How to...
How to: sow seed indoors
15 May 2015 | Linda RossIf you’d like to be enjoying fresh tomatoes from your garden before Christmas, start in winter, sowing and growing indoors so that you have advanced seedlings ready to plant out once the cold weather, and chance of frosts, has passed.
Read More10 things you didn’t know about fruit flies
13 December 2018 | Robin PowellRobin Powell reports from behind enemy lines on the fascinating, infuriating fruit fly.
Read MoreA lesson in clipped hedges
13 February 2015 | Graham RossA 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.
Read MoreAugust Jobs
21 May 2020 | Robin PowellDaffodil displays are the prize in August. It's time to get out there and enjoy them.
Black Spot on Roses
14 October 2015 |Out, damn’d spot! The dark side to growing roses is fungal disease. Knowing your enemy is the first step in ridding yourself of this problem for good.
Read MoreBugwatch: Bronze Orange Bugs
04 November 2015 | Linda Ross & Dan WheatleyJust when your poor citrus tree thought it would be safe to put on some new growth, this dreaded pest arrives with its stinky, squirty spray, sucking all the vigour from the new spring shoots. Yes, its stink bug time again. But this year we we mean business!
Read MoreClimbing Roses
27 May 2015 | Sandra RossClimbing roses give height, floral interest and elegance to a garden. They can tumble over fences, cascade from pergolas or screen water tanks and dunnies. Here are some of my favourite ways with climbing roses.
Read MoreEdibles everywhere
26 August 2019 | Robin PowellDelicious ideas seen on our travels this year
Read MoreFlower Farm: Summer jobs
23 January 2018 | Linda RossWe've dedicated a part of the patch to growing flowers just for picking. And the bonus? Armfuls of flowers for vases and arrangements.
Read MoreFlower farm: Winter jobs
30 May 2018 | Linda RossHere Linda gives advice and plans for winter; planting sunflowers, ranunculus, and spring bulbs; admiring the pansies, and picking winter flowers.
Read MoreHome grown: Lemons
21 May 2020 | Linda RossThe plant that gives Garden Clinic gardeners more grief than any other is the lemon. Here’s how to grow gorgeous lemons.
Read MoreHow to plant a bare-rooted rose
29 May 2018 | Mez WoodwardIt'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.
Read MoreHow to prune roses
26 May 2016 | Linda RossJaws were on the floor at one of our rose pruning demonstrations last year, when
members watched Finbar O’Leary from Swanes Nursery pruning a rose the right way!
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How to: 4 bulbs that make a longer lasting spring display
18 February 2015 | Sandra RossWho doesn’t love the vibrant dazzle of tulips? But blink and you'll miss them. For a longer-lasting, less expensive bulb display that builds, becoming better and better each year, try these:
Read MoreHow to: arrange flowers
21 May 2019 | Annabelle HicksonIn this edited extract from A Tree in the House, self-taught florist Annabelle Hickson shares her key tip for arranging flowers beautifully.
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How to: attract bees into your garden
22 April 2015 | Linda Ross
Bees are at the heart of the grow-your-own game. No bees, no pollination, no fruit. To ensure that summer sees us picking buckets of passionfruit and
barrow-loads of pumpkins we integrate bee-attracting flowers into and around the orchard and vegetable garden.
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How to: Attract Beneficial Insects
07 March 2016 | Robin Powell
Help tip the scales in the garden war between the good bugs and the bad guys by planting flowers that attract beneficial insects such as lacewings, hoverflies, parasitic wasps and ladybirds.
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How to: brew compost tea
05 September 2018 | Arno KingWhen 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!
Read MoreHow to: build a salad bar
15 May 2015 | Linda RossOur salad bar makes the most of winter’s great salad greens.
Read MoreHow to: care for azaleas
13 February 2015 | Shane NeillAzaleas bring in spring with a blaze of glory. We love them in hot pinks and bold magentas, in pale pastels and in pure clean white. But in warm subtropical areas these are not set-and-forget plants. To get the most from them gardeners need to pay attention and provide some nurture. Here’s how.
Read MoreHow to: care for deciduous fruit trees
17 March 2015 | Linda RossGet ahead of the game by using a variety of strategies to prevent pests and diseases attacking fruit trees, such as apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots and figs. Some work now will mean bounteous harvests later!
Read MoreHow to: care for lawns
06 March 2015 | Jake ByrneWith the weather cooling we can back off the mowing but the lawn work is not done. Autumn is a good time to address any problems to ensure that the grass is even greener on the other side of winter.
Read MoreHow to: choose a chicken
25 November 2016 | Claire BickleChoosing the best chook for your garden can be confusing. Here Claire Bickle makes it simple for you.
How to: Christmas colour
16 March 2015 | Linda RossPots of poinsettia and ixora are a colourful beginning. Masses of other options are blooming at the local nursery: petunias, fuchsia, begonias, coleus.
Read MoreHow to: clip balls
05 September 2018 | Linda RossPlants 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.
Read MoreHow to: colour flowers
18 March 2015 | Isla BarlowThe stem of a plant works a bit like a straw, sucking up water for its flowers and leaves. To see how this works, try out this fun experiment at home and watch flowers change colour.
Read MoreHow to: cook spinach pie
15 May 2015 | Robin PowellIn Greece local cooks prefer to make their spanokopita (spinach pie) with the mix of wild greens known as horta. To do the same from you own garden pick a mix of spinach, silverbeet, sorrel, endive or other dark leafy greens
Read MoreHow to: cook with bayleaves
30 April 2015 | Robin PowellThe winter cook’s herb supply is much depleted but the noble bay tree is still offering leaves to flavour savoury and sweet dishes. Robin Powell shares some favourites.
Read MoreHow to: cook with broad beans
19 February 2015 | Robin PowellCast yourself back a thousand years and the humble broad bean could have made you king of France for the day!
Read MoreHow to: cook with cherries
12 March 2015 | Robin PowellEven though only gardeners in cold climates will be picking their own cherries over the summer, we’ll all find ways to celebrate Christmas with a fruit that is still stubbornly, deliciously seasonal.
Read MoreHow to: cook with lavender
06 March 2015 | Robin PowellLavender’s flatmate from the hot dry rocky spots of the Mediterranean is rosemary. Both share a fabulous fragrance that scents the garden, especially when summer’s heat draws out the essential oils in the foliage. And both can be thugs in the kitchen: cooks must proceed with caution.
Read MoreHow to: cook with wattleseed
06 March 2015 | 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 MoreHow to: cope with a deluge
28 February 2019 | Arno KingWhile 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.
Read MoreHow to: create a dazzling basket
31 January 2018 | 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 MoreHow to: create a low-allergen garden
16 March 2015 | Linda RossFor many Australians spring launches a misery of sore eyes and runny nose. Linda Ross lines up the perpetrators of this annual horror and reveals the safest, low-allergy choices for the garden.
Read MoreHow to: create a shell garden
28 February 2019 | Joanne AquilinaSucculents don’t need a lot of root space as they store most of their water and nutrients in their leaves. This means gardeners can get creative about where they create succulent gardens.
Read MoreHow to: create a water wonderland
19 February 2015 | 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: create an orchid tree
19 February 2015 | Graham RossInspired by a trip to Singapore and the gorgeous Gardens of the Bay, Graham decided to create an orchid tree.
Read MoreHow to: deal with zucchini overflow
16 February 2015 | Robin PowellWhat we love about growing zucchini – it is so generous you need to harvest every day all through the summer – is what drives us crazy about growing zucchini - you have to harvest every day all through the summer! Around about now gardeners are on the lookout for some clever new ways with zucchini.
Read MoreHow to: declutter your pots
20 April 2015 | Linda RossTips on how to display your collection of plants.
Read MoreHow to: decorate with water lilies
12 March 2015 | 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 MoreHow to: divide upside down orchids
27 May 2015 | Graham RossGraham’s upside-down orchid (Stanhopea tigrina) has grown old and unproductive, and this year treated us all with only five flower spikes, instead of the usual 30! We checked it out and found the basket lining had disintegrated and the pine bark mix had completely decomposed. It was time to divide and conquer!
Read MoreHow to: enjoy peonies
03 March 2015 | Linda RossAre these spring’s most romantic flower? The small round buds open to a gorgeous, generous, glamorous semi-double or double flowers. Shades range from white through various pale pink blushes to a rich dark scarlet.
Read MoreHow to: entice a cyclamen to flower again
16 March 2015 | Linda RossA pot of cyclamen is a favourite winter present, but by now you might be wondering what to do with it. Don't throw it away. A cyclamen will repeat its beautiful dispaly year after year if you treat it right.
Read MoreHow to: fix geraniums
31 January 2018 | Linda RossWe recognise that these are properly pelargoniums, but as most gardeners know them and love them as geraniums, that’s fine by us. The most popular type are the zonals, identified by the ‘zones’ or patterns on their leaves. We also love ivy-leafed types for their indestructible nature and perfect hanging basket habit; and the scented geraniums whose foliage exhibits such a wealth of different fragrances. No matter which you choose to grow, keep them in tip-top shape with this handy guide to common problems and remember to refresh your collection every few years with fresh cuttings.
Read MoreHow to: Fix The Compost
03 July 2017 | Sandra Ross aka The Compost QueenCompost can be the greatest free source of nutrient for your garden. Here our very own compost queen, Sandra Ross answers some of the most frequently-asked compost questions.
Read MoreHow to: fix the lawn
21 May 2018 | Narelle SmithMost 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.
Read MoreHow to: fix the lawn
31 May 2018 | Narelle SmithMost 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.
Read MoreHow to: fix your lemon
23 January 2017 | Mez WoodwardIf our hotlines here at the Garden Clinic, and on Garden Clinic Radio on 2GB and 2UE are anything to go by, lemons cause gardeners much heartache. We’re here to help! Here are solutions to six common lemon problems.
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