Handy Hints

Accentuate a living space or area of the garden with a display of Orchid flowers. Their bold flowers and colours also making them the perfect living gift or indoor floral displays. 1. Dendrobium Dendrobiums come from Asia and the Pacific, including Australasia. They grow best throughout Qld and northern NSW and have no leaf drop, so they’re pretty easy care. …

Most people know moving some plants between Australian states is restricted to prevent pests and diseases. Bringing plants or seeds into Australia is far stricter, as even small breaches can introduce serious biosecurity risks. Plants must arrive free of soil and plant debris, clearly labelled with their full botanical name, securely packaged, and declared. Even soil on boots can carry …

Build your own olla watering system today and give your garden a smarter, low-effort way to stay hydrated while saving water and time. This easy watering system has been used for over 2000 years.  You can buy unglazed terracotta pots purpose built for this laidback watering system or you can DYI. Use two unglazed terracotta pots with saucers.  Fill the …

Small succulents come in a wide range of shapes, textures, and colours, making them perfect for pots, windowsills, and small garden scapes. A popular variety is Echeveria, known for their rosette forms and pastel shade.  Small Echeverias form compact rosettes of fleshy leaves, often staying low to the ground and slowly spreading into clusters. Their neat, symmetrical growth habit makes …

Healthy pond plants, like garden plants, need regular care, fertilising, pruning, and maintaining ecological balance to stay resilient against pests.   Balance Plants & Water Volume Aim for 40–60% surface coverage with aquatic plants to control algae naturally and provide shade. Avoid Overfeeding Fish Only feed fish what they can consume in 2–3 minutes to reduce waste and water pollution. …

You planted seedlings one day and their gone the next? A very common problem is seedlings freshly planted disappearing, let’s look at the possible culprits.   • A cutworm or armyworm • Wallabies, kangaroos, rabbits, rats, mice or bandicoots • Snails or slugs • A neighbour who envies your garden No to the neighbours, but the other three are highly …

Make a simple seed spreader shaker to spread seeds better for more germination success rate.  When trying to spread very fine seeds like lettuce, lobelia, poppies etc, using this trick from yester years will make all the difference. Use an old salt shaker, with washed river sand or horticultural sand in it.  Add the seeds to the shaker and mix …

  There is not just one type of composting method, there is open air composting, tumbler composts, worm farms, direct composting into trenches and quite a few more types. Decomposition of organic matter can be a slow process, but this may vary with which composting method you choose. Here we look at traditional layering method. What materials can be used? …

The potato originated in the Andes Mountains, where it was cultivated by Pre-Columbian Indians. It was taken to Spain by the Conquistadors, but because of its association with poisonous plants (it is a member of the nightshade family), the potato didn’t come to prominence in Europe until introduced into Ireland in the 17th century. Being so nutritious and easily grown …

  After fruiting has finished and before flowering occurs, reduce fruit tree by a fifth by pruning back over-reaching or unwanted branches, gall wasp affected branches, dead, diseased, crossed over or low branches touching the soil. This will create better airflow underneath the canopy and concentrate growth into younger more productive branches. Once the fruit tree is harvested for its …