How to...
How to: make living art
17 March 2015 | Isla BarlowEden, Isla and Skye create cool living sculptures from plants that live on air.
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How to: make moss art
13 February 2015 | Linda RossGraffiti is so much more appealing when it’s green! Toronto is the home of moss graffiti but we think it’s worth bringing home. In fact when we posted about moss wall art our Facebook friends were thrilled. In case you missed that, here’s how to do it.
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How to: make pistou
19 February 2015 | Robin PowellThe difference between a pistou and a pesto is pine nuts. The Italians use them, and the French (who took up the basil and garlic paste when Italian migrants moved into Provence in the 19th century) don’t. Typically a pistou is served with a soup made from summer vegetables and white beans.
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How to: Make Potting Mix
01 October 2015 | Linda RossPlants in pots need the right nutrients, water, air and a quality potting mix to live happily ever after.
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How to: make rose petal jam
03 March 2015 | Robin PowellLife’s good when we stop to smell the roses; and even better when we stop to eat them! Scones fresh from the oven, spread with fragrant rose petal jam and cream, and shared with friends in the garden: what could be finer!
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How to: make rosella jam
18 March 2015 | Linda RossRosella is a fascinating member of the hibiscus family grown for its delicious calyx which makes irresistible jam. Linda Ross tells how it’s done.
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How to: make sweet chilli jam
25 April 2015 | Linda RossThis recipe is easy to increase to meet your chilli surplus. Every year I team up with my father-in-law for our Chilli Jam Day - We turn six kilograms of chilli into 25 jars of delicious ruby-red sticky jam.
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How to: make tabouli
26 February 2015 | Robin PowellI like a tabouli that is mostly green with herbs, not beige with grains, but you can adjust the balance to suit your own palate. Serve it with lamb backstraps that have been rubbed with ground cumin, olive oil and salt then barbecued. Add a dollop of yoghurt or baba ganoush for a sensational late summer meal.
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How to: make the most of mint
03 March 2015 | Robin PowellThe zingy freshness of mint smells of summer. It adds life and lightness to salads, both sweet and savoury and is indispensable in any number of summer cocktails and mocktails.
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How to: make tomato ketchup
18 December 2015 | Alex Elliott-Howery & James GrantTry this ketchup just once and you and the kids will never go back to shop-bought again. Spice it up with chilli or smoked paprika if you like. The recipe
makes six 250ml jars.If you are cooking to share with friends and consume within weeks there is no need to heat process the sauce, but if you’d like
to store the ketchup for up to two years, you need to protect against bacterial growth by heat-processing
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How to: make up a Magic Mix
08 December 2016 | Robin PowellAt a Garden Clinic class held at Honeysuckle Nursery in Mosman we wondered aloud at all the plants bursting with health and vitality, with shiny, glossy
leaves and so much energy they seemed about to leap off the shelves. The answer? This Magic Mix!
How to: make vegetable stock
17 March 2015 | Linda RossIf you planted out root vegetables in early autumn you’ll be harvesting them now. While roots make great side dishes for whatever you’re cooking for dinner, your home-grown produce also makes the best stock.
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How to: mix the best salad dressings
20 March 2015 | Robin PowellDress summer salads fresh from the garden in something new. We asked three of our favourite cooks to share their best-ever dressing.
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How to: overhaul your irrigation system
15 May 2015 | Matthew CarrollHere's how to give your irrigation system a once over.
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How to: pickle olives
12 March 2015 | Linda RossOlives are one of those foods that conjure a sense of awe about the culinary curiosity of our forebears. Now is the time to make like the ancients and soak down olives for enjoying over winter.
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How to: plant a deciduous tree
17 March 2015 | Linda RossNever grown a deciduous fruit tree? Now’s the time!
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How to: plant bare-rooted plants
30 April 2015 | Linda RossIn winter trees and roses are often sold ‘bare-rooted’. They are simply a skeleton of stems, with the bare roots often wrapped in hessian or plastic for protection.
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How to: plant propagation
06 March 2015 | Isla BarlowWant plants for free? Winter is the right time of year to take cuttings from established plants to create new ones.
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How to: preserve lemons
27 May 2015 | Linda RossWinter’s gorgeous harvest of lemons offers steaming lemon delicious puddings, and zesty additions to juices, stews, and salad dressings. But to really extend the glory of the harvest, try preserving the lemons in salt to use for the rest of the year.
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How to: press flowers
03 March 2015 | Isla BarlowIsla and her friends Abbey and Elise chose some of spring’s prettiest blooms to press and turn into cards for Christmas.
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How to: propagate begonias
28 May 2015 | Sandra RossYou don’t often see these plants for sale in commercial nurseries, so the best way to introduce them into your garden is to find a friend who is willing to share, and practice your propagation skills.
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How to: propagate hibiscus
16 March 2015 | Linda RossMany of the most exciting hibiscus are found in gardens rather than in garden centres, so it’s handy to know how to propagate your own plants.
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How to: protect against fruit fly
03 March 2015 | Jake ByrneThe most feared pest of the fruit and vegetable grower is the Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni). Hard work turns to horror when fruit is full of fruit fly grubs. Follow these tips to ensure that cutting open your home-grown treasure is thrilling rather than chilling.
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How to: prune a camellia
28 February 2019 | Robin PowellKen 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.
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How to: prune a cloud topiary
13 February 2015 | Graham RossAfter decades of admiring beautiful specimens of cloud-pruned trees in China and Japan, I finally decided to create my own cloud topiary. When our editors discovered what I’d done they asked me to write about it.
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How to: prune angels trumpet
13 February 2015 | Linda RossAngels trumpets (brugmansia) are native to the subtropical forests of Brazil and Chile. There they grow beneath other trees in an unruly and tangled mess of branches, illuminated by those sensational flowers.
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How to: prune climbing roses
23 August 2017 | Robin PowellThe 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
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How to: rejuvenate the lawn
16 February 2015 | Robin PowellIt’s time to refresh tired, stressed turf and transform it into lush, green lawn.
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How to: remove rose suckers
20 March 2015 | Sandra RossRose suckers can overtake a precious rose if you don’t act early. Sandra Ross explains how to identify and remove them.
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How to: repair a patchy lawn
20 May 2015 | Linda RossAutumn is a great time to oversow a balding lawn, grown patchy from the extremes of summer weather - and holiday entertaining!
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How to: rid the lawn of pests
14 May 2015 | Matthew CarrollKeep an eye out for the following invaders of your lawn to keep it in tiptop condition this summer.
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How to: save your garden when off on holidays
14 May 2015 | 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.
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How to: say 'Holidays!' with flowers
19 February 2015 | Robin Powell & Linda RossIn the dictionaries of florigraphy there are floral choices for expressing emotions as complex as a tepid affection (daffodils!) and appreciation of loyalty (violets) but there is no floral choice expressing the sentiment ‘Yay it’s holiday time!’ To redress the lack, here’s our choice of the top 5 flowers that wave happy holiday flags though summer.
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How to: scare birds
18 March 2015 | Linda RossThis autumn don’t lose your precious fruit harvest to the birds. These are our favourite – proven! – techniques.
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How to: set up a hen house
09 August 2016 | Claire BickleThinking about keeping chooks? Good plan. But before you put in an order for fluffy little chickens, get the henhouse right. Whether you are choosing a
ready-made option, or building your own from new or recycled materials, here’s what you need to know to create a happy home for your hens.
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How to: set up a worm farm
15 May 2015 | Linda RossLinda caught up with some school students using the power of the worm to decrease their waste, increase their vegetable harvest and raise money for their school. Here she shares some tips on worm farming.
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How to: shade veg
20 March 2015 | Linda RossMaking shade on extremely hot days is important for vegie plant health.
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How to: sharpen the pruners
13 February 2015 | Shane NeillA good crisp cut is one of the joys of pruning. Blunt tools not only deprive you of this simple pleasure but do a poor job and damage your plants.
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How to: soften a driveway
19 February 2015 | Shane NeilDriveways are a necessary practicality for most of us and all too often they are uninspiring. Clever plant choices can bring the area back to life, softening the look of all that concrete or brick and creating a space that really does welcome you home.
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How to: sow seeds
15 May 2015 | Linda RossStart planning in winter to sow seed for summer. There are two ways to raise vegetables from seed: sow them directly into the soil in which they are to grow; or raise them under cover in your house or greenhouse.
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How to: sow wildflowers
26 February 2015 | Linda RossOur bush wildflowers make a stunning display. Now is the time to sow wildflowers for a swathe of colour through your own garden.
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How to: stop snails invading precious pot plants
15 May 2015 | Matthew CarrollKeep both pets and snail-sensitive plants safe with these solutions.
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How to: Strike a Queen of the Night cutting
03 May 2016 | 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.
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How to: style an ikebana
05 September 2018 | Linda RossThe key difference between an ikebana approach to flower arranging and a Western style is that in ikebana the focus is on line and space rather than mass. Instead of adding more flowers to make it look better, ikebana is about what can be taken away. The space between the elements is as important as the elements themselves.
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How to: style balcony pots
26 August 2019 | Robin PowellTo 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: take cuttings
20 March 2015 | Libby CameronWhen you have an hour, take cuttings of favourite plants.
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How to: understand humates
31 January 2018 | Arno KingHumates are prehistoric (20-50 million year old) decomposed organic matter, which is why they are sometimes referred to as ‘dinosaur compost’. They are increasingly being used by gardeners as a soil additive - with impressive results. In fact you may already be using humates on your garden as they are a component in many high-quality fertilisers.
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How to: use coconut peat
31 May 2018 | Arno KIngNeed 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.
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How to: use edible flowers
16 March 2015 | Linda RossEating flowers sounds exotic but in fact we do it all the time. Some are disguised, like saffron, which is the dried stigma of the crocus flower; others are obvious, like the gold flowers of zucchini.
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How to: use lemon verbena
20 March 2015 | Robin PowellThis herb is loved by cooks for the fragrant citrus scent of its leaves, which at this time of year are fresh and soft. One bonus of adding lemon verbena to everything you can think of – the more you use the better it looks! Robin Powell shares a few ideas.
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