How to...

How to: use coconut peat

31 May 2018 | 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.

Eating 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.

How to: use lemon verbena

20 March 2015 | Robin Powell

This 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.

How to: use plants to deter pests

21 July 2016 | Linda Ross

Strongly scented herbs planted throughout the garden help put flying insects off their food – whether that’s your treasured plant, food crop, or body!

How to: use seaweed

16 March 2015 | Linda Ross

Seaweed is a versatile natural resource that does great work in the garden. We use it on a fortnightly basis to keep plants healthy.

How to: use seaweed in the garden

21 December 2018 | Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar

In their new book ‘Milkwood’, permaculture gardeners Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar devote a whole chapter to the glories of seaweed. Beyond its uses in the kitchen, seaweed is great in the garden.

How to: use water wisely

14 May 2015 | Linda Ross

As the cost of water goes up, gardeners are looking for smart ways of making the most of this precious resource.

How to: use your herb harvest

20 May 2015 | Robin Powell

As the growing season draws to a close, our herb gardens are blousy with late summer growth.

How to: use your pea harvest

15 May 2015 | Robin Powell

Peas are one of those crops that can make the home gardener feel smugly self-satisfied because they taste so good fresh from the garden.

In my kitchen garden: Camden, NSW

28 February 2019 | Mickey Robertson

Mickey Robertson’s kitchen garden at Glenmore House is as beautiful as it is productive, experimental and instructive.

In the garden: August

20 May 2019 | Linda Ross

The winter show is packing it's bags and making way for spring. It's time to plant some potted colour, prune the perennials and clear out the compost

In the garden: July

20 May 2019 | Linda Ross

The winter chill is settling on the garden. It's time to enjoy winter flowers, sharpen up the pruning tools and get those spring bulbs in

In the garden: March

28 February 2019 | Robin Powell

It’s time to get busy this march. Back by popular demand - our reminders of what to do in the garden this season.

In The Subtropical Garden: August

07 August 2017 | Arno King

Late winter can be a very productive time in the Subtropical garden. Our resident tropical garden expert Arno King has all the tips and tricks, jobs and things to watch out for this August in the subtropical north.

In The Subtropical Garden: June

09 June 2017 | Arno King

Milder temps, light and infrequent rains and glorious sunshine is par for the course in the subtropical garden. Our resident tropical garden expert Arno King has all the tips and tricks, and the best thinks to plant this June in the subtropical garden.

In The Subtropical Garden: Spring

01 September 2017 | Arno King

Things are heating up in the subtropical garden, and the humidity is just around the corner. Our resident tropical garden expert Arno King has all the tips and tricks, and the best thinks to plant this Spetember in the subtropical garden.

It’s time to: Temperate Gardens in March

02 March 2017 | Elizabeth Swane

With the onset of cooler conditions we're planting, dividing and feeding up the autumn garden in March Elizabeth Swane has many more jobs for you to do now to get your temperate zone garden ready for Autumn

It's time to: August

05 August 2016 | Elizabeth Swane

Get ready, spring will be here before we know it. It's time to get the last of those last-minute winter jobs done

It's time to: Temperate gardens in August

07 August 2017 | Elizabeth Swane

The winter chill is beginning to wane, things are heating up for spring in the garden. It's time to shift up a gear and get the garden ready

It's Time To: Temperate Gardens in February

30 January 2017 | Elizabeth Swane

We're on the home stretch through summer and into the beginning of autumn. Elizabeth Swane has the good oil on the last of the summer jobs to get your temperate garden ready for some cooler weather

It's time to: temperate gardens in September

31 August 2017 | Elizabeth Swane

Spring has sprung and Elizabeth Swane is excited about the promise of new growth in the garden and stunning spring floral displays. Here She has a swag of jobs, tips, tricks and things to look out for in the temperate garden this September

July jobs

28 May 2021 | Tammy Huynh

Now is the best time to plant deciduous trees and shrubs. They’re available as bare-rooted specimens at your local garden centre or nursery.

June jobs

21 May 2020 | Robin Powell

Time to get the early winter jobs done this June.

Kitchen garden: Spring jobs

17 September 2015 | Linda Ross

There’s inspiration here to help expand your vegetable repertoire – in the garden and on the plate!

Kitchen Garden: Subtropical summer

28 November 2017 | Arno King

Gardening for the kitchen in the subtropics? Our resident tropical garden expert Arno King has the lowdown on all the seasonal jobs, as well as the tips and tricks to get things happening in the subtropical kitchen garden.

Kitchen Gardens: Peas

06 September 2018 | Linda Ross

Nothing tastes like spring quite as much a sweet pea - whether freshly podded, or enjoyed pod and all. The only trick is to get the peas to the kitchen before the children eat them all off the vines!

Know your hydrangeas

14 February 2018 | Linda Ross

Blue and white hydrangeas decorate long lunches and fill Church vases in the floral countdown to Christmas. Here we unwrap more goodies from the hydrangea family. You’ll think all your Christmases have come at once!

Know your lavender

01 June 2018 | Linda Ross

The lavender must-haves are sun and well-drained soil. Start there then choose the lavender that suits your conditions - and desires.

Know your winter bulbs

21 May 2020 | Linda Ross

When autumn leaves have fallen, elegant little floral petticoats burst from the soil in optimistic, spring-anticipating growth.

Know your: balcony flowers

20 December 2018 | Linda Ross

Add some summer dazzle to a sunny balcony with these pot-loving beauties.

Know your: ferns

21 August 2019 | Linda Ross

Many ferns have a soft feathery quality that makes a great contrast with other plants - in the garden or indoors.

Know your: indoor plants

06 September 2018 | Linda Ross

Plants make indoor spaces beautiful and people happy. Here are a few easy-care options to start - or enlarge! - your indoor garden.

Know your: Roses for Sydney

14 June 2019 | Robin Powell

Some of the best performing roses for warm climates are old favourites -and we mean old. Search out these hardy centurions for fragrance, generosity and trouble-free beauty

Magic Magnolia Mulch

22 April 2015 | Sandra Ross

Sandra's special recipe does magical things to sulking magnolias!

Meet Daryl Jones, Bird feeder

01 June 2018 | Robin Powell

Millions of people around the world feed birds in their garden, which is not necessarily a good thing, as Professor Daryl Jones explains in his new book The Birds at My Table.

Meet Dave Gray: Head gardener, Everglades

29 August 2019 | Robin Powell

For the last two years Dave Gray has been head gardener at Everglades, a National Trust property in Leura, designed and built through the 1930s by Paul Sorensen.

Meet Glennis Clark, Heritage Rose grower and Rookwood volunteer

21 May 2019 | Robin Powell

Among the hidden treasures at Rookwood Necropolis are beautiful old roses, cared for by volunteers.

Meet John Robb: Plant breeder, Paradise Plants

21 May 2020 | Robin Powell

Meet John Robb, Plant breeder, Paradise Plants. Paradise Plants, established by Bob Cherry more than 40 years ago, has bred some of our favourite garden plants. John Robb explains there’s no room for sentiment in the working life of a plant breeder.

Meet Keith and Maureene Smith

26 August 2019 | Robin Powell

Cancer fundraisers and plant propagators

Meet Peter Hey, clivia breeder and grower of rare plants

28 February 2019 | Linda Ross

Meet Peter Hey, clivia breeder and grower of rare plants

Meet Tahnee Carroll, Stylist and plant-lover

06 September 2018 | Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan

Tahnee Carroll has never seen a room that can’t be made more appealing with a plant or two, as she explains in this extract from a new book on indoor plants, ‘Leaf Supply’.

Meet Tiffany Bignold

21 May 2020 | Robin Powell

Meet Tiffany Bignold, Heritage rose lover and Parramatta Park gardener. The Rumsey Rose Garden in Parramatta Park is a quiet place in the city fragrant with the blooms of 203 heritage roses.

Meet: Tim Pickles, nurseryman

20 October 2016 | Robin Powell

Meet Tim Pickles, nurseryman. Some of our most popular Garden Classes are those we run with the effusive Tim Pickles at Tim’s Garden Centre in Cambelltown. Now, meet the man behind the name.

Plants I love: Honeybush

21 May 2020 | Linda Ross

Linda has long been smitten by the serrated blue leaves of Honeybush, Melianthus major. Then she discovered a new, small-growing, purple-tinted form.

Plants I Love: peony

26 August 2019 | Sandra Ross

Years ago, on one of our early Jacaranda Cruises, a woman presented me with a cardboard toilet roll. I was a bit surprised until I saw the round pink bud inside. It was a single long stem of the‘Sarah Bernhardt’ peony. Over the next two weeks I was captivated as the bud gradually opened to a multitude of pink petals and a boss of golden stamens. I’ve been mad for peonies ever since and have admired them in peak perfection in gardens in England, Canada, USA and France, as well as in cool climate gardens in Australia.

Rose Clinic

28 May 2015 | Sandra Ross

Symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for all your rose problems

Roses at Red Cow Farm

21 May 2018 | Robin Powell

Seduced by the colour, forms and perfumes of roses, Ali Mentesh has already collected some 200 to adorn the garden rooms at Red Cow Farm. Can he choose a favourite?

Spring jobs: November

22 August 2019 | Linda Ross

The last of the spring blooms are falling. The mauve carpets of Jacaranda flowers are covering lawns and the throng of the crickets and songs of the frogs has begun. Here's a list of the last remaining spring jobs to be done in preparation for a big summer ahead

Spring jobs: October

22 August 2019 | Linda Ross

October is an energetic month for gardeners but there’s much to appreciate on the way. Here's a list of October essentials in the mid-spring garden.

Spring Jobs: September

22 August 2019 | Linda Ross

Spring has sprung and Elizabeth Swane is excited about the promise of new growth in the garden and stunning spring floral displays. Here She has a swag of jobs, tips, tricks and things to look out for in the temperate garden this September

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