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Gardening Australia 2025 Episode 7
Transcript
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00:28Hello, and welcome to Gardening Australia from the Wollongong Botanic Gardens.
00:39We've got a bit of everything on this week's show.
00:43Stories for indoor plant lovers, for veggie growers, and for fans of native flora.
00:49So, let's get straight into it.
00:52I've come to beautiful Bruni Island of Tasmania's south-east coast to visit a market gardener
01:00who's created a thriving veggie patch to bring fresh, delicious produce to help feed the
01:05tiny Bruni Island community and visitors like me.
01:09Mmm.
01:10So good eating fresh, isn't it?
01:11The best. Fresh is best.
01:13Today, I'm at the home of an internet sensation.
01:16You could call him a plant influencer, whose passion for growing tropical plants on vertical
01:23poles has shot him to worldwide popularity.
01:27I'm going to explore some of the misinformation that's out there about our unique and beautiful
01:33native flora.
01:35Well, folks, it's time for some myth-busting.
01:38And I'm visiting a property where the lay of the land has made the unexpected possible.
01:44A tropical garden in the Perth Hills.
01:51You know, Millie, she never stops, always on the go, juggling multiple garden tasks with
01:59her trademark energy and enthusiasm.
02:02Well, here she is, getting stuck into her Autumn to-do list.
02:20Hey girls.
02:21Autumn is a beautiful time anywhere that you garden, but here in the central highlands
02:38of Victoria, it is exquisite.
02:40Those first frosts are just around the corner and there is a real chill in the air, but there's
02:46so much you can do right now to keep you well fed for the months ahead.
02:50Of course, Autumn is absolutely known as the harvest season in cooler climates.
03:03And I am harvesting, preserving and storing lots of things for the months ahead.
03:08Now, pumpkins are one of those fantastic crops and I wait until this plant completely dies
03:13off, which has still got a bit of life in it before I bring them all in.
03:16But I've cut this one to show you a few tips for harvesting and storing pumpkins well.
03:20One is to cut it with a really long stem.
03:23You don't want to cut too close.
03:24You risk damaging and that's where rot will enter.
03:27Also, have a really good look at each of your pumpkins.
03:29If there's any blemishes or points where they're starting to rot, straight into the kitchen.
03:34It won't store well.
03:35And the third thing is, pop your pumpkins out in the sun, turn them and let the sun harden
03:40that skin up a bit.
03:42It'll mean that you can store them much longer and you'll be having pumpkin soup for months to come.
03:46While it's an important season to harvest food for myself, it's also a key time for harvesting
03:55and saving seed of varieties you want to grow again.
03:58This Thai basil has been an absolute standout this year, so I really want to save some seed.
04:04Different seeds do require different methods for saving and some are more difficult than others.
04:09But this one is really easy.
04:12Now there's some green foliage down the bottom, but I can hear that it is starting to get ready for seed saving.
04:19Now that rustling indicates the bottom of some of these flower spikes is starting to dry off.
04:25Those little green seeds that are contained start to go black.
04:29So I just have a little look across and as I found a dry spike with ripe seed, I put it into a paper bag.
04:37I'll pop the paper bag into a warm and dry spot and over the next few weeks, those little seeds will ripen and fall to the bottom of the bag.
04:44Then I can just jar them up and pop them away until they're ready to sow next spring.
04:58Beans are another fantastic crop to save seed of because those flowers actually pollinate in most cases before they open,
05:05so they'll stay true to type.
05:08Now this is one of my absolute favourites.
05:11It's a beautiful purple and white spotted seed and it is a really delicious bean.
05:16So I'm making sure that when they're fully dry on that plant and on a dry day, I pick them, dry them and then I can store them.
05:23This is a fantastic climbing food plant that this year I've grown out primarily to produce lots of seed.
05:40Now it's got lots of great names across different cultures.
05:43Some people call it kiwa, others call it a chocha, others call it a slipper gourd, which gives you an indication of the size and shape of the fruit.
05:53When it gets to this size, some people also know it as the Bolivian stuffing cucumber because that's what you do with it.
05:59You take the end off, hollow it out, stuff it with something delicious, cook it up and it is a great meal.
06:04But you can eat them at any size, either sliced up raw or even stir fried.
06:09Now to harvest the seed, it is really, really simple.
06:17Full of moisture.
06:19You can see these amazing dark seeds.
06:23I think they're one of the most incredible seeds I've ever seen.
06:26They look like a chip of bark.
06:27You wouldn't even see them on the forest floor, which I'm sure is why they look like that.
06:32They don't want to be eaten by any predators.
06:34But I'm going to save a whole lot of these and share some with some other gardeners this year.
06:39And it's as much of a good harvest as the food itself.
06:49Of course, you save seed so that you can sow them.
06:52So I've got a really basic mix here.
06:54It's just sieve potting mix and sieve leaf mould.
06:56And I want to sow something really, really special.
06:59Now, one of my best winter greens is this.
07:02It's called mush or corn salad.
07:04And it is incredibly cold tolerant right through those cooler months.
07:07Even the hard frost, it produces the most luscious, nutty and buttery salad green.
07:12Now, normally it just self seeds lightly in the garden and I might over sow with a little bit of extra seed.
07:17But last year I had a really special mush pop up.
07:21It was variegated.
07:22It had distinctly variegated white and green foliage.
07:25And so I saved the seed of that specific plant.
07:28And instead of sowing it right out in the garden where it might get lost,
07:31I'm going to put it into these pots so I can keep an eye on it and see if I get another crop of variegated mush.
07:37Just sieving a small amount of mix over the top to cover those seeds.
07:52And then I'll pop them in the nursery and give them a drink.
07:54And in a few weeks I should know whether these variegated mush seeds are going to persist and I'm going to have stripy salads.
08:01They might just revert to green.
08:03But that's the fun of seed saving.
08:05And you've got to risk it for the biscuit.
08:07The next crop I want to get in are the broad beans and I sow them nice and early because we eat the leaves and the shoot tips right through winter before they even start to think about making seeds and pods.
08:24I've soaked some broad bean seeds in water overnight, including this Coles Dwarf variety.
08:30They are large seeds, so you want to make sure you plant them a couple of knuckles deep.
08:35As they mature, they'll want about 30 centimetres between each plant.
08:38But as a legume, they're great for soil fertility.
08:41So I over sow and thin them out later.
08:44Of course, as broad beans grow up, they are really spindly and they do need some support.
08:49So I've left the tomato stakes in.
08:51I'm going to use them with some string to create like a little grid network that they can grow through.
08:56It'll stop them from blowing over in those big spring winds and hopefully it'll keep them well and truly in check.
09:11In the garden, you celebrate the here and now, but you are always looking forward.
09:15And winter is coming, which is the perfect time to plant so many of those deciduous trees.
09:20Got a plan here for a wall of pear trees.
09:23So it is a great time to prep the soil.
09:26Do the work now in autumn and by the time you're ready to plant in winter, that soil is humming with life.
09:32Lazy lasagna soil prep is simple.
09:35I'm just forking to aerate the soil.
09:38I'm sprinkling on some gypsum because this is really heavy clay.
09:41Then a really thin layer of rotting straw.
09:45On top, a good dose of healthy compost.
09:49And then a straw mulch on top to keep it all moist and warm.
09:53The beauty of this method is you don't have to do any more work.
09:57Let the worms do it for you.
10:07Of course, of all the abundance, the jobs to do, the food to harvest, there is also an abundance of this stuff in autumn.
10:14It's leaves, it makes the best composted leaf mould.
10:17You'll use it for the rest of the year.
10:27Are you still here?
10:28Go on.
10:29It's time to leave.
10:30Yeah, good job.
10:39Is lichen on a tree trunk doing significant damage?
10:43Well, no, it's not.
10:44Lichen is a fascinating partnership of algae and fungi.
10:48And it comes in all different colours.
10:50You can get green or yellow or greyish green.
10:53And it's actually a good indicator that you've got good clean air.
10:57And I just think you're going to do more harm than good if you try to take it off.
11:02So leave it be and then you can really appreciate the different colours and growths on it.
11:08It really is nature at its best.
11:11Why are my iceberg roses turning pink?
11:15Iceberg roses are famous for their bright white displays of flowers.
11:20And this pink is a result of a fungal infection caused by grey mould, Botrytis cinnarrhea.
11:27This is active in autumn.
11:29So if the petals become wet because of rainfall or overhead irrigation or even regular dew, this fungus can be a problem.
11:38What can I do?
11:39Well, you can deadhead the roses regularly or you could use a fungicide based on bicarbonate of soda.
11:47What's the difference between running and clumping bamboo?
11:51Running bamboo has long horizontal roots or rhizomes.
11:55They spread very quickly with new shoots emerging in places you may not want them.
12:00This growth is a lot like our common turf grasses.
12:03And that's because bamboo is a grass.
12:06On the other hand, there are heaps of clumping bamboo cultivars out there.
12:10They have thicker rhizomes that spread much more slowly with new shoots popping up closer together, forming a clump.
12:17These are the recommended garden choices because they are low maintenance and they reduce spread into bushland or your neighbour's garden.
12:25Hello, my name is Jan, also known as Sydney Plant Guy.
12:36With close to a million online followers eager to hear what Jan Getman has to say about growing indoor tropical climbers, I thought I'd drop round and see just how this interest has captured a worldwide audience.
12:52German born Jan lives in the northern Sydney suburb of Crow's Nest, where he's created a haven of plants he grows on moss poles.
13:03Vertical growing is his thing.
13:06Hi Jan.
13:07Hi Costa.
13:08Welcome to my jungle.
13:10Great to meet you Jan.
13:11I can't wait to see the stars of the show.
13:14For sure, they're all inside.
13:17So, where did your passion begin?
13:20Yeah, it started five years ago and as a renter I figured I can't really do much about my apartment to improve on it apart from furniture and art.
13:31But I can't hang anything on the walls.
13:33So, I thought plants was a really good way to bring nature inside but also to just create a really nice atmosphere.
13:40So, you now have your own online channel.
13:42How did that evolve?
13:43Yeah, I mean I was really heavily influenced by social media and I learned a lot about my hobby from social media.
13:49So, I thought it was just fair to give back and share my journey on there and inspire other people to maybe also discover plants for themselves.
13:58I would actually say that content creation takes up about 75% of my plant hobby at this stage.
14:04The actual plant maintenance is just a small aspect of what I do.
14:08I was able to quit my corporate job and actually grow plants full time.
14:13Well, should I show you what I grow inside?
14:15Oh yeah, go on.
14:26That is spectacular.
14:28They're massive.
14:30Like...
14:31Yes.
14:32I mean, you talk about your passion for this as art.
14:35I mean, each one of those leaves is a piece of art in itself.
14:40Yes, and it's kind of like a green wall but as a renter I can't actually have a green wall.
14:45So, it's kind of like a modular green wall that I can piece together, I can swap plants around and I can also take it with me whenever I move.
14:53You know, the interesting thing when you look at it, you've got literally floor to ceiling but the footprint on the floorboards is really small pots.
15:05Yes, I want to have as many plants as possible and as a renter, space is precious.
15:12So, I grow them in really small pots but I grow them on poles and the poles act as a vertical extension of the pot.
15:20So, they're actually doubling the volume of root mass that the plant can produce.
15:25Really, any growing medium could work.
15:27Yeah, like coconut coir, coconut chip and even orchid bark.
15:33Yeah, exactly.
15:34You just want it to be a growing medium so that the plant can actually grow the roots into it.
15:38So, who are these different family members?
15:42Yes, I have a specific taste.
15:44I like philodendron, I like the velvet texture of them and I like veining.
15:49So, over here we have mainly climbing philodendron.
15:52In general, most of the plants I grow are within the Aeroid family.
15:56They make a great house plant.
15:58These plants would be about three to four years old but all of the plants that I get start off really small.
16:05It's just more cost effective and I actually enjoy the process of growing them up and seeing them mature.
16:11So, I converted this little cabinet over here into like a little indoor greenhouse and all of my smaller plants live in there.
16:18When they're smaller, they're a bit more vulnerable.
16:20So, I want to make sure that they get the optimal conditions to grow up as fast as possible.
16:26So, what are some of the plants that you're growing up at the moment?
16:31Yeah, still all Aeroids.
16:33I really like my Aeroids.
16:35So, in there I've got a few Anthuriums.
16:38I've got a few Philodendron.
16:40For example, a Philodendron Melanochrysum.
16:43I've got a Philodendron Rougoism, also called Pigskin, has a really nice texture.
16:48Just some smaller plants here and there that I think would have great potential in growing up eventually.
16:54Jan, I notice that you've got the plants all clustered in little islands.
17:02Is that predominantly about the light?
17:05Yes, precisely.
17:06Light will always set the growth potential.
17:08So, I'm choosing corners of my apartment that I feel like offer the plants good enough light to actually grow them to maturity.
17:17What other aspects are you working on?
17:20Yeah, we can generalise it and say conditions set the growth potential.
17:24So, I mean light, temperature, humidity as well as air flow.
17:29Now, living in Sydney, I'm pretty lucky.
17:31The temperatures are usually fine and those few cold months during winter, I'm heating my house anyway.
17:36So, it doesn't really drop below 20 degrees, which serves these tropical aeroids really well.
17:42I also live quite close to the ocean.
17:44So, naturally humidity is high.
17:46Approximately 60%, which again suits them really well.
17:50And when it comes to air flow, I don't mean blasting them with wind or cool draft, but I just mean fresh air and air circulation.
17:57And that just really makes the plant grow strong and healthy and prevents fungal diseases or fungal issues with your plants.
18:04So, how do you water and feed them?
18:07It's actually super easy and efficient.
18:09And I just have a bottle with water and nutrients in here and I flip it upside down on the moss pole and I let gravity do the rest for me.
18:20So, Costa, when the plants outgrow my indoor space, they go out here.
18:25Look at this.
18:26I mean, that is a really impressive green wall.
18:30And again, you've just got small pots, yet all of this foliage and growth and a screen to, you know, two and a bit metres.
18:39Yeah, I mean, it's pretty much instant privacy from the neighbours.
18:42But yeah, it's this same approach as inside.
18:45I just use moss poles and I just arrange them and I can just switch them around.
18:50It's that modular approach in creating a green wall to fill a space, but I can always take it with me wherever I go.
18:56How lovely is it that plants have really captured, not just your heart now, but your whole life?
19:05Yeah, it definitely was life changing for me.
19:08The whole journey started off by just trying to grow plants as artworks in my house.
19:13I'm drawn to these aeroids because they have these stunning foliage like anthuriums with their velvets and the veining.
19:20But over the years, I've really developed this heightened appreciation for plants and nature at large.
19:25And I really enjoy the journey that I've made as a result of that.
19:39From an indoor jungle to the bracing sea air of Tassie now.
19:43As we join Hannah on her journey to an extraordinary, productive garden.
19:48I'm taking a trip off Tasmania's south east coast to wild and beautiful Bruni Island.
19:54And as we cross the Dontrecasteo Channel, it really does feel like we're travelling to a special place.
20:01Bruni Island is really two land masses joined by a sandy isthmus known as the Neck.
20:15Apart from the absolutely stunning views up here on this lookout, you can also clearly see North and South Bruni.
20:23Now both have the same cool temperate climate, however South Bruni has more rain while North Bruni is a bit drier.
20:33And that's where I'm heading today.
20:35Off to visit a market gardener who still managed to create an incredibly productive patch despite North Bruni's sometimes challenging conditions.
20:4512 years ago, Jo Smith moved from her Hobart apartment to North Bruni Island.
20:53G'day Jo.
20:54Oh hi Hannah, how are you going?
20:56Oh so happy to be here.
20:58So nice to see you, welcome to our garden.
21:00It's looking so beautiful.
21:02Oh thank you, yes we're just trying to plant every nook and cranny with seedlings.
21:08I can see that, it's definitely full of everything but so much life everywhere.
21:13Yeah, yeah.
21:14Do you want to come and have a look?
21:15I'd love to.
21:16Yeah, come on then.
21:18So what kind of things are happening this time of the year Jo?
21:21Well it's so busy, we're transitioning from our summer crops with the pumpkins and then we're moving into the autumn winter gardens
21:29where we've got the kales and the brassicas, the broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower which is all my favourite.
21:34I love growing in autumn.
21:36Do you know what's really cool, the fact that 12 years ago you didn't know any of this.
21:40I didn't even know how to grow a carrot Hannah.
21:42Yeah.
21:43So I've taught myself basically everything and I've just really connected to the season and what's going on with the climate and just taught myself how to grow food.
21:54It's so great to remember that even in cool temperate Tasmania you can grow and eat all year round.
21:59All year round.
22:00Yeah, so we eat mostly all our own produce all year round and it's just about the timing.
22:05We've got the kiwi fruit here.
22:06Yep.
22:07And then through here beautiful silver beet.
22:08Pumping along.
22:09Pumping along with lettuces.
22:10Oh it's so big.
22:11I just love these sunflowers.
22:12I know.
22:13So beautiful.
22:14I want to pat them.
22:15I know.
22:16So Jo, when you first got here this whole area was just a compacted empty paddock. How have we managed to grow such a pumping garden?
22:22Yeah.
22:23So it was a whole paddock of capeweed and we wanted to really preserve the land and to regenerate the land and so we started with a no dig approach.
22:29So a layer of cardboard and so we did the whole paddock and so we did the whole paddock in cardboard and then a layer of straw and then lots of manure and then compost.
22:44And then we just kept going and like we built like a big healthy lasagna. And the best thing is about it is that you can plant in it straight away, which I love.
22:51And you can see just what an amazing productive garden that creates.
23:06Yeah.
23:07I think it's one of the best ways to garden. Especially for us because we have clay soil, so you can't even get a crowbar into the earth.
23:12best ways to garden especially for us because we have clay soil so you can't even get a crowbar
23:18into the earth. I imagine creating this productive garden has helped integrate yourself with the
23:24broader Bruni Island community? Yeah, yeah absolutely. I love giving people food, I love
23:30supporting their health and their well-being but not only that I love seeing like my children in
23:35the garden with their friends and running through and getting berries or carrots out of the ground.
23:40And it just feels really wholesome, really nourishing. Only around 1,000 people live
23:48year-round on Bruni and there's very limited access to fresh food. Jo started selling and donating
23:56veggie boxes to community members and nowadays she also supplies fresh organic produce to local
24:01restaurants and chefs. Oh fantastic! While I've been getting a tour, Jo's friend and local chef
24:10Simon Ford has been whipping up a delicious lunch for us using fresh organic produce from the garden.
24:17What have we got in all this amazing food Simon? I've just done a frittata with just whatever she
24:23had. She's got some squash in there, tomatoes, there's some chicken eggs from Jo as well and
24:29there's the eggplant kasundi on top. Everything comes straight out of the ground and basically
24:34onto the plate so it's just fantastic. Doesn't get any better than that. No it doesn't.
24:44That kasundi is delicious. With produce it's good. It sounds funny coming from a chef but it requires
24:51very little intervention from me. You know, a bit of salt and pepper, a little bit of butter because I am a
24:56chef. That's about it most of the time. Yeah, the food speaks for itself doesn't it? The flavours are
25:03already there. It's got to let them shine through. You can't beat homegrown veggies at all. It's the best,
25:09Jo. Oh no, thank you. Yeah, good job Simon. Yeah, well done Simon.
25:18For people watching along at home, Jo, they might think you actually have some pretty easy growing here
25:23because everything looks so lush. Yeah, well that's thanks to no-dig gardening. But you would say that we grow
25:30in a dry climate. It's so dry here. I kind of wish I knew that when we brought the land and I
25:37probably would have, you know, purchased a house down south of the island because they get a lot more
25:41rainfall down south. You know, if it's going to be 20 mils of rain for Bruni Island, we'll probably get
25:47five mils, you know, because that's how dry it is. And not only that we have less rainfall, but we also
25:54struggle with the wind here. We have winds coming in sometimes at 80 to 100km, smashing through the
26:02garden. So it's a really hard place to grow food. And so we've put in lots of microclimates. I think
26:09that's really important to do, whether it's like adding in like the wind breaks as we've done with the
26:13corrugated iron or, you know, planting trees. And then you've just got to work with mother nature,
26:19you know, fortunately, unfortunately.
26:29There are two dams on the four hectare property, which have helped keep the garden going during dry
26:34times. As well as contending with challenging growing conditions on North Bruni, Jo's also faced
26:47some difficult personal times here. There's lots of reasons why I've started this garden. Obviously,
26:53I wanted to grow food to be more self-sufficient. And I think that's really important. But the other
26:59thing that I really love about this garden in particular is it's got me through postnatal
27:05depression. It really got me through some really dark times. So if you can imagine, I'm a brand new
27:12mum. I've come home from hospital to what can be an isolating island. And it was just a way for me to,
27:22I don't know, find myself again. Not that I was ever lost. But when you're a brand new mother to twins,
27:29it's really hard. And it was just a way for me to kind of nurture myself and get my hands into the
27:37earth. And that's really, really supportive to one's wellbeing is when your hands are in the soil.
27:44It's like my meditation. It's like, I come out here and I don't have to think. I don't have to,
27:49I can just let go of the world.
27:51I love this community so much. Like, they're really special to me. And I love nurturing them.
28:00And I get really emotional about it because you have to be really resilient here to live here.
28:07And I think that I've worked so hard in this garden. And I think it really does mean a lot to
28:14the community. What would you say to Jo 12 years ago from Jo today? Well done, Jo. You did it.
28:25It's been really hard work, Hannah, but it's been really worth it. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you.
28:34Still to come on Gardening Australia, Jerry's busting some myths about growing natives.
28:40Sophie profiles some hardy Mediterranean plants that could be useful in your garden.
28:48And Josh is in the tropics. Well, an unlikely tropical garden in the Perth Hills.
29:00Flowers are so beautiful, but they only bloom for a short time and then they're gone.
29:05But what about if you could have them as a keepsake forever? Well, now you can.
29:10Using a nifty process using clear resin to make some flower coasters. With this method,
29:16the flowers keep their colour and their shape and stay protected. And will make a stylish addition
29:22to your home decor. Even though we're going to shape them into coasters to put your drink on,
29:27you can apply the same technique using different moulds to make things like jewellery and Christmas
29:32decorations. To make the coasters, here's what you'll need. Dried flowers. Resin kit,
29:39available at craft stores. Silicone mould. The resin won't stick to the silicone. Eye protection.
29:47Gloves. And a mixer, like a chopstick or ice cream stick. Before we start mixing, let's sort out our
29:55flowers. We need to use dried flowers because we need to stop the moisture in the flowers from creating
30:01pockets of mould inside the resin. Flowers can be picked from your garden and left to dry on a paper
30:06towel by a sunny windowsill. It should take about a week. Try to avoid fleshy flowers like camellias
30:13and roses as they're too hard to dry out properly. Assemble your flowers in the base of the mould.
30:20Feel free to try a few different patterns because once the resin's poured in, there's no going back.
30:25Now it's time to mix the resin. But before we do, a couple of precautions. We're using two chemical
30:39components triggering a reaction to create a solid. It's very important to do this outside in a well
30:46ventilated area. Have protective gloves, glasses and a mask. Resin drips don't come out of clothing,
30:52so maybe wear something from the back of the closet. Also, any equipment we use cannot be
30:57reused for food purposes. You'll need to know the capacity of your mould to understand how much resin
31:04and hardener you'll need. For example, if your mould was 50ml, you'll need 25ml of resin and 25ml of
31:12hardener. Once you've measured them out, pour them both into a mixing jug and mix the contents with a
31:19paddle pop stick or disposable chopstick. Make sure you mix slowly because otherwise, if you do it too
31:26quickly, you'll create air bubbles and you don't want that. Now slowly pour the resin into the mould
31:35over the top of the flowers. You may need to use your paddle pop stick to press the leaves or the flowers
31:52to the base of the mould. They have a tendency to float to the top when you pour the resin in.
31:58And if you've got any air bubbles, I've got a tip for you. Use alcohol spray and just gently spray the surface.
32:11Now let your coaster set for about 24 hours.
32:18Now that it's hard, we can remove it from its mould.
32:20Doesn't it look great? The good thing about this coaster is that it's unique,
32:28one of a kind, and you can remember your garden every time you have a drink.
32:32It's unique, one of a kind, and you can do it from your garden every time you have a drink.
32:47Did you enjoy our native plant special last week? If you missed it, head on over to iview and catch up.
32:55I know you'll enjoy it. Now we hope it inspired you to get experimenting with
33:01growing natives in your garden. But look, if you're still sitting on the fence,
33:07Gerry's here to push you over the edge by busting a few common myths.
33:21Australia is home to a beautiful diversity of native plants. There's at least 23,000 species,
33:29and counting that can be found here. Many are well suited additions to any garden,
33:35where they provide visual appeal, seasonal interest, habitat for local wildlife, and an authentic sense
33:43of place. But as the industry has grown, so too has some of the misinformation about what it takes to
33:50garden with these unique plants. So it's time to put some of these ideas to bed, once and for all,
33:58and to do some native plant myth-busting.
34:04The first myth going around about Australian native plants is that they're all drought-loving
34:09survivors, happy in arid environments, dry soils, and roasting sunlight. But it's not true. Plants that
34:17are native to wet tropical cans, or soggy parts of southwest Tasmania, are just as native as the plants that
34:26grow in the gold fields of Western Australia. But there are some plants that must have some water just
34:33to survive. And here's two examples. This delicious native mint, and this wonderful herb, paddy herb from
34:42northern Queensland. For home gardeners, this means if there's a damp, shady corner in your garden,
34:50garden, or a pond, a dam, or even a birdbath, there's plenty of native plants to fill that hole.
34:58Some of my favourites are Crinum Asiaticum Variety Padunculatum, the world's largest bulb, and my
35:06Pouteria Australis, or Rainforest Plum, which hails from wet rain forests. And there's my Boenia
35:14cycad and fork fern. The second myth is that native plants are messy. Some people are hesitant to take
35:23the plunge into the native plant world because they fear those plants won't fit their particular garden
35:29aesthetic. Something which is neat, trimmed, and tidy. Many native plants look better if they're allowed to
35:40achieve their natural form, a bit like this Pandanus. But there are plenty which respond really well
35:47to a heavy prune, and some can even be hedged. One of the most popular hedging plants around is
35:55Claret Tops. This Melaleuca can be trimmed to any shape or size. You can even bonsai them. Also, Great Balls
36:04of Fire is a bottle brush which makes a beautiful, lush, neat hedge. It pays to experiment. This is a
36:12hedge of Hibiscus insularis. There's only one plant left in the wild. It doesn't get rarer than that.
36:19But what I was looking for when I created this hedge were two things. Firstly, there's a short internode,
36:26that's the gap between the branches, and that allows you to clip a plant into tight interesting
36:33shapes. The other thing is small leaves. They don't look bad and tatty after you've done the trimming.
36:40So if you have a native plant with both of those characteristics in your garden, you might be able
36:46to create an entirely unique hedge. Westringer is another native classic widely used exactly because
36:54it can be pruned and clipped into almost any shape required. Even Malaeucalyptus can be coppiced right
37:02down to the base from where they'll happily regrow. If you're not sure how a native plant will respond
37:09to pruning, ask at the nursery or have a look online and you'll find some really inspirational ways that
37:17people are using them in their gardens. The next myth I'd like to bust is that native plants
37:24don't need much care. Part of the fun when looking for new things for your garden is looking for new
37:33varieties of plants. Things like new flower colours or new forms or perhaps some fun frilly foliage.
37:43Many of these creations are what's known as cultivars, varieties of plants created by plant breeders
37:50for specific characteristics like flower size and colour, habit, shape or overall size.
37:58These are distinct from the wild type species which remain unchanged from those that you would see
38:05growing in natural areas. Native plants are no exception and indeed many of our favourite plants are
38:12actually cultivars. Grevillea Robin Gordon, Banksia Birthday Candles and Hardenbergia Happy Wanderer
38:20are three famous examples. Compared to their original wild parents, the cultivars will often have larger
38:28flowers, leaves and grow in a particular form. Generally speaking, cultivars require more water,
38:36fertilizer and care than their wild ancestors needed and that's because they've been specifically bred
38:43to look pretty in a garden or to fruit rather than subsist on what mother nature throws at them.
38:51For example, this finger lime is grafted so it can grow on a wide range of soil types. For the first 10 years
38:59I've got hardly any fruit at all because I didn't understand just how much water this needs to fruit
39:05prolifically. For the home gardener, this means if you buy a cultivar, be aware it will need slightly
39:13more upkeep to perform at its best. And the last myth that I'm busting is native plants aren't weeds.
39:22Weeds are a serious problem in Australia. Every year they cost the government, us, billions of dollars to
39:32limit the damage they cause. Worse, they threaten the livelihoods of our precious native plants and
39:39animals. Unfortunately, many of them arrived as innocent garden plants. While the vast majority of
39:48environmental weeds are exotic species, some are from Australia, including our national wattle,
39:55Acacia pycnantha. And along the east coast of Australia, the umbrella tree from North Queensland
40:01can be a significant weed. It is known to produce 300 seedlings per square metre in Brisbane.
40:09Australia is a big place and when certain species are planted in an area where they never naturally occur,
40:17they may have a sudden opportunity to exploit the environment in a way that nature never intended.
40:24Another good example is Acacia baileana or Cootamundra wattle. Originally hailing from a very limited
40:31pocket of inland southern New South Wales, its use in gardens and as a street tree spread it around,
40:38where it was able to shed copious seeds. As a result, it's become naturalised and a weed in Western
40:46Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT. And wherever it's been planted overseas,
40:54it's become a common weed. Ask any gardener in South Africa, New Zealand or the USA.
41:03As home gardeners, it's important for us to do the responsible thing. Check your plant wish list for
41:10potential weeds. You see, the wrong native plant in the wrong place can be just as problematic as an
41:18exotic one. So, don't let myths and misconceptions get in the way of your gardening game. Do the research
41:27and, in full knowledge, enjoy.
41:40When people ask what plants to choose that are stylish, water-wise and easy to grow,
41:45Mediterranean plants quickly come to mind. It's a rich vein to mine for horticultural inspiration.
41:52There are literally thousands of plants that are not only highly ornamental, they'll also survive and
41:58thrive in uncompromising weather, which is handy if you live in a climate such as mine.
42:05This is Flomus or Jerusalem sage. It gets its name from its furry foliage, which looks like culinary sage,
42:11but this is not one that you can eat. It's a family of plants and most have yellow or lemon flowers,
42:17and they're characterised by these interesting hooded flowers that come in whirls up the stem.
42:22This one's been flowering for several months and they usually flower from spring till autumn.
42:29The interesting thing about them is that when they finish flowering, if you look down the stem,
42:33you'll see new shoots coming and you cut just above that. It's showing you where to prune it.
42:41Artemisia, or wormwood, is a family of fabulous foliage plants.
42:46They rain from ground covers up to tall hedges, and most of them have silvery ferny foliage.
42:52This particular one is called Artemisia absinthum. It's what they make absinth from,
42:57and it grows to about a metre high. Whereas I also grow the taller hedging variety called tree wormwood,
43:03Artemisia arborescens, which can get two metres high and forms a great hedge.
43:09Selvias are garden staples and with good reason. They're adaptable, reliable and so generous with
43:20their colour. So it's little wonder that you see them on Gardening Australia all the time.
43:26There are two that are my particular favourites. This one is called African Skies. It comes from South
43:32Africa. It has hardy fresh green leaves and smothers itself with these beautiful blue flowers for most
43:39of the year. Another one is celestial blue. That comes from California. It's got greyish aromatic foliage
43:47and interesting whirls of flowers up the stems. It also flowers for a long period from spring till
43:53autumn, and both of these take full sun, harsh conditions, and once established, they'll even survive
44:00here without supplementary watering. If you're looking for a tough plant that will bloom for
44:07many months with very little pampering and won't get ahead of itself, well, you can't go past an
44:12apita or catmint. There are lots of different forms. The most popular form is the low one called
44:18Walker's Blue or Walker's Low. It gets to about 30 centimetres high, flowers from spring till autumn
44:25with beautiful purple blue flowers, and makes a great edging for a garden bed.
44:29This is a taller form called Six Hill Giants. It's still just as beautiful, doesn't flower quite as
44:35long, but it's just as popular with the bees and gardeners around the world. So why not give one a go?
44:50Of all the things I love about working on Gardening Australia, and look, I use the word work very loosely,
44:57it would be the opportunity to uncover so many delightfully surprising gardens. Well,
45:04Josh has found an absolute cracker in the Perth Hills.
45:10Perth may be situated on the west coast, but residents here in the hills of the city's eastern fringe
45:17are the last to feel the cooling afternoon sea breeze.
45:24In summer, it gets hot, so coming up here to find a tropical oasis is a lush and cooling surprise.
45:32All of this is the work of Hazel Granville, whose knack for gardening goes hand in hand with the design
45:46and construction talents of her husband, Alec. Hello, welcome Josh. Thank you. Wow, look at this.
45:55Oh yes, I love my tropical garden. I feel like I've been transported to an exotic location.
46:03What inspired you to create this style of garden? Well, I was born in Malaysia and grew up in Penang,
46:09and so to me, a garden is lush, lots of green, lots of foliage. And when I became interested in gardening
46:16many, many years later, I thought I wanted to recreate something of my childhood. It was going
46:22to be a tropical look garden. So that's what we came up with. It's amazing looking out into this lush canopy,
46:28but I've got this sense I want to get down there and have a close look. Yes, there are lots of nooks
46:33and crannies you can get around to and twists and turns. You can get lost down there.
46:43This type of garden does rely heavily on water. What is it about this site that's made that possible?
46:50Well, when we first bought the block, there was nothing. It was swamp. So we tried our first garden,
46:56it was normal garden. We had lawn for the children to play on, to run, to play cricket.
47:01But it was too wet. It just didn't grow. We grew trees to try and soak up the water. We had
47:07melaleucas down the bottom. They're enormous now, but it still wasn't successful. This was just a mud
47:14hole. So we thought we'd go with the flow. We'd plant things that like the water. So we experimented
47:22and anything that grew well, we just kept repeating. And that's what we've ended up with.
47:27You've got a range of palm types here. How did you go about choosing the right ones for this spot?
47:33Well, when we first started, we didn't have much money. We wanted something that was quick growing.
47:39So we didn't know much about palms. So we found Bangalows. We've got Alexandra. We have the Phoenix
47:48Robbellini, the little pygmy date palm. We have the flamethrower palm, which is one of my favourites.
47:53We have the queen palm. I can't remember all the other palms. I love them all. But my favourites are
48:01the tree ferns. They've just grown huge and now they're self-perpetuating. I don't even have to buy
48:07any more tree ferns. It's such a thrill to see a little bit of green and then eventually it shoots up
48:14into a little tree ferns.
48:23The tropical vibe moves out into your mixed orchard here as well.
48:27Well, I started off with two candlenut trees. They were this big and now they've grown enormous.
48:32I use the candlenut for Indonesian cooking for rendang. It makes it really nice and rich.
48:37I've also got a longan. This year it's full of blossom and I know I will get lots of visitors
48:44when the fruit are ripe. Family love them. My other favourite is my lychee. This is a good year full of
48:50blossom. We must net it before the possums beat me to the fruit. I've also got mangoes, guava, avocado,
48:58lime, persimmon. When they're ripe we just pop out here and we pick a fruit or two and carry on working
49:06in the garden. Come on chooky chook chooks. Yeah chooky chook chooks. And you found a sunny spot for
49:15your veggie garden. About the only sunny spot in the whole garden here. We've got rotational beds,
49:22we've got worm farm, we've got compost and the chickens. It works really well and you know what?
49:28I learnt that from Gardening Australia. Keep it all together and it's successful. We've done it.
49:33Well it looks great and well done for you for putting it all into practice.
49:42We moved here in 1983. We didn't actually start the garden at that time. We started it quite a bit
49:49later. Probably 20 years ago is when we worked on it in earnest. When the children were a bit older,
49:56we had more time and a bit more money and we had the vision then. Not in the very beginning.
50:02I love that bit up there. Anything with the actual gardening is Hazel's responsibility. Anything about
50:09creating things that are not gardens is mine. One of the main reasons for getting this part of the garden
50:17done was our daughter's wedding. She wanted to get married in our garden and we had only eight
50:23months to do it. My daughter said, I'd really like to have a photograph of all the people in the wedding
50:30in this position. But I can't do it in the middle of a creek bed, so can you build a world walk over
50:36the top, Dad? Ah, yes, dear. So I did.
50:40What has been your design process here? After our first initial mistakes, we read a lot and we drew
50:50up a plan because all the books say you've got to draw a plan, you've got to have an idea. So we did
50:55and we plotted out plants. We didn't plot specific plants, we just said we need a fast growing one
51:00here, we need shade plants here and then we sourced the plants. It grew that way but then it's kind of
51:07taken over on its own now. We started that way but now the garden has grown organically. Yeah,
51:13and we really wanted to make it look as if the garden's been here for a long time and we've moved
51:18into it, not the other way around. I think we hopefully have achieved that.
51:27Water is necessary in a tropical garden but it's the sound of water that really is nice as well. We
51:34have the main pond with the fish in. I pump the water up into this pond and it gravity feeds back.
51:42So we have a swimming pool which is actually an above ground pool but I've built a deck around it so
51:48yeah, we really like water in this garden. Whilst tropical plantings are a key feature
51:53of this part of the garden, I see that you've also got an area dedicated to native species.
51:58Yes. Well, when I was young at university, I learnt about the Wallace Line. It fascinated me.
52:05You're referring to the biogeographical boundary that separates species from Australia and Papua New
52:11Guinea and South East Asia. That's right. When we were building this house, the top half of the garden
52:17was natural bush anyway. So I thought, why don't we go with the flow and make that the Australian side.
52:24That's the other side of the Wallace Line and the house and the driveway are the line. So
52:29we've got both wells meeting, you see, the Australian side and then the Asian side.
52:38Oh, great Alec. Good. Has designing the garden into these different zones helped you manage your
52:44watering and fertilising needs? Definitely. Definitely. So much easier. The top garden
52:49doesn't need as much water. So the plants there are thriving. We have mainly plants that are native
52:55to this area and plants that would attract the birds and the insects of Australia.
53:02This part of the garden actually requires very little fertilising. It's a lot of leaf litter,
53:07a lot of natural fertilising. It certainly is a lot less maintenance down here now. There's no weeds.
53:13All the mulch and the leaf litter that stops the weeds from growing. And as the mulch ages,
53:19we throw the old mulch into the garden, into the plants, and then Alec refreshes it with new mulch.
53:29We've worked together pretty well, I think. Yeah, I think we do.
53:32Yeah. I feel like there's no major projects to go anymore now. It's really just maintenance and
53:36relaxing and enjoying it. Come out here and have a coffee on the deck in the morning. It's really just
53:44lovely being in this nice environment. We're happy. We're happy with what we've done. We love it here.
53:52You know what I'm delivering in my cart right now? It's your list of jobs for the weekend. So head
54:06on out there and tick a few off. Enjoy your time in the garden.
54:16In cool areas of the country, it's time to get your garlic in. Remember to soak
54:21clothes in water overnight before planting. Give summer flowering perennials a good tidy up prune
54:29to keep the good times rolling for next year. If you're giving woody herbs like rosemary and
54:35lavender an autumn cutback, remember to save and dry the clippings to keep your linen cupboards
54:41smelling fresh. In warm temperate areas, look out for aphids on epiphytic orchids like dendrobiums.
54:49Take them out with your fingers or apply pyrethrum. Sow broad beans directly into the soil. To avoid
54:57overwatering, water at planting and then hold off until you see two open leaves. Looking for a quick
55:04feed in the turnover between summer and winter crops? Plant seedlings of Asian greens now.
55:10Subtropical gardeners, apply some sieved compost to your lawn to build up nutrients before winter rains.
55:18Plant ochre tubers after chilling in the crisper of your fridge for a few weeks. Harvest before the
55:26humidity of summer starts. As multiplier leaks start to resume growth, lift and divide any offsets to
55:33replant or share. In the tropics, if the foliage of your galangal has started to die back, it's time to
55:41harvest the rhizome. Watermelon seed can go in now. Sow direct in raised mounds and make sure there's enough
55:49room for them to grow. Snowpea seeds can also go in. Try super-sized varieties like Oregon Giant and Mammoth for
55:58ginormous results. Arid gardeners, now's the time to plant passion fruit. Remember they like company,
56:07so plant two spaced 50 centimetres apart. Get your hands on the tough native lemongrass to add some
56:14verve to your herb bed. Ethiopian cabbage can be grown year-round in arid areas, but the best time to
56:22sow is now. Autumn's a great time to be out in the garden. Let us know what you've been up to in your
56:29patch by heading over to the Gardening Australia pages on social media.
56:41I say it often, but seriously, where did that hour go? Time flies when you're lost in a garden,
56:49and we hope that it flies by until next week, when we can all be together again. Here's what's in store.
56:59I've got the lowdown on where our chocolate comes from, as well as some ideas to decorate your eggs,
57:07using plants of course, and we find out how the RSPCA is helping rescue bunnies feel right at home.
57:16Did I mention plants are the key? It's time to think about autumn planting, and we've all got places
57:22in the garden that need a change or a complete reset. I'm going to take this native frangipani,
57:26as prior to placing the centre of some beautiful native colour, convert this into a garden space
57:31that gives rewards rolling into summer and many years to come. I'm thrilled to be visiting the home
57:38veggie garden. I'm an Australian legend, the incomparable Maggie Deer, and I'm hoping I might
57:44even get to sample some of her cooking.