Hey Spud

05 May, 2023  |  Peter G., GCC Member We’ve been buying Kipfler potatoes for years and wondering if we can grow them at home? Read More

Fig foibles

05 May, 2023  |  Frank L., Bendigo, VIC I was given a cutting of a reputed excellent fruiting fig tree three years ago. It grew quickly but no fruit ever. What am I doing wrong? Read More

Curls and swirls

05 May, 2023  |  Lesley, GCC Member I have a small lemon tree in a pot that is looking very sick. Many of the leaves are curled and some have a distinctive swirling pattern on them. What do I treat it with and could I give it a prune? Read More

Medinilla mystery

05 May, 2023  |  H & R, Drummoyne, NSW Need a question answered, a triumph celebrated or a shoulder to cry on? We’re here to help. Read More

Intruder Alert

26 August, 2022  |  Ana, Wamberal, NSW

Can you please identify this weed and advise how to prevent it from spreading further? What weed killer I should use and when should I start treatment? My lawn is a mix of buffalo and kikuyu.

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All white now

26 August, 2022  | 

How do you grow Eucharis lily; they are such exotic looking flowers?

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Just in time

26 August, 2022  |  Ken, Garden Clinic Member I remember seeing your photographs of the zinnias you grew last year, am I too late? Read More

Seeing red

26 August, 2022  |  ​Robert L. Port Macquarie, NSW

I recently saw a photograph on your Instagram posting of a red-flowering paperback. It was very attractive. Any details, please?

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First time

26 August, 2022  |  Anne Davis, Garden Clinic Member

I’m waiting for my mail order dahlia tubers to arrive, what do I do next? By the way, I’ve never grown them before.

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Balled over

26 August, 2022  |  Helen, Garden Clinic member

I’ve grown several camellia seedlings collected from my old one and they are now flowering this winter. Many blooms are being attacked by an animal or insect causing the buds to split open. Can you help me please as I love growing these seedlings?

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Purple Mystery

15 August, 2022  |  Susan, Garden Clinic Member

I have a beautiful purple flowering plant and would love to know what it is. Can you please identify it?

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Get the edge

15 August, 2022  |  David L, Epping, NSW I visited a garden in Leura recently and saw a plant with variegated grassy leaves and blue flowers. It was used an edging plant. Do you know what it might be? Read More

Trick or treat

15 August, 2022  |  Michael L, Gosford, NSW I’ve seen a native groundcover she-oak at garden centres. Is this for real or a hoax? Read More

The need for feed

15 August, 2022  |  Linda, Garden Clinic Member Can you fertilise native plants with both Bush Tucker and Seamungus at the same time? Is it too late to fertilise sasanqua camellias with Kahoona now? Should I fertilise my citrus plants now or wait till the fruit has been harvested? Also, should I fertilise the lawn now even though it is quite waterlogged? Read More

Lichen you a lot

04 July, 2022  |  Joe, Garden Clinic Member

I just have a few strange things growing on my crab apples and I’m not
sure if it is harming them? Joe, Garden Clinic Member.

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Rare beauty

02 June, 2022  |  Graham, you mentioned a rare camellia on 2GB recently called ‘Maiden’, can you tell me more about it please? Read More

Purple Reign

23 May, 2022  |  Q: KEVIN, LEURA | A: GRAHAM ROSS I was fascinated by your visit to Gory’u Japanese Garden on Better Homes & Gardens TV and their Japanese maples. What do you think is the darkest purple-leaved Japanese maple? Read More

Rose Recovery

10 March, 2022  |  Q: MARK PENNANT HILLS | A: GRAHAM ROSS My standard Iceberg roses were fantastic until a few a months ago. I’ve tried everything to rejuvenate them but no luck. Read More

Net Gains

22 November, 2021  |  WORDS AND IMAGES: ANNE MARIE CRAINE Read More

Bountiful bougainvillea

23 November, 2021  |  As per my discussion with you via the phone last Friday, you indicated you were most interested to see our bougainvillea flourishing in the middle of winter. Read More

Lift your spirits

23 November, 2021  |  A couple of years ago, I heard Graham speaking about a new peony variety that was more suitable for the warmer climates such as Sydney. These peonies were called Itoh peonies and available from Van Diemen Bulbs (VDB) in Tasmania. Read More

Vision in white

23 November, 2021  |  This rose covered arbour was photographed at the beautiful Mayfield Gardens in Oberon. Do you know what it might be please? Read More

Avenue of Trees

23 November, 2021  |  Can you please suggest a suitable tree for our long driveway? I’d like an autumn foliage tree, if possible. Everyone is planting ornamental pears, but I sense you’re worried about them long term. Read More

Indoor shrimp: Purple shrimp plant

23 November, 2021  | 

Many years ago, I saw an indoor plant in Hawaii they called a purple shrimp plant. Do you know what it might be and is it available here? It had patterned leaves and multi-coloured flowers.

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​Bug Watch: Helpful wasps

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Early spring is the time to hang parasitic wasp (Encarsia formosa) cards up in new plantings of tomatoes and eggplant to protect these vegetables from white fly. 

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​Bug Watch: Woolly aphids

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

These insects are 2-4 mm in length, pear-shaped and often covered with white waxy filaments that give a fluffy appearance, as though they are covered with wool.

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​Mail Order Vegetable Seed Supplies

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

We like to buy our vegetable seeds from trusted mail order seed companies, this way we get a considerable range of varieties for a lifetime of experimentation and flavour. Here are our favourites.

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10 things you didn’t know about fruit flies

18 March, 2021  |  Robin Powell

Robin Powell reports from behind enemy lines on the fascinating, infuriating fruit fly.

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A lesson in clipped hedges

18 March, 2021  |  Graham Ross

A hedge is many things. It can define areas of the garden; shield you from the curiosity of passersby; block ugly intrusions into your view; protect your privacy; offer favourite plants a green backdrop against which to dazzle; or simply give your garden a nestling sense of enclosure and cosy comfort. Here Graham Ross answers the most-asked questions on hedge cultivation and care.

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Best-ever roast potatoes

18 March, 2021  |  Robin Powell

Want the best-ever roast potatoes? Simple, delicious and deeply comforting the humble roast spud is a must-have in the cook’s bag of tricks. Here are a few of our favourite versions.

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Bug Watch: Aphids

18 March, 2021  |  Ally Jackson

Check roses, citrus, cherry and peach carefully when you water, looking for clusters of small insects hiding under leaves or on new growth: aphids.

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Bug Watch: Aphids and Other Li'l Suckers

18 March, 2021  |  Dan Wheatley

Given the chance those annoying little suckers bothering your flower buds now can become an infestation later. But if you get in early enough you can manage the problem without using any chamicals, just a few little backyard-buddies. Its time to get out there and evict your unwanted tennants! 

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Bug Watch: Bindii and other annoying lawn weeds

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Regretting not spraying against bindii in winter? Bindii (Soliva pterosperma) is a low-growing annual herb with leaves like a carrot top. It produces a single flower at its centre that matures into a prickly seedpod that sticks in bare feet.

 

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Bug Watch: Blue banded bee

18 March, 2021  |  Ally Jackson

This native bee is found in every part of Australia except Tasmania. It gets its name from the iridescent blue or white bands around its abdomen.

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Bug Watch: Botrytis

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Humid, still conditions are the perfect breeding ground for botrytis, a fungus that affects plant tissue.

 

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Bug Watch: Bronze orange bugs

18 March, 2021  |  Libby Cameron

Bronze orange bugs are nasty pests that suck sap from young shoots, fruit and flowers of citrus trees.

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Bug Watch: Cabbage Moth

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Female moths, which can be recognised by their mottled brown colour, lay their eggs under leaves. When the larvae hatch, the brown-striped caterpillars tunnel into stems.

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Bug Watch: Citrus gall wasp

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Bulging citrus stems indicate the presence of citrus gall moth, which lays its eggs in the bark at the ends of citrus branches.

 

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Bug Watch: Citrus leaf miner

18 March, 2021  |  Ally Jackson

A silvery trail on foliage is the telltale sign of this pest. Eggs were laid in the leaf by the moth last year and the trail is the hatched insect eating its way out. Further in their lifecycle leaf miners curl the leaves completely in on themselves, and pupate into small moths. These are active at night, so are rarely seen.

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Bug Watch: Cup moth

18 March, 2021  |  Ally Jackson

Cup moths are so-called due to the cup-shaped cocoon they attach to the tree branches, or surrounding leaf litter, of eucalypts, brush box and pittosporum. They are also known to attack apples, apricots and cherries.

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