Gardenworld

Heritage fruit trees popular as ever.

James Wall — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:26:16 +0000

I am looking froward to buying some Cox’s Orange Pippin apples at the next Farmers market we go to. Thy should be in season very soon.It is a delicious lunch box sized juicy apple. Well worth a bite.

This story from Michael Green in The Age, looks at Cecilia Thornton who is president of the Heritage Fruits Society and a fanatical fruit tree grower.

Gardenworld will be selling this variety during our bare root season in June. Call us if you would like to reserve one. After being inspired by this article, we’ll certainly try and source some of these other heritage apples. A good tip was also to do duo plantings. Get two varieties that pollinate each other and plant them 15cm apart. Its like growing one tree and utilises space very well. In June, you will also be able to buy 2 and 3 varieties on the one stock plant. These are called double grafts and triple grafts. Be quick though, being good value, they sell out fast.

To read the full story in The Age, click here.

Home buyers want a green lawn.

James Wall — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:16:15 +0000

Research comissioned by Turf Australia has shown that home buyers are looking for a patch of grass.

In fact it is calculated that they will pay 18% more for the lifestyle that a lawn provides. That is $75,000 on a $420,000 home.

This breaks the myth that kids just sit inside and play computer games. They will always still want to run around in the backyard. Cricket, football, rugby and soccer can all be played in the backyard on the grass. Then there is volleyball, badminton and just plain old mucking around.

It is a good feeling not having to always go to the park.

This is something that The Smart Water Shop at Gardenworld knows all about. The team here has seen a steady increase in the demand for instant turf and lawn seed.

To read the full story at news.com.au website, click here.

A walk in Queens Park, Invercargill.

James Wall — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:30:39 +0000

By James Wall on tour.

My first imression of Invercargill, New Zealand was probably a little negative. This flat town on the bottom of the NZ south island seemed to be a little run down and struggling. It was not until my walk in the Park that I realised what a proud little place this is. Not only is there a brilliant little museum that is meticulously maintained, there are some horticultural wonders.

What first grabs your attention are the vivid flower colours. Without the harsh Melbourne summer, the flowers here don’t seem to fade out so much. The result is some magnificant blooms of all sorts.

The beech trees also seem to enjoy the cold , and I was told it has been a great year here for the roses. The rose garden in Queens Park certainly backed that up. This park is huge and has an adjoining golfcourse – right near the middle of town. It must be a mecca for both locals and tourists a like. The care for the plants and the variety of plants is as good as you would see at a botanic gardens. Most certainly worth a brisk stroll on a cool breezy day.

The pine seen here is a magnificantly shaped specimen and it was spikey all over – including its trunk. Very few animals would be comfortable climbing these.

These woody trunks in the picture below were some very old rhododendrums. They must have been 10 metres high – truly amazing.

The colours in the hydrangeas were also a standout and planted along the edge of a pathway, they created a picture perfect scene.

So if you are doing the south island of New Zealand, sure, there are some more beautiful places, but don’t discount this town down the bottom. There is some good food to be found, local islands to visit, and a wonderful park where you will find a little bit of peace and tranquility. Well worth a visit.

Rhododenrums were very old.

Picture perfect hydies.

Spreading Elm was a beauty.

The climbing roses were amazing

Checkout all the photos in the gallery below.

Click on an image to enlarge

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Growing bougainvillea in Melbourne.

James Wall — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:34:24 +0000

By James Wall

Today Gardenworld welcomed wholesale bougainvillea grower Peter Driessen who is also known as the Bougie Man. Here is a few questions I posed to him.

Are they deciduous?

Not naturally, but can be depending on the climate. During a cold winter in Melbourne they have been seen to lose 3 quarters of their leaves, but during some of those mild winters of the drought, they lost no leaves at all.

What are the biggest mistakes gardeners make with them?

They over water them. This causes wet feet. Lack of oxygen gets to the roots. They curl up their leaves and can die. Ideally, dig a 75cm square where you are going to plant and raise the area by 10cm. This will assist in drainage. Remember, roots will not develop further in damp conditions. This is why they grow very little in a wet winter.

How often do you you prune ?

Prune them hard. You can use a headge trimmer and then clean up with secatuers. Many of the new varieties might flower a few times per year and so the first prune might be after the first flush of flowers in spring. Then you might prune again after flowering in summer, and again after flowering in Autumn. Other varieties like the red Scalett O’Hara only flower during 12 hour days in autumn and spring, missing the summer flush.

What other varieties are there?

Of course there is the old Magnifica trailii but we don’t sell that as it just gets too big and is quite overwhelming. This was one of the origianl varieties discovered in South America by the French back in about 1770. The varieties chosen today are much more manageable with good strong flowers.

The whites are not quite as strong, but the 2 best are White Cascade and Donyo.

Dwarf varieities grow very well in Queensland but Melbourne is a bit more borderline. You need to get good growth during the warmer periods and you may need to protect them in the first winter.

Any tips on growing in pots ?

Be careful using pots with only one hole (like terracotta). Makes sure to raise them off the ground with pot feet. Use scoria in the base of pot and cover with some flyscreen. This will stop the potting mix blending in with the scoria. Use a top quality potting mix with nice chunky pinebark, to ensure good drainage.

Peter’s dad started a nursery over 35 years ago and Peter was around for much of that as a kid. He has grown bougainvillea for about 20 years. It happened when they bought out an old nursery and amongst the plants were a couple of hundred bougs. After growing these and learning about them for a couple of years, they got hooked on these intriguing climbers. The crop takes about 7 months of the year, with a couple of months either side of that for preparation and sales. The best part is, Peter and his family get a month off every winter !

If you would like to see some of Peter’s stock, including some fabulous hanging baskets and some amazing standards (growing on sticks) – then get down to Gardenworld now.

Snowy River Westringia re-discovered.

James Wall — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:59:32 +0000

They thought there was only a handful of these Westringia, but after an exciting expedition that included rafting and rock climbing, the Department of Sustainability and Environment biodiversity officers have found over 500.

The Royal Botanic Gardens have taken cuttings, so lets hope one day it is released to the nursery industry. They appear to require little water and can take extreme heat. The plants also appear to stay compact and hence would be perfect in a home garden situation.

Could this be the next Woolemi ? Stay tuned home gardeners.

More info is available here at The Age website.

The following text comes from the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Snowy River Westringia (Westringia cremnophila)

A dwarf shrub that grows to 0.5m high, with branches densely covered with fine white hairs and white flowers with yellow-brown dots in the throat. This species grows on cliffs and in rock cavities in the gorge tract of the Snowy River east of Butchers Ridge.

Snowy River Westringia was discovered by the naturalist and native plant hybridist Leo Hodge on an expedition in 1950 in the Snowy River Gorges of East Gippsland. It is listed as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999. The species is endemic to Victoria where it is known from only a few small populations.

A vegie garden with ambience.

James Wall — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:14:01 +0000

By James Wall

Sometimes a garden just clicks. Ok, to the actual gardeners responsible for it, this is surely not the case. But to the occassional visitor, they sure make it look easy.

That was the case when my family took a couple of days off over summer and ended up at a little pizza bar in Balnarring today. It is called Ciao Bella and the food has that simple fresh food that uses seasonal produce and is quite flavoursome. Pastas seem to be where they really excel.

But for me the highlight was the vegie garden. It was part of a larger grassed and treed area that is given a pounding in this child friendly restaurant. But the vegies and herbs are beautifully fenced off and the only interest the kids take, is learning from each other what the different things growing are.

Different types of wood have been used to extentuate, border and support the plants. The feeling is homely with a pang of a thought saying why can’t I create this at home. My vegie garden just doesn’t have the same emotion – yet !

What about the painstaking length people go to support their tomatoes. You can’t rush. A bit of pruning of the plants. An engineering feat with timber that has been intricately wired at certain points. Some string lines. Oh, they’ve just made it look so easy, and original.

And have a look at the quarter wine barrel on the wall idea – that is a good one, and perfect for these citrus.

An old fence that has probably only cost time. Time is not always money. You can’t put a price on the ambience, it just seems to evolve as this charming little vegie garden has.

Ciao Bella – get their early, or you might miss out !

http://www.ciaobellapizza.com.au/ciaobellapizza/Garden.html

Gardenworld has gone completely bananas !

James Wall — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:59:29 +0000

Yes, thats right folks………….it’s almost christmas blah blah blah……….but that doesn’t mean we can’t go completely bananas down here at Gardenworld !

What, you say, down here in the “4 seasons in one day” capital of the world we’re gonna grow bananas in good old Melbourne town. Well yea, we’re gonna try.

Ok, so the only bananas I’ve ever eaten are the Cavendish and Lady Finger varieties from northern Australia - a long way from Melbourne. I must say though that I did a farmstay once up at a place called Baffle Creek, about an hour north of Bundaberg. Every morning we ate a homegrown Lady Finger banana in yoghurt, and these were probably the tastiest bananas I have ever eaten (I was pretty caught up in the moment though).

I have heard of some wise old nurseryman who has successfully grown bananas and paw paws down here in Melbourne in a rather large glass house. He swears by the sun ripened fruit that we can’t possibly get from Queensland produce which is picked green so as to survive the arduous transport to our southern land.

Not only that, there is a younger wholesale nurseryman who’s team grows banana seedlings right here in Melbourne. He assures me it can be done. Yes a bunch of bananas can be achieved. Not only that, they offer 5 different varieties !

Varieties

Dwarf Cavendish – heavy crops of full sized, sweet bananas with a creamy texture.

Lady Finger – small bananas with a rich sweet flavour creamy texture and keep well.

Valery – heavy crops of high quality bananas – I don’t know much else yet.

Pisang Ceylan – small bananas with a sweet flavour and an agreeably acidic aftertaste. Keep well and also a creamy texture

Goldfinger – heavy crops of small bananas that have a delicious tangy flavour and also keep well. Great for fruit salads as the flesh does not turn brown when cut.

Growing

Choose a sunny spot. Think about a place where you have protection from the harsh cold winter southerlies and away from frosts – so maybe in front of a north facing wall with something substantial growing either side of it. They won’t like the harsh northlies we get in summer either, so don’t bother planting in a windy exposed spot.

Soil needs to be rich, well draining and worked over with plenty of organic matter such as compost and aged manure – even chicken pellets like Attunga’s Organic Life or Yates Dynamic Lifter. Feed this hungry monster every 6 weeks. Roots will grow nearly a metre out, so don’t just put all the fertiliser at the base of the plant, and don’t overdose more than what the dosage recommends, or you will burn the roots.

One of the reasons I am having a crack at these, is that I have had an old in ground swimming pool converted to a water tank and have about 25000 litres to spare. Expect to use a lot of water and definately apply mulch, as this reduces evaporation and hence water use. Thats not say you overwater, as the plants hate wet feet. Keep moist, but not drowned. In summer, it would be benficial to wet the leaves of a young plant a few times a day. This helps emulate the humid conditions they would be getting in Innisfail. I live close to the coast down here and feel that the conditions will be much more conducive than say frosty Ballarat ! Be realistic.

Remove dead leaves regularly. Suckers will appear from the base of the main stem. Retain only the strongest, usually the first one. This will be the future one, as after the main plant is harvested, we will machete it down jungle style.

It will take 2 or 3 summers until fruit appears. I am currently on my second summer and nothing is yet evident. The retained sucker that becomes the next phase of the plant will itself have a sucker and so the life of the thing just rolls on. This continues indefinately until the plant has moved so far away from where you started, that it may have to be replanted, so it doesn’t end up halfway down the street – like attack of the killer banana plants !

The fruit is ready to be harvested once the bananas lose their ridges, become more rounded, and when the black withered remains of the flowers at the end of the bananas are dry and crumbly – if you haven’t already cut this bit off.

To make the bunch last, just cut off a hand and put it in a paper bag with a ripe banana. Otherwise harvest the whole lot and impress a whole lot of your friends, or get out the dehydrater, dry them, and impress your friends even more. Or drop them over to my house, or, just eat too many of them and get a pain in the tummy.

If you’ve got this far and are still ready – don’t you see – I have gone completely bananas ! You can too, as for the next couple of months we will be stocking these plants, down here at Gardenworld. For more expert advice, checkout these guys from Blue Sky. They should know, their Queenslanders ! Also check out this link at Daleys forum including some Melbourne growers.

Gardenworld Family Weekend.

James Wall — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:25:18 +0000

Well it was a great weekend had by all down here at Gardenworld. Saturday was reasonably well attended considering how muggy the weather was, but Sunday saw big crowds with plenty of children coming down to see Santa and the animal farm. The castle was also bouncing and the sausage sizzle permeated the air.

One surprsie hit was the cordial tasting at Lotus Watergardens. There are over 10 special flavours of Murray Breweries cordial and it has been made in Beechworth since the 1920′s. These are long forgotten flavours made to time honoured recipes and methods. Surprisingly, the ones that sold out included Raspberry Vinegar and Chilli Punch.

Among the plants going out the door included flowering gazanias, petunais and hydrangeas. Large potted roses also proved to be a hit. And lets not forget the christmas trees which again this year included some special selections.

The giftware departments were abuzz – and its not too late – so if you are looking for a unique gift with a little bit of inspiration, it’s not too late to get down to Gardenworld.

Ball Australia hosts Hortivations in 2011.

James Wall — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:13:40 +0000

By James Wall

Hortivations is an industry only event, but I will take you a little bit behind the scenes.

Ball Australia are the Australian arm of an international plant breeding company called Ball. Their head office is in Chicago and they are responsible for many of the plants that we see in the nurseries today. Once a year they host Hortivations in their glasshouse at Keysborough in Melbourne, Victoria.

Its not just Ball that puts on the show. There are a number of other partners displaying products ranging from plants to pots and everything in between. Together these companies combine to inspire and encourage the rest of the industry.

Another highlight are the overseas guests that participate to convey their knowledge and experiences in other coutries. Thanks to this event, Autralian horticulture is truly on the world stage.

This year the show was put on in a newly constructed greenhouse. It was a relocated structure, once upon a time used by Van Wyk flower growers just down the road. It must have had a rich history of cut flower carnations, roses, gerberas and lilliums. It was massive effort by the Ball team to rebuild this magnificant structure and they did a pretty good job for their first show in it.

Here are a few pics of some inspiration that I got from Hortivations 2011.

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Carniverous Plant and Bromeliad Show at Collectors Corner.

James Wall — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:57:49 +0000

Last weekend saw the annual Carniverous Plant and Bromeliad Show held at Collectors Corner. This is by no means a big show, but it is a worthy one. Both genres of plants were represented well by their societies members, and it seemed that there was some healthy competition for best in show. These specific gardeners are extremely keen and knowledgeable on their plants. If you can make it to next years show, you too might become hooked on mystical carniverous plants or amazingly coloured bromeliads.The following are a few snaps of the plants on show. Enjoy, and be sure to call in to Collectors Corner, as they have carniverous plants available for sale all year round. As for bromeliads, it finally dawned on me that the humble pineapple is one of our most famous broms.

Carniverous Plants

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Bromeliads

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