant.
43:54Isn't that beautiful?
43:55And it will stay like that for its life?
43:56For its life.
43:57How tall does it get?
43:58It gets to about half a metre high.
43:59Inside or outside?
44:01This one can be inside, preferably outside.
44:04Yeah.
44:05So it's a medium growing ground fern.
44:08And then we have a few more unusual, hard to get varieties which we'll only have...
44:12Oh, come on.
44:13Show me some of those.
44:15There.
44:17Let's have a little look for an unusual one.
44:19This is one of our not common ferns.
44:22Hmm.
44:23It's called a Dwarfsicle.
44:25Oh, that's nice, isn't it?
44:27It comes up with beautiful rosy red...
44:29Wow.
44:30...new growth.
44:31Yep.
44:32...in spring.
44:33And it only gets to about 30 centimetres in length, in leaf.
44:36It's just one of those dainty ferns that you don't regularly see.
44:41So it just keeps getting thicker, sort of round like that.
44:43That's nice, isn't it?
44:44Yeah, thicker in the clomper.
44:45Great.
44:46Tell me, sort of medium are they growing in?
44:48So we make our own medium.
44:51So basically 6mm composted bark.
44:54Mix that with tree fern fibre.
44:57And a bit of yay ripper pebbles, we call them.
45:00So 16mm type of...
45:02Quite chunky, it looks.
45:03Chunky.
45:04That opens the mix up, which is what ferns love.
45:07The tree fern fibre adds a bit of acidity.
45:10Plus, we always call it our secret ingredient.
45:14Because everything grows in tree fern fibre.
45:17So we've stuck with that formula for 20 years now.
45:23Eddie's self-acknowledged right hand man and production team member is daughter Amber,
45:29who's worked at the nursery for about a decade.
45:32Alongside co-worker Christy, they make up the production team.
45:36With the occasional help from Eddie's granddaughter, six-year-old Riley.
45:41Another batch of mix.
45:45Oi.
45:47That looks good.
45:48Wow.
45:49Now you're potting up some beautiful looking maidenhair ferns.
45:53Yes.
45:54Adiantum Fritz Luth.
45:55Oh, they're good.
45:56Yeah.
45:57Now make a good indoor plant.
45:58Out of the very few ferns that you should have inside, this is the one.
46:01Yeah, these are great ones.
46:02We have other maidenhairs that go in the garden, but these ones are good for indoors.
46:06Yeah.
46:07Now I just saw you putting a little bit of special stuff halfway down.
46:11Yep.
46:12What's that?
46:13Stinky chicken poo.
46:14Oh.
46:15Beautiful.
46:16Perfect.
46:17Goes in every single pot.
46:18Do people know about cutting them back when they look a bit tatty?
46:21Some people, no.
46:22Not a lot of people do.
46:24It kind of scares them a little bit to get rid of all the foliage, but cut them back.
46:28We always just, when we're potting them like this, we always take off those little bits
46:32that don't look very good.
46:33Yeah.
46:34Yeah.
46:35What's it like working with family, with your dad and mum?
46:38It's pretty good.
46:39They give me long lunch and buy me pies sometimes.
46:41Ha!
46:42Why do you love them?
46:46We just find they give you a sense of stress relief.
46:50Yeah.
46:51Calmness.
46:52It just gives us joy.
46:54It is our income, but on the other hand, it's our pleasure and we just love producing
47:00ferns.
47:12Our next story is with an artist and nature lover who uses plants as a narrator with the
47:18ultimate goal of getting everyone to fall in love with the great outdoors.
47:23Now that is my kind of goal.
47:25Enjoy.
47:26I think the most beautiful exhibits, of course, are plants and I love to actually allow them
47:45sometimes in my work to become the exhibits like portraits of them or theatres of trees.
47:52I'm Janet Lawrence and I'm an artist working in Sydney and this is my Sydney studio in Chippendale,
48:02which is a space I love and I've had for 25 years.
48:10I have very varied approaches to how I bring my work to audiences.
48:16You know, I have a gallery way.
48:18I have museums doing big installations.
48:21I have big outdoor environmental pieces, but all of them are about bringing and immersing
48:29a viewer, an audience into the experience of nature.
48:35I guess my main garden started at the bottom of the house where we lived in East Balmain,
48:44where I just wanted to create this kind of seemingly natural headland environment.
48:52And I just began planting specifically native headland plants.
48:57Within a couple of years, I had this astonishingly verdant headland that I started to learn so much from.
49:08Visually, I just engage with plants and love them for what they are and what they are, of course, in our lives.
49:17As individuals, each one, what they offer you is extraordinary.
49:22This is all my residue from my elixir labs.
49:30And it started with the idea of involving ourselves with plants that we can actually imbibe.
49:37What I'm wanting with this is the associated story of the plant,
49:43but as well as that, the taste of the plant, to think about that actual biochemical being of the plant.
49:50Obviously, these were herbal plants that we can make into little tiny elixirs.
49:58Just recently, I had an elixir lab in the Megalong Valley in the Blue Mountains,
50:04a most beautiful place, and I had it in an old milking shed,
50:09which was a beautiful juxtaposition of the glassy, reflective lab with cows all around watching in.
50:18And people would file across to come and taste the elixirs.
50:26And I had three attendants in white coats who would offer the elixirs and tell people about these plants
50:34and address the fact that they were just growing in this garden nearby,
50:38and the story of these plants and what medicinal uses they'd been used for.
50:43We brewed most of them because they had to be rapidly made.
50:47We had bronze fennel.
50:49And, of course, we had things like chamomile and heart seeds.
50:53No one had really kind of tasted them, just them, not made into a tea or mixed with anything else.
51:01And it is superb, really, to experience the plant itself.
51:05So all my gardening feeds into my work immensely.
51:11First of all, I'm always photographing it.
51:14I'm often drawing it and scribbling notes about it and things like that.
51:19And a lot of this material actually becomes my work.
51:23From sort of tree portraits, almost like this work from the Tarkine.
51:30And then looking at different aspects of plants, just like the leaves.
51:35And, of course, I've done a lot with roots, showing the roots of plants.
51:40I think the most important thing we can be doing is planting forests.
51:45We need to garden the planet.
51:47Gardening is the most important activity, I think.
51:52Years ago, I decided to go down to Tarkine Forest,
51:57only to find that not only are they deforesting these giant, giant trees,
52:03but they are also mining there.
52:05So I think that the works are kind of bringing attention
52:09to the wonder of this amazing place.
52:12And the Tarkine is one of the most important temperate rainforests
52:16in the Southern Hemisphere.
52:21Indigenous peoples always recognised how the stars were connected
52:26to the earth through their trees.
52:28Their cultures understood the importance of trees
52:32to link and make holistic our world.
52:37And I feel that very strongly myself.
52:40Look at this giant eucalyptus regnans in the Tarkine Forest.
52:44How they're the tallest flowering gum trees in the world.
52:48And they're reaching right up into the sky.
52:51They create rain systems, of course.
52:54And then their roots, of course, go deep down into the earth.
52:58It's an amazing connection between sky and earth.
53:05My works are urging us to look at these incredible places
53:12and bring attention to them and the importance for saving them.
53:18I'm wanting people to just fall in love with plants.
53:22Ready to turn that inspiration into action?
53:35Time to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.
53:39Here's your jobs for the weekend.
53:41In cool climates, it's the perfect time to plant bare-rooted fruit trees
53:51and roses while the plants are dormant.
53:54Sow snow peas now for a sweet spring harvest
53:58in about six to eight weeks' time.
54:01Why not try a tomacia?
54:03A high-performing native shrub that goes well in a cottage garden
54:07and will even grow under gum trees.
54:10In warm temperate areas, it's a good time to plant rhubarb
54:14or lift, divide and share your own clumps.
54:18Take hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants such as mulberries, roses and grapes.
54:24Simply snip off a 15cm long cutting a bit thicker than a pencil
54:29and stick it in a pot or in the ground.
54:33Take some time and get out in the bush to see the wildflowers
54:37for an idea of how to plant cool-season colour in your garden.
54:42In the subtropics, build a teepee and plant some climbing beans.
54:47Wellington Wonder is a variety that can take the heat.
54:51Winter-flowering camellias are in bloom.
54:54Cultivars of Camellia japonica like a shady spot,
54:58while Camellia sasanqua will take more sun.
55:02Stop feeding roses to encourage a winter slowdown,
55:06so they're ready for pruning in late July.
55:09Tropical gardeners have so many choices for veggies to grow now.
55:14Make the most of the many options.
55:16Try anything from artichokes to zucchini.
55:19Consider a hedge of heliconia or crab's claw.
55:24Different varieties can grow from one to four metres tall
55:28and their stunning pendulous flower would brighten any garden.
55:33Capoc, cocclosperm and fraseri are flowering,
55:37which is a sign that freshwater crocodiles are laying their eggs.
55:42In arid zones, plant a vine now to provide shade when the hot season hits.
55:47A grapevine will also offer some summer fruit.
55:51Aloes are awesome for winter colour,
55:54but avoid the candelabra aloe, aloe arborescence,
55:58which can be a weed in warmer areas.
56:01Try growing a turkey bush,
56:04also known as Calitrix extipulata or Manbarnda.
56:09This small shrub has papery pink flowers from May to August
56:14and has many traditional uses.
56:17Have fun out there this weekend, gardeners,
56:20and don't forget you can always catch up on Miss GA episodes
56:24on iview anytime.
56:26Well, I hope you've enjoyed this week's show.
56:35And whether your garden is big, small or in between,
56:39now's the time to get out there and get amongst it.
56:43There's so much to love and learn when you're surrounded by plants.
56:47Here's what we've got for you next week.
56:52I'm on the Sunshine Coast at an annual Indigenous cultural celebration
56:56of the...
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