Dahlia Problems

07 September, 2023  |  Graeme Davis

Dahlias are rewarding plants to grow; they give you cut flowers for months through summer and autumn. President of the Dahlia Society of NSW & ACT, Graeme Davis shares common problems with solutions to fix them. Once you know these four common problems, your dahlias will be happy and healthy.

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Bugs for bugs

05 May, 2023  |  Graham Ross Bugs for Bugs is a leading supplier of biological control agents. They supply beneficial insects and mites to help control bad bugs in the garden. Read More

Striking beauty

03 April, 2023  |  Words & Images: Jac Semmler

Horticulturist, educator and author, Jac Semmler shares how easy it is to fill your garden with more of your beloved plants.

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Autumn's abundance

30 March, 2023  |  Words & Images: Lee Sullivan

Lee Sullivan shares her tips to growing her top five winter vegetables to keep your family fed through the winter.

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Juicy Fruit

16 March, 2023  |  Words: Sandra Ross

Do you have an open sunny spot to grow a fruit tree? Late autumn and winter is the best time to plant a stone fruit tree.

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Fabulous figs

16 January, 2023  | 

Figs are delicious, expensive and hard to transport – three excellent reasons to grow one in your garden.

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Small space: big ideas

16 January, 2023  | 

Courtyard and balcony gardens are less forgiving than suburban gardens. A big garden can ramble a bit, drawing you past a bit of a dead patch with the lure of the something great glimpsed just around the corner. But in a small garden everything is on show, all the time.

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Tomato Troubleshooting

25 August, 2022  |  WORDS: ANGIE THOMAS | IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

Tomatoes are warmweather lovers, so spring is the perfect time to plant seedlings or sow seeds into a vegie patch or pots. There are several pests and diseases that find tomatoes just as appetising as we do, but don’t despair, as we’ve put together this simple troubleshooting guide to help you on your tomato growing journey.

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Balcony Bliss

24 August, 2022  |  WORDS: ANGIE THOMAS | IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

Balconies provide wonderful opportunities to grow perfectly pint-sized gardens. Author and self-confessed crazy plant lady, Angie Thomas explains how to get started.

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Beetroot Bonanza

07 June, 2022  |  WORDS: LINDA ROSS | IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

It’s delicious, nutritious, and worthy of a spot in your veggie patch!

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Wicking beds for vegetables

02 June, 2022  |  WORDS: ANGIE THOMAS

What is a wicking bed and how can it work in your garden? Angie Thomas explains.

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Cutting Garden: Fill your home with flowers

02 June, 2022  |  WORDS AND IMAGES: SANDRA ROSS

Easy, economical, and exciting... bulbs, seedlings and seeds to plant for a never-ending supply of cut flowers

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Preening your paws

01 June, 2022  |  WORDS: ANGUS STEWART | IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

Now is the time to clean up and divide your kangaroo paws. Angus Stewart, author and native plant expert explains.

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How to: Attract pollinators

21 October, 2021  |  Words: Angie Thomas The key to a productive, fruitful garden comes down to pollinators. Here’s how to let them know your garden buzzing for business.    Read More

How to: Fruit fly control

21 October, 2021  |  Words: Graham Ross (Images: Shutterstock) It’s fruit fly season. This pest, if left to its own devices, will completely ruin your crops. We look at the latest industry advice on how to best control and protect your plants from this destructive pest. Read More

​How to: sow seed indoors

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

If 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. 

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A lesson in clipped hedges

18 March, 2021  |  Graham Ross

A 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.

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August Jobs

18 March, 2021  |  Robin Powell

Daffodil displays are the prize in August. It's time to get out there and enjoy them.

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Black Spot on Roses

18 March, 2021  | 

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. 

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Bug Watch: Aphids and Other Li'l Suckers

18 March, 2021  |  Dan Wheatley

Given the chance those annoying little suckers bothering your flower buds now can become an infestation later. But if you get in early enough you can manage the problem without using any chamicals, just a few little backyard-buddies. Its time to get out there and evict your unwanted tennants! 

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Bug Watch: Bindii and other annoying lawn weeds

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Regretting not spraying against bindii in winter? Bindii (Soliva pterosperma) is a low-growing annual herb with leaves like a carrot top. It produces a single flower at its centre that matures into a prickly seedpod that sticks in bare feet.

 

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Bugwatch: Bronze Orange Bugs

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross & Dan Wheatley

Just 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!

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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.

 

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Companion Planting 1

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Companion planting is about wisely using plants to reduce the work of the gardener. These are our favourite garden workers.

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Companion Planting 2

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

We love any strategy that reduces human intervention in the vegetable garden. Here are a few of our favourite tips for creating a productive garden with less personal effort.

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Composting

18 March, 2021  |  Sandra Ross

All too often gardeners start composting with great excitement and enthusiasm, only for interest to wane as the results disappoint. Here is a quick guide to help you produce the best compost in whatever composting bin you choose.

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Home grown: Lemons

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

The plant that gives Garden Clinic gardeners more grief than any other is the lemon. Here’s how to grow gorgeous lemons.

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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.

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How to: attract bees into your garden

18 March, 2021  |  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: care for deciduous fruit trees

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

Get 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!

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How to: care for lawns

18 March, 2021  |  Jake Byrne

With 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.

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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.

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How to: create a shell garden

18 March, 2021  |  Joanne Aquilina

Succulents 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.

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How to: create the perfect pergola

18 March, 2021  |  Arno King

Shade, privacy and a place to show off fabulous plants - who doesn’t want a pergola!

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How to: divide upside down orchids

18 March, 2021  |  Graham Ross

Graham’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!

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How to: entice a cyclamen to flower again

18 March, 2021  |  Linda Ross

A 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.

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How to: Fix The Compost

18 March, 2021  |  Sandra Ross aka The Compost Queen

Compost 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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