Garden Clinic Blog
Keep in touch with what we're doing, there's always something going on. Our team has been busy gathering interesting, helpful and exciting stories for you to enjoy. Seasonal inspiration from our garden to yours.
Summer Trumpets
04 February 2020 | Sandra RossTrumpet flowers create impact with their size, profusion and hot colour tones. Not for gardeners who prefer soft romantic pastels, these subtropical stunners are for those who love bold brassy colour and want to create a ‘holiday-at-home’ feel.
Read MoreVisit: Wildwood
30 January 2020 | Sue Tapping and Robin PowellA cool-climate garden of five acres gives Sue and Wayne Tapping room to grow the beauties they love. Here they share what’s keeping them busy this spring
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Secrets of Bougainvillea
28 January 2020 | Matthew BiggsJeanne Baret disguised herself as a boy to join her naturalist lover on Louis de Bougainville’s great expedition. A fine botanist in her own right, Jeanne is now thought to have collected the first specimens of bougainvillea in the jungles of Brazil.
Read MoreOur list of summer jobs
28 January 2020 | Robin PowellIn January, clip, snip, mow and trim. It's time for the post festive clean-up in the garden
In February, humidity is at its summer peak. The garden will need a helping-hand to get through the next few weeks and into the cooler weather.
Read MoreMeet: Jeremy Critchley, nurseryman
28 January 2020 | Robin PowellJeremy Critchley’s Green Gallery Nursery developed a focus on indoor plants once he moved into an apartment and wanted something different.
Read MoreGreat Dixter
28 January 2020 | Robin PowellIs this old place England’s most exciting contemporary garden?
Read More2020 Diamond Membership
22 January 2020 | Kristi Bortollo2020 Diamond Membership – a brand new level of membership and let me tell you, it’s the best one yet.
Read MoreDelicous: brownie
21 January 2020 | Robin PowellNot as heavy as a traditional brownie, but with a satisfying double-choc hit and bonus health food scores from its secret (almost indetectable) vegetable content, this is a great, year-round treat. In summer serve chilled, straight from the fridge.
Read MoreHow to: create the perfect pergola
21 January 2020 | Arno KingShade, privacy and a place to show off fabulous plants - who doesn’t want a pergola!
Read MoreOld Wesley Dale
21 January 2020 | Robin PowellDeb and Scott Wilson make garden magic in Tasmania's stunning Meander Valley.
Read MoreBeating the French at their own game
21 January 2020 | Libby CameronIs Tasmania the new Provence when it comes to producing the world's best lavender? Sacrebleu!
Read MorePhilip Johnson's Garden, Olinda
16 January 2020 | Philip JohnsonLandscape designer Philip Johnson’s passion is to connect people with nature. In this extract from his new book Connected: the sustainable landscapes of Philip Johnson, he explains how that connection is deepened and refined at his home in Olinda, and creates a billabong to die for!
Read MoreSecret Garden
16 January 2020 | Matthew CantwellSecret Gardens is one of Sydney’s most successful garden businesses – designing, constructing and maintaining beautiful gardens across the city. In this extract from a new book featuring 19 of the company’s finest gardens, founder Matt Cantwell explains how a garden can balance privacy with views out - and into - the garden.
Read MoreHow to: grow an Australian lawn
15 January 2020 | Linda RossA patch of native grass, or a whole lawn of it, will help preserve our beautiful Christmas beetles. Linda Ross tells how it’s done.
Read MoreHow to: cook with wattleseed
15 January 2020 | Robin PowellIt’s said that there is a wattle in flower somewhere in Australia every day of the year. Not all of the seed of these 1000-odd species are edible, indeed some a slightly toxic, but there is evidence that aborigines ate the seeds from at least 120 of them. Wattleseed has a unique fragrance and flavour – mocha-chocolateyy, smoky and nutty all at once.
Read MorePlants I love: Jerilderie Red
15 January 2020 | Tim PicklesThe chance cross between an Illawarra flame tree and a kurrajong is a tree that should be better known and more widely grown.
Read MoreMeet: Philip Johnson, landscape designer
15 January 2020 | Robin PowellSustainable landscape designer Philip Johnson generated rare garden-related headlines when his ‘Trailfinders Australian Garden’ took out the Best in Show award at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2013. What happened next?
Read MoreHow to: create a water wonderland
11 December 2019 | Isla BarlowYou don’t need a big space to have your own water feature: a sunny spot on a balcony or in a courtyard will do. You can use any container, as long as it hasn’t had chemicals in it that would kill the fish. Isla made her water feature in a half wine barrel. Here’s how.
Read MoreHow to: make fruit ice-blocks
11 December 2019 | Linda RossWhen it’s sweltering outside and the kids need some cool relief, homemade fruity ice-blocks are the answer. When they’ve been demolished, ask the children to help make a new batch, ready for the next hot afternoon.
Read MoreHow to: have garden fun with kids
11 December 2019 | Kate Neale‘Be back by dark’ tends not to be a phrase we associate with childhood these days, but given the chance, children still relish an opportunity to play outside. Kate Neale and her co-author, daughter Leelu, have plenty of ideas to help parents, grandparents and carers have summer fun in the garden with kids.
Read MoreMeet: Brigitte Eckardt, Rose Grower, Green E Roses
11 December 2019 | Linda RossNeed some advice on roses? Meet a walking rose encyclopedia!
Read MoreHow to: decorate with water lilies
11 December 2019 | Linda RossWaterlilies are shy until the mercury hits 30, and then they unfold into beautiful blooms. We grow them in large bowls and pots, and pick them to decorate the table through summer.
Read MoreKitchen Garden Summer
11 December 2019 | Linda RossSummer brings the vegetable patch’s peak of production. The heat of the sun powers growth, but threatens disaster too. Rise with the birds for early deep watering, and let your mantra be mulch, mulch, mulch.
Read MoreHow to: save your garden when off on holidays
11 December 2019 | Linda RossWe’re all going on a summer holiday - and the garden is staying behind! But with a little forward planning your garden can be just as lovely when you return as it was before you left.
Read MoreDry Spell Garden: Bondi
05 December 2019 | Linda RossBondi is known for its beach, babes and bikinis, and not for its gardens. But this is where I find one of Australia’s most imaginative pocket-sized spaces. Generously spirited and full of dry-spell ideas to bring your garden to life.
Read MoreIn the Subtropical Garden: December
03 December 2019 | Arno KingHot and steamy with the odd torrential downpour is the order of business for the subtropical garden. Our resident tropical garden expert Arno King has the lowdown on what’s happening this December in the subtropical garden.
Read MoreMeet Justine Smith, Rhipsalis grower
03 December 2019 | Robin PowellJustine Smith’s beautifully grown rhipsalis flew off the tables at Collectors’ Plant Fair this year. Don’t worry if you missed out - she’s now supplying Flower Power with these hairy hanging delights under the Jungle Cactus label.
Read MoreThe New Upside of Gardening
03 December 2019 | Kate Neale and Michael CaseyThe show gardens at Singapore's first-ever Horticulture Show earlier this year blurred the boundary between the natural and built environment and introduced us to a whole new place to garden - the ceiling!
Read MoreGarden Trip: Singapore
03 December 2019 | Robin PowellThe Singapore stopover might once have been about shopping, but now it’s about gardens. Add these destinations to your itinerary.
Read MoreHanging Around
03 December 2019 | Linda RossCool green curtains dripping delicate leaves from fine stems are mesmerising. Reversing the trend of growing upward to the light, plants that grow down, and hang around are jewels for gardeners.
Read MoreHow to: create a dazzling basket
28 November 2019 | Linda RossNo one does a hanging basket of summer flowers quite like the English, and, inspired by a recent trip, we’re determined to give it a good shake this summer. We’ve included here some favourite basket-happy plants with the right cascading habit - and some options for really hot spots. The thing is to design an arrangement like a posy, with a mix of textures and colours. Have fun, be bold, try something new, and toss it all at the end of the season.
Read MoreKnow your: balcony flowers
28 November 2019 | Linda RossAdd some summer dazzle to a sunny balcony with these pot-loving beauties.
Read MoreIn my Kitchen Garden: Bangalow NSW
28 November 2019 | Kate NealeIn the Kitchen Garden series that shares the knowledge and experience of food growers around the country, Kate Neale dishes the dirt on her top summer growing tips and her favourite new harvest.
Read MoreAgapanthus
27 November 2019 | Linda RossThe sparkling blue and white flowers of agapanthus cool the summer garden, and new colours are a real thrill.
Read MoreRobin's Garden
26 November 2019 | Robin PowellMy garden is largely a tropical holiday filled with luxurious foliages and a fruit salad of orange, hot pink, red and gold flowers. A sprinkling of blue grounds that hot colour in a garden bed that sweeps around an oval lake of lawn. In summer the best thing to do is find a seat in the shade and soak it up.
Read MoreHow to: cook spinach pie
19 November 2019 | Robin PowellIn Greece local cooks prefer to make their spanokopita (spinach pie) with the mix of wild greens known as horta.
Read MoreChelsea: Graham Ross' Survival Tips
19 November 2019 | Graham RossGraham Ross shares his best tips to make the most out of the Chelsea flower show in this survival guide.
Read MoreStar of the season: Agastache
19 November 2019 | Linda RossThese easy-care, minty-fresh flowery fillers offer reliable and long-lasting summer colour.
Read MoreChelsea magic
19 November 2019 | Robin PowellChelsea is a magical garden world as full of dreams and emotion as it of of sheer hard work and skill.
Read MoreGarden festival planner: Chelsea Flower show
19 November 2019 | Robin PowellChelsea is the prize bloom of the world's garden shows, and the reputation is well-deserved. Here Robin Powell shares her observations on what has been another breath-taking Chelsea Flower Show.
Read MoreGreat Aussie ideas
14 November 2019 | Robin PowellOne of the great delights of leading tours for Ross Garden Tours around Australia and the world is picking up great ideas. Here are a few from this year's travels.
Read MorePotted: Kangaroo Paw
14 November 2019 | LInda RossThese furry, iconic Australian flowers are a great addition to a potted garden, especially the smaller varieties.
Read MoreStar of the season: Dwarf Banksia
14 November 2019 | Linda Ross and Mez WoodwardDwarf Banksias prove that no space doesn’t mean no impact.
Read MoreMeet Kath Gadd
14 November 2019 | Robin PowellKath Gadd’s company is Mallee Design, a garden design business that uses only Australian plants, and does a neat sideline in beautiful, spun copper birdbaths.
Read MoreA love of colour
07 November 2019 | Jaqui CameronHeather Cant is known locally as the Rose Lady. Find out why in this extract from ‘Beyond the Garden Gate: private gardens of the Southern Highlands’.
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