Ask Us! | The Garden Clinic

Bug Watch: Frangipani rust

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

This is a fairly new disease (Coleosporium domingense syn C. plumeriae) in Australia. It is believed to have arrived from Florida in an infected frangipani cutting 15 years ago.

Bug watch: Hawk moth caterpillar

18 March, 2021 | Libby Cameron

This is the king of the autumn caterpillars, a voracious eater that grows into a sizeable creature up to 7cm longwith large spots along its body and a white-tipped spine at the end. It feeds on tender foliage, and can decimate a patch of impatiens or sweet potato in a couple of days.

Bug Watch: Lacebugs

18 March, 2021 | Ally Jackson

Despite their name, Azalea lace bugs are also enemies of rhododendrons. Their attack is evidenced by widespread silvery mottling and sticky, brown patches on the underside of leaves. It’s best to spray now, at the beginning of the growing season.

Bug watch: Lily caterpillar

18 March, 2021 | Libby Cameron

These voracious caterpillars can destroy a clump of clivias or other lilies in record time.

Bug watch: Magnesium deficiency

18 March, 2021 | Libby Cameron

When plants are low in magnesium, they move what they have from the old leaves to feed the new. Consequently older leaves begin to yellow from the sides to the centre.

Bug watch: Peach leaf curl

18 March, 2021 | Libby Cameron

Peach leaf curl is a parasitic fungus that causes new leaves on peaches and nectarines to become disfigured.

Bug Watch: Powdery mildew

18 March, 2021 | Ally Jackson

Powdery mildew is a widespread fungus that is carried by the wind. It multiplies rapidly in high humidity so thrives in overcrowded garden beds where the air circulation is poor.

Bug Watch: Thrips

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

Thrips suck and rasp at flower petals causing discolouration.

Bug Watch: Two spotted mite and azalea lace bug

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

These two insects feed under the azalea leaves, causing a mottled discolouration on the topside of the leaves.

Bugwatch: Scale

18 March, 2021 | Mez Woodward and Dan Wheatley

Scale insects are some of the most common garden pests around. They attract other pests and suck the vigour from your plants, but they are easy to control and even easier to prevent.

Cuttings from the Garden World

18 March, 2021 | The Garden Clinic family

Here's what's happening in the garden world this winter.

Fettucine of Gete Okosomin Squash Brown Butter and Fennel Pollen

18 March, 2021 | Peter Gilmore

Peter Gilmore’s delicious ‘fettuccini’ uses golden squash as both noodle and sauce in a dish that’s much easier than it looks.

Frost Watch

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

Frost-sensitive plants such as hibiscus, frangipani, passionfruit, citrus, deciduous fruit trees, and some vegetables can be adversely affected by frost.

How to plant a bare-rooted rose

18 March, 2021 | Mez Woodward

It's easy to be seduced by the colour, forms and perfumes of roses, but not as easy to successfully grow them. Here Mez Woodward shows us how to plant your bare-rooted rose.

How to: arrange flowers

18 March, 2021 | Annabelle Hickson

In this edited extract from A Tree in the House, self-taught florist Annabelle Hickson shares her key tip for arranging flowers beautifully.

How to: brew compost tea

18 March, 2021 | Arno King

When I was a child all our neighbours and friends had a large tub - generally an old enamel washing machine tub - buried close to the vegetable garden. This was the ‘brew’ tub. Ingredients for the brew - compost, manures and seaweed - were widely discussed and benefits widely acclaimed. And it turns out these gardeners were onto something!

How to: clip balls

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

Plants clipped into balls add form and structure to the garden, and beautifully balance wilder, looser planting. The repetition of shapes develops rhythm which holds the garden together, while the contrast with other shrub shapes adds variety and interest.

How to: cope with a deluge

18 March, 2021 | Arno King

While subsoil drainage, such as drainage grates, gravel pits and sumps, are effective in light rain, heavy downpours overwhelm pipes and the water sheets across the landscape. Arno King has some tips top help cope when the heavens open up.

How to: fix the lawn

18 March, 2021 | Narelle Smith

Most warm-season grasses stop growing when the nights turn cold, allowing weeds to get a foothold while your attention has turned indoors. So now is the time to target terrors like bindii, wintergrass and dandelions and avoid seeding - and many years more weeding - before boosting growth for lush summer lawns.

How to: fix the lawn

18 March, 2021 | Narelle Smith

Most warm-season grasses stop growing when the nights turn cold, allowing weeds to get a foothold while your attention has turned indoors. So now is the time to target terrors like bindii, wintergrass and dandelions and avoid seeding - and many years more weeding.

How to: fix your roses

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

Many questions from radio callers to Garden Clinic on 2GB on the weekends involve roses. We feel your pain! These are our go-to fixes for six common rose problems.

How to: fix your tomatoes

18 March, 2021 |

Fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes are one of the great joys of summer. The best way to ensure that your tomato-growing experience delivers baskets of delicious fruit is to keep plants healthy.

How to: grow African violets

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

African violets are treasured, long-lived indoor plants. Make them shine with these tips.

How to: grow amazing geraniums

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

The plants I'm talking about here are botanically speaking Pelargonium though commonly called geranium. True Geranium species are delicate-looking perennials, usually with blue flowers.

How to: grow an edible hedge

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

Trade up from murraya and lillypilly to a hedge you can eat! These four flavoursome options tick the boxes for pretty, practical and productive.

How to: growing vegetables from seed

18 March, 2021 | Arno King

Planting punnets of vegetable seedlings is easy, but it is much more cost-effective and more fulfilling - not to mention offering wider choice and better results - to sow seed directly into the garden. The key is to sow plants suited to your climate, at the appropriate time of year.

How to: Make Potting Mix

18 March, 2021 | Linda Ross

Plants in pots need the right nutrients, water, air and a quality potting mix to live happily ever after.

How to: prune a camellia

18 March, 2021 | Robin Powell

Ken Lamb, Australia's master of Japanese pruning techniques, took to a historic, mature camellia at Retford Park as part of a three-day, hands-on workshop on creative pruning, held at the Southern Highlands National Trust property last winter. The camellia, an old japonica with a pendulous habit and flowers in both solid and variegated pink, had only ever been pruned to stop it intruding onto the driveway, and it now formed a solid wall of dark green, shutting off views to the house.

How to: prune climbing roses

18 March, 2021 | Robin Powell

The first thing to know about pruning climbing roses is not to do it in winter when you do your other roses. Here Robin Powell shares some of her other climbing rose insites

How to: Strike a Queen of the Night cutting

18 March, 2021 | Dan Wheatley

For stunning contrast of texture and form, huge repeat flowering and fragrance to die for there is nothing quite like the Queen of the Night orchid cactus, a plant that is as easy to propagate from cuttings as it is to grow.

How to: style balcony pots

18 March, 2021 | Robin Powell

To make a balcony feel like a garden it needs to surround you with plants. Somehow you have to get some plants up at eye level, and even above it. A small tree would be just the thing, but on most balconies a pot big enough to support a large plant is just too heavy once it’s filled with moist soil - and a tree! A more pragmatic approach is to arrange smaller pots at different levels. You need to get those pots up off the ground to really appreciate your balcony garden. Here are a few ideas.

How to: use coconut peat

18 March, 2021 | Arno KIng

Need a lightweight, easily stored, highly effective potting medium? Look no further than this byproduct of coconut production, which has advantages for plants as well as gardners.