How to...

How to: fix your roses

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: garden under trees

Growing plants beneath established trees can be challenging. There’s no direct light, roots take up space and water, the soil becomes dry and compacted, and to compound the problem, the tree roots sucks up the available nutrition, leaving precious little behind. 

How to: get to know your tools

Ever wondered which tools you should use to do different jobs around the garden?

How to: grow a 'coral reef'

Such a simple idea – a coral reef garden full of dazzling succulents – and so fun! Philip Withers’ imitation of a world seen through water thrilled visitors to the Australian Garden Show Sydney and won him the people’s choice award.

How to: grow a living screen

Judiciously planted privacy screens can create excellent neighbourly relations. Green screens or hedges are a much better choice than a 4m fence. They offer essential privacy in this crazy overlooked world, and also contribute a tremendous feeling of sanctuary and enclosure.

How to: grow a salad bowl

Eden, Isla and Skye amazed their school friends when they took their own salad greens for lunch. Lettuce show you how easy it is!

How to: grow African violets

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

How to: grow aloes

The dazzle of fiery candles shown on this page comes courtesy of modern hybrid aloes. These plants are a great way to add colour to the winter garden.

How to: grow amazing geraniums

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

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: Grow beautiful roses in subtropical climate

Want to beat black spot on your roses? Especially in high humidity? Sandra shares her secret recipe with Garden Clinic members.  

How to: grow blueberries

Blueberries are pretty shrubs, with delicate, pink, bell-shaped flowers that give way to delicious purple-blue berries full of goodness and high in antioxidants.

How to: grow borage

The first question you may be asking is not how to grow borage but why! 

How to: grow clematis

One of the great rewards for enduring a cool climate winter is the flowers that bloom in spring, and clematis is one of our favourites. Attention-seeking flowers cover a romantically twining vine that sets off rose gardens and perennial borders beautifully.

How to: grow dahlias

How to: grow garlic

April is garlic-planting time and it’s easier than you think to grow a year’s supply for your family.

How to: grow gorgeous gardenias

The glossy green leaves and fragrant, creamy-white flowers make gardenias a standout feature, whether used in the garden, as a hedge, grown as a standard, or adorning a pot.

How to: Grow hoya

This shining beauty is undemanding and rewards even the most off-hand gardener with gorgeous globes of scented flowers that last and last.

How to: grow hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are old favourites, yet myths about growing them persist. Sandra clears the air.

How to: grow kirengoshoma

Michael McCoy spills the beans on one of the cool climate, autumn-flowering gems that turn temperate gardeners green with envy.

How to: grow lilies

For wow factor in the summer garden it’s hard to go past lilies, and a new bunch of liliums is now opening bold big blooms across the country. 

How to: grow mushrooms

Button mushrooms are easy to grow at home.

How to: grow polyanthus

Our flower of choice for winter colour this year is polyanthus (Primula x polyantha). Usually brushed aside for the showier primulas, poppies, pansies or cyclamen, we think they deserve attention for their vibrant, happy colours and sterling resilience.

How to: grow snowdrops

The true snowdrop is a delicate pearly bell only suited to cool climates. Michael McCoy is a fan.

How to: grow sprouts

Skye, Eden and Isla are growing their own sprouts to add to sandwiches and salads. 

How to: grow stepover apples

Bob Magnus (owner of Woodbridge, Tasmania) sells four different varieties of apples grafted onto extra-dwarf rootstock. These trees are designed to grow as a one-metre-high hedge. They are pretty and productive in an edible or ornamental garden. Choose all four for many months of fresh apples. Here’s how Bob recommends growing apples as a stepover.

How to: grow strawberries from seed

Strawberry seed packet holds well over 100 seeds and with a recommended retail price of $3.50 its the most economical way to grow your strawberries. 

How to: grow tulips

Find some time this summer holiday to create a wonderful picture of tulips. 

How to: grow your own ratatouille

Ratatouille will convert the most meat-loving individual into a vegetarian – if only for one night! It was originally a common dish, prepared in the summer with fresh summer vegetables.

How to: growing vegetables from seed

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: herb feast

Skye, Eden and Isla love to collect fresh herbs from the garden to add to dinner. Herbs are easy to grow: a perfectly delicious project for the summer holidays.

How to: keep chickens

Chickens are endearing and easy pets to keep. And they provide free nutritious fertiliser for your garden, eat your kitchen scraps and deliver delicious free-range eggs for years to come!

How to: keep native bees

Every weekend people call us on the Garden Clinic radio show on 2GB complaining of poor yields in their vegetable garden due to lack of pollination. One answer? Follow Matthew Carroll’s lead and keep native bees.

How to: lay a lawn

Did you know? The average turf backyard captures carbon and produces enough oxygen for a family of four?

How to: lush the lawn

Come the warmer weather and the lawn needs a makeover! Follow these simple steps to grow the lush green carpet of grass you’ve always wanted.

How to: lush the lawn

Strong healthy lawns cope better in winter, stay greener longer and out-compete weeds. Here’s our autumn checklist for lush lawns.

How to: make a flowering barrow

Eden, Isla and Skye have planted up a hot pink wheelbarrow to add dazzle to the back garden. It can easily be shifted to give the best view from indoors, or to catch the most sun. Let your imagination go wild!

How to: make a garden bridge

While most of us don’t have a lake, our gardens may still benefit by a bridge used to link different sections across a ‘stream’ of garden bed, or dry creek of stones.

How to: make a garden in a glass

Bottle gardens or terrariums are mini plant worlds to enjoy indoors. 

How to: make a garden-grown smoothie

How do we get through all the greens we grow in the garden? We drink armfuls of them – as a green smoothie for lunch a few times a week. Call it a Ross family secret for more energy and verve! 

How to: make a labyrinth

Michael Stevens, a paediatric oncologist at the Children’s Hospital, Westmead, in Sydney, hopes to have a labyrinth built in the grounds of the hospital for the use of patients and their families. He says a labyrinth is a perfect tool for meditation, and he has been so convincing enough a site for one is being negotiated.

How to: make a painted succulent bowl

Succulents can survive long periods of dry weather so they are great plants for people who forget to water! Isla paints up a pot to match a succulent selection.

How to: make a spiral topiary

A spiral topiary makes just as good a focal point in a small domestic garden as it does in grand gardens like the one shown here. 

How to: make a strawberry pot

Isla is looking forward to picking sweet fresh strawberries to eat with ice cream this summer. Follow her tips for your own homegrown dessert!

How to: make a summer vegetable tepee

For space saving nothing beats a tepee! A single structure will provide 36kg of cherry tomatoes, cucumber and green beans over a 3 month stretch.

How to: make a sweet pea tepee

Isla is planning ahead by planting up a tepee of sweet peas. Come spring it will be a towering cone of sweet-smelling pretty flowers.

How to: make a terrarium

Bring the fun indoors this winter with a miniature fern garden for the coffee table. Linda Ross tells how it’s done.

How to: make a wreath

A Christmas wreath made with flowers and foliage from your own garden beats the dazzle of commercial baubles and tinsel

How to: make comfrey tea

This home-grown fertiliser contains more potash and more nitrogen than commercial feeds, and costs only the price of a bucket and its water. Your vegetables will love it, especially your strawberries at the end of winter and next season tomatoes.

How to: make fruit ice-blocks

When 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.