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00:00.
00:30Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:36The air is crisp, the light is clear
00:39and it's a beautiful time to be outside.
00:42We've got a cracking show for you this week.
00:45Here's what's in store.
00:49Camellias in the cooler weather brighten up a drab day
00:52and whilst their flowers are fabulous,
00:54they're not well known for their fragrance.
00:56But I'm going to show you some sweet-smelling camellias
00:59to try at your place.
01:01I'm here on stunning Lower Eyre Peninsula
01:04to meet locals that are dedicated to protecting
01:07and regenerating the vegetation
01:09along this wild and gorgeous stretch of coastline.
01:13I'm going to give you the how and why of thinning seedlings
01:17so you can ensure a bountiful and diverse crop.
01:21And we meet some legends of the Australian native plant scene.
01:25It's just like stepping back into a wild sort of a bushland area
01:31but with gardens dotted through it.
01:42Mount Crosby on the western outskirts of Brisbane
01:45is a suburb of bush blocks and spectacular views.
01:49It can be a challenging location for gardeners.
01:54But 11 years ago,
01:56horticulturist Claire Bickle moved here with her young family.
02:00Claire Bickle!
02:02Costa!
02:03Welcome!
02:04I finally get to see your garden.
02:06I know.
02:06Let's have a look.
02:07I'm pumped!
02:09I've known Claire for over a decade.
02:12We bump into each other regularly at gardening shows and events.
02:15Today, I'm in for a treat.
02:19Claire's invited me to see her home garden.
02:22So, what was your vision and idea
02:26when you first set eyes on this place?
02:28I guess it was finally we had our own big block of land
02:32to plant all those plants that I love.
02:35So, what was here when you first arrived?
02:37Um, not a lot.
02:39It was a huge expanse of dirt
02:42to consider what was going to plant where.
02:44The two-acre block was a lot for Claire and her husband to take on,
02:49with three young children in tow.
02:51There was a lot of juggling of children and money,
02:55so we sort of thought,
02:57what's the most important section?
02:58And that's the eating section.
03:01So, we started with the veggie patch.
03:03Oh, I love the frame here.
03:06Welcome to our engine room.
03:08This is great.
03:09This is where all the edible stuff happens.
03:16So, how did this begin?
03:19So, there was nothing here.
03:20They'd had a horse on this property for nearly 25 years.
03:24So, lots of lovely ironbarks and brush boxes,
03:27but understory gone, you know,
03:28and trampled really hard soil.
03:30So, my wonderful partner, Carl,
03:32actually hand-terraced this whole area.
03:35And there's so much in here.
03:37Tell us a little bit about what you've got growing.
03:39We're busy.
03:40So, we both work full-time, three kids.
03:42So, it's kind of got to be easy.
03:44And we kind of try and aim to have something to pick all the time.
03:47So, there's eggplants and tomatoes,
03:49as we head into the warmer season,
03:51the coriander's starting to flower and finish.
03:53But we also have edible flowers and herbs in here
03:56and artichokes, mustard, sweet potato in here,
04:00more for the foliage than the tubers.
04:03And over here, your lettuce.
04:05Yeah.
04:06It's happy.
04:07It's huge.
04:07So, it's probably getting towards the end,
04:09but I always let lettuce be.
04:12Let it go to flower,
04:13because all the pollinators love those flowers.
04:15And the little native bees can still get through our netting
04:18and so forth.
04:19So, this is an important part of why it looks so good.
04:23Well, we have possums and bush turkeys
04:25and bandicoots and bush rats.
04:28And even then, they'll sometimes chew through our wire.
04:32But it helps as a preventative.
04:35This is such a rich, green smorgasbord.
04:39So, yeah, we've got a mixture of perennial and annual greens
04:42and really lean into a lot of the sort of subtropical greens as well.
04:48That's the East Timor lettuce.
04:49So, that's a really good subtropical lettuce.
04:52It's hot.
04:52One leaf.
04:53Yeah, it's huge.
04:54There's your salad for two.
04:56And up here is our Ceylon Hill gooseberry
04:59with its little pink flowers.
05:02And the fruit, about the size of your thumbnail.
05:04They're like raspberry jam.
05:06Just really delicious.
05:07Grape.
05:08Isabella grapes do really well here.
05:09So, if you want some dolmades.
05:10Well, that's exactly it.
05:11I'm looking at these nice young leaves.
05:14Lovely for wrapping.
05:15I'm rolling.
05:16Yeah.
05:16I'm rolling already.
05:17It's probably the best in subtropical climates.
05:20And this is kind of a bit of turning into a bit of a forest
05:23because we've got grapevine, we've got clumps of bananas,
05:26we've got sugar cane.
05:28So, were there any fruit trees here originally?
05:31On this bank, there was one mandarin tree and one macadamia nut.
05:37That was it.
05:38We realised that, you know, when it rained,
05:40we could literally see the soil washing down into the gully.
05:44So, we swaled the area.
05:47Swales are trenches dug into a slope to slow the run of water.
05:52It made such a difference to this success
05:55and everything sort of took off.
05:57We have your stock standard citrus.
06:00So, we have, you know, oranges, mandarin, lemon, Tahitian lime.
06:03But we've also got mango, we've got whompies,
06:06we've got grumachamas, sea grapes, pomegranate, custard apple,
06:11low-till stone fruit, jackfruit, black sapotes, yeah.
06:15Wow. Pomegranate looks happy.
06:17We find up here they have a really full cropping year.
06:20Then the second year, maybe not so many.
06:22Third, OK, you know, that three-year cycle.
06:25Any favourite fruit that you've been most happy with?
06:27Yeah, yeah.
06:27We've got a soursop, which is related to the custard apple.
06:31I love soursop so much, I've actually planted a second one.
06:34Growing fruit trees in a subtropical climate, you know,
06:38tears, heartache, harsh words, guilt.
06:40What have you done?
06:42I suppose our biggest tambrake in our climate
06:45is the Queensland fruit fly and the fruit-piercing moth.
06:49So, we have little exclusion bags that we put on.
06:51But then again, I find even having these on,
06:55if the bags are close enough to the fruit,
06:57the fruit fly will even reverse up.
07:00So, you've really got to be on your game.
07:03Claire's feathered friends are also part of her orchard defence team,
07:07controlling weeds and pests and eating fallen fruit.
07:18Claire has created an incredible ecosystem here in just 11 years.
07:23Her passion for gardening was inspired by a very early mentor.
07:29My grandmother was a very big influence.
07:32She's still alive.
07:33She's 96.
07:34And Mimi is, you know, she was one of the founding members
07:37of the Australian Native Orchid Society.
07:39She was one of the first members of the Camellia,
07:42Queensland Camellia Society.
07:43And a lot of my childhood was spent with her.
07:46So, the crepe myrtleman, that's just about to come into full flower.
07:51The buds on that are just covered in buds.
07:55Yeah.
07:55I think probably the greatest gift that she's given me
07:59and my family has in general
08:01is to have and instil that curiosity of nature.
08:05So, yeah, that's going to be a picture.
08:07That's lovely.
08:08Yeah.
08:08So, that's my hymenosporum flava,
08:14the native rangipani.
08:16And I planted that as a tube stock probably nine years ago.
08:20And my grandmother had that planted outside her bedroom window.
08:23So, for me, it's such a familiar smell.
08:27I think in the garden it's not only memories of childhoods
08:31and, you know, from my father who was from the south of France.
08:34You know, I have lavender and I have olives
08:37and things that remind me of him.
08:39My dad actually made those little ceramic houses on those chairs.
08:44He passed away a couple of years ago, so it's kind of nice.
08:46It's kind of like having him in the garden a little bit as well.
08:49So, where does this front garden fit into the overall scheme of things?
08:54Well, this is probably the newest part of the yard that we've overhauled.
08:58It faces west.
08:59It's quite a hot spot.
09:00The soil's not the best up here on this, the highest part of our property.
09:05And I think that's one of the things when people say
09:07you can't have a cottage garden in subtropical Brisbane.
09:10It's like, well, you can.
09:11You just have to choose species of plants that will tolerate that.
09:15I can see you've got a real mix of flowering plants through here.
09:19Yeah, I kind of think that's a bit reflective of me and my personality.
09:22You can plant all sorts of things together, as long as they have the same requirements.
09:28You know, and always say, no one is going to come and knock on your front door and go,
09:31excuse me, Claire.
09:32We can see that you have an echeveria planted next to a curry bush and then there's a lemon tree.
09:37You know, that's not allowed.
09:38We're going to fine you for that, you know.
09:40There is no garden place that are going to do that to you.
09:42So, you can plant whatever you like.
09:43A garden really is your place to play.
09:47Some of the really hardy salvias.
09:49I love salvias.
09:50The bees, love them all, the pollinators.
09:53We've got dahlias, you know, the tree dahlias.
09:57They do well.
09:58But interspersed with native grasses and things that are just going to keep on surviving.
10:03The old shrimp plant.
10:04Shrimp plant.
10:05That is my mum's mum.
10:09Oh, I'm there.
10:10I know exactly where it was at her house.
10:13Yeah, gee, that's really special for me.
10:15Yeah.
10:15Well, you can get that kind of.
10:19Like Claire, my grandparents were a big influence on my love of gardening.
10:24I'd give anything to be able to sit with them today and share some of those memories.
10:31The question is, who do I give first bite of the lemon myrtle cake to for comment?
10:39I feel like I should go straight to you, Mim.
10:42Oh, you should.
10:43I feel like I should go straight to you, Mim.
10:44I feel like I should go straight to you, Mim.
10:45I feel like I should go straight to you, Mim.
10:46So it's pretty special to be here now with Claire's grandma, Mimmy, whose passion is alive
10:52and thriving in the younger generation.
10:56You're not governed by rules.
10:59We're anarchists.
11:00You're governed by what you want.
11:01What you want to grow.
11:03So what's it like to see your eclectic ways passed down into Claire?
11:11Oh, it's what I expected.
11:12Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
11:13It was never going to be any other way.
11:18No.
11:18No.
11:19I'll bring them in, A's.
11:21Sweet potatoes are such a great crop.
11:31But can you eat them when they get large?
11:34Well, this one's probably just big enough and good to eat now.
11:37Some crops, like cucumbers and zucchinis and squash, the bigger they get, the woodier they
11:43get, and they're horrible.
11:44But not sweet potatoes.
11:46You can eat the big ones.
11:47So go for it.
11:48How do I grow dahlias in the subtropics?
11:52Dahlias love plenty of sunshine and good air movement.
11:56They also love good drainage.
11:58So the best way to grow them, well-dug, compost-rich, fertile soil, but don't put too much compost
12:07in because when we get summer rain, it'll hold on to that moisture a little bit too long
12:12and they may rot.
12:13As a tip, I would put them in a mound, maybe five centimetres above the soil level, so when
12:20you do get really wet weather, that water drains away from the base.
12:24Otherwise, they're great.
12:27How do you care for your maidenhair ferns?
12:30They're possibly one of the most popular of indoor plants and fernery-type plants.
12:35And maidenhair plants, they're just gorgeous.
12:37They look delicate, but they're actually quite tough and hardy.
12:40Beautiful black stems and this green foliage.
12:43This is one that's a different form with tiny, minute little leaves, and this is more of
12:49a curly form, but they're all the adiantums, the maidenhair ferns.
12:53And to look after them, they need to have beautiful sunlight, but not direct hot sun burning their
12:59leaves.
13:00They need to be kept moist and away from draughts.
13:03And that's a really important thing.
13:05Once they've found a good spot to live in your house, they'll be very happy.
13:09And if you ever notice that the leaves are dying off or browning, just cut them back to above
13:14those dear little fronds down there.
13:21Let's catch up with Tammy now, who's reintroducing us to some old-fashioned garden favourites that
13:28have been harbouring a secret talent for all these years, right under our noses.
13:36Ah, winter.
13:38In the cooler months when flowers are few and far between, camellias bring the party.
13:45Centre stage, they brighten up drab days with bold blooms and a backdrop of glossy green foliage.
13:51Sydney gardeners just love camellias.
13:55And with our warm temperate climate just right, they grow in suburbs from north to south, from
14:01east to west.
14:02And I'm visiting a nursery in the Hills District on the outskirts of Sydney, where they're busy
14:07keeping up with the demand.
14:11Camellias bloom from autumn into early spring.
14:14A display bench here at the nursery of freshly picked flowers hints at the huge range of species
14:19and cultivars available.
14:22From the fabulous, the fancy, and frilly, to the variegated varieties.
14:28But I'm on the trail for a fragrant camellia, and they're harder to come by.
14:35In fact, of the roughly 250 wild camellia species, there's only a special handful that have fragrance.
14:42And they're sensational.
14:43Camellia luchuensis is a species with delicate white blooms that are tickled pink on the
14:55underside.
14:56And the fragrance can be described as like cloves, a bit spicy.
15:03This little wonder will charm those detractors who find showy camellias a bit too ornate.
15:09It's got a slightly weeping habit and can get up to two and a half metres tall.
15:14And it's behind a number of fragrant cultivars, like this one here at the nursery.
15:19High fragrance is a good example of the dedication it takes to bottle that elusive fragrance and
15:24put it into a new plant.
15:26Renowned breeder of scented camellias, James Finlay, in New Zealand, took over 22 years
15:32to get high fragrance over the line.
15:35It has a big, loose, ruffled, pale pink flower and smells like a sweet rose.
15:42With a strongly upright, open habit, you could try it in a mixed planting, like here in the
15:46woodland garden.
15:51This cultivar has been turned into a hedge.
15:53It's called Monato no Acabono and its blooms smell sweet and spicy.
16:00Blooms are lovely in their understated elegance, with petals in shades of pink and bronze centres.
16:06It'll get up to about a metre and a half to two metres and has a gentle drooping habit.
16:12To use as a hedge or screen, plant each one about a metre apart.
16:16Coming here, it's a typical tricky spot many people have, between a building and a boundary.
16:22Camellias are so suitable because they have shallow roots and they'll not disturb the brickwork
16:26or foundations.
16:27All it needs is a light trim after flowering to keep it narrow and shapely.
16:38Now this one looks pretty similar to Monato, with its simple, unfussy flower, but it's actually
16:43Koto no Kiori and it has a delightful fragrance.
16:48It has an upright, semi-open form and grows to about two metres.
16:54Camellias are versatile.
16:56If you've only got room for something small, there's fragrant varieties for containers.
17:02Spring mist grows into a medium-sized evergreen shrub and its spreading open habit lends itself
17:08beautifully to a large pot.
17:10It also flowers for a long period.
17:14This cultivar is Sweet Emily Kate and it's beautiful as well as worth sticking your nose
17:19in, with an abundance of miniature flowers and a cinnamon fragrance.
17:25It gets to about one to one and a half metres tall and about a metre wide.
17:30And it's quite slow growing and forms this bushy habit.
17:33So it's perfect for growing under trees and also in containers.
17:40Camellias love a well-drained, slightly acidic soil.
17:45Your local nursery will stock a specially formulated potting mix for plants like camellias that prefer
17:49slightly acidic growing conditions.
17:52Now I'm taking this camellia out of its pots.
17:59And this container is wide enough to allow the shallow roots to spread out and grow.
18:05Now I'm backfilling with the mix and top dressing with a thin layer of compost and leaf mulch.
18:16Camellias come from forested woodland areas and love rich, fertile growing conditions.
18:21The mulch mimics their natural environment and keeps their roots cool and moist.
18:26A good quality potting mix will have enough slow release fertiliser for the next six months.
18:31But growing forward, feed your camellias at least twice a year, after flowering in spring
18:36and again in early autumn.
18:38Use a camellia specific feed, like this pelletised fertiliser.
18:43Water in and keep moist, especially during summer.
18:47But they're not bog plants, so you don't need to drown them.
18:52They're best in a sunny or partly shaded position and protect from cold wind and hot afternoon sun.
18:58And you can lightly trim to shape in spring after flowering.
19:01Whilst fragrant camellias might be overshadowed by big, bold cultivars.
19:05Once you get your nose in, the scent of these beautiful flowers on a crisp morning is one of the best things about getting outside.
19:12One of Australia's grandest bush tucker trees is the macadamia.
19:25And the nuts are as famous for their rich flavour as they are for their hard shells.
19:30Macadamias can be a tough nut to crack.
19:32And pretty dangerous if you're not sure what you're doing.
19:36The reward? Sensational.
19:40But going hell for leather sprays the goodness far and wide.
19:46You need a method.
19:49Now, my dear old Pop told me when I was a little kid, hit it on the navel, split perfectly, nut stays intact.
19:56The navel of course is where the nut joins to the tree.
20:00Pop's method does take a little effort and there is a tiny snag.
20:05You do run the risk of hitting yourself on the malmenigas, but I do have a solution.
20:11The humble pool noodle.
20:12Of course you still want to hit it on the navel, or at least the seam, so we slide it in.
20:18We need a bigger hammer for this.
20:21Mallet, perfect.
20:24Noodle, nut, mallet, whack.
20:28There you have it.
20:35Macca Whacka Noodle.
20:36Macca, Noodle, Whacked, Eaten.
20:45Next week is Landcare Week.
20:48A time to celebrate our community environmental organisations and the care they put into preserving and protecting our precious natural world.
20:59Sophie's hitting the road to catch up with a group doing just that in one of her favourite places in Australia.
21:07This is beautiful Greenleigh Beach in Coulter on the west coast of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.
21:18It's a wild and windswept place with alluring rock pools and white sands.
21:25But its beauty has come under threat in recent years with a growing number of campers and tourists that come off the beaten track to visit.
21:34And that's come at a price for the local environment and coastal vegetation.
21:40So I've come to meet some of the remarkable volunteers from the tiny local communities who are dedicated to protecting this place and helping to bring the bush back to the beach.
21:53Karen McEwan from the Lower Air Coast Care Association has been volunteering for nearly two decades.
22:01Karen, this is an amazing beach.
22:04Tell me what you and your other volunteers do here.
22:08So, Sophie, we're caring for this area which has a long history of degradation, so we're sort of giving nature a helping hand to regenerate this area.
22:22Now, this place sort of became more popular, shall we say, through Instagram because of a certain beautiful rock pool.
22:33What impact did that have?
22:35So, we saw excessive numbers of people start to come here.
22:39This was during COVID and that had an impact on the vegetation and erosion.
22:45How did it make you feel when you came here and saw huge visitor numbers of tourists not respecting the fragile ecosystem they were on?
22:58The place just wasn't set up to handle the big caravans and the big vehicles doing the trip around Australia these days.
23:07We had big rigs trying to get into small spaces, so clouds are getting driven on, tracks were opening up and, you know, the damage gets done.
23:18Yeah, there's environmental impacts.
23:20OK, well, let's go and check what you've been planting and doing to restore this beautiful area.
23:25This is where we've been doing a lot of our revegetation work and erosion control work and you can just see what a harsh environment it is.
23:41It must be tough to get anything to grow, you know, survive, let alone thrive.
23:46Yeah, a lot of trial and error here.
23:50So, Sophie, we have a few plants that we call our hero plants that we grow a lot of.
23:56And this one in particular, which is local to Eyre Peninsula and York Peninsula in South Australia, is acacia anseps or flat-stemmed wattle.
24:06And we grow a lot of that. And, of course, native pig face.
24:11Yeah. Amazing for erosion control, the way it holds the sand together.
24:16You can see that by its form, can't you?
24:20So, this scavola is obviously thriving.
24:23Yeah, Sophie, we're pretty happy with that one.
24:25They've been grown from cuttings and that's our local cushioned fan flower.
24:31And I can see a specimen down there, covered in flowers, so pretty.
24:35And tell me about that low wattle over there.
24:39Yeah, so normally that acacia longifolia would grow as a taller tree,
24:45but you can see how it's keeping its head down in this harsh wind here.
24:50But, yeah, it's still providing fantastic shelter for all the plants around it,
24:55so we plant a lot of that, another of our hero plants.
24:59Now, the Lower Eyre Peninsula is a massive place with huge areas of coastline.
25:07The remoteness of this area, that's actually been part of the challenge, hasn't it?
25:13Yeah, it is remote. It's challenging to get people out here to do work,
25:19but it's a much-loved place by the locals.
25:23There's about 140 hectares here that we look after,
25:27including two-and-a-half kilometres of coastline, just in this little area here.
25:33My goodness. Now, this isn't just a one-woman show, is it?
25:37No, Sophie. We've got a team of volunteers,
25:40and including some fabulous young ones that we're going to go and meet now.
25:45OK, let's go.
26:04Year-round propagation requires lots of hands,
26:07and central to this huge effort are the passionate and enthusiastic pupils
26:12from the local Lake Wongaree School.
26:16It's about 30 kilometres south of Greenlee Beach
26:19and has a nursery, which is a hub of hard work
26:23and a classroom for all sorts of learning.
26:31Hello, everyone.
26:33So, today, we are going to be sowing some acacias.
26:38We're going to put about three or four seeds in each.
26:43Then we'll get some extra soil
26:46and we'll put a little layer of soil over the top.
26:49So, guys, you obviously know what you're doing here.
27:10I can see you've done this before.
27:12What do you love about this work?
27:14Knowing that we're helping the future,
27:17and so, say, if one of us has kids and stuff,
27:21knowing that they will be able to have lots of plants and native animals.
27:25I love just getting out in the nature
27:28and just knowing that we're helping the environment
27:31and knowing that we will make a better future
27:35for the coastal areas on the Eyre Peninsula.
27:37I like to go down the beach and go for a surf
27:40and have a look at the nature there and see how it's going.
27:43Um, yeah, but it's pretty disappointing
27:46when you see somebody's driven on it
27:48and people have, like, tried to do a turnaround
27:50and they've just, like, destroyed it,
27:53and it's pretty sad to see that.
27:55Yeah, a lot of us don't like to see the areas around here
27:59that are covered in rubbish
28:01cos there's a lot of us who live here that go to this school.
28:04Teacher Luke Rowe runs a schools program at Greenly Beach
28:09which beautifully integrates conservation work
28:12into the children's education.
28:14So, the kids look like they have lots of fun.
28:17What do they actually get out of growing the plants here?
28:21Um, they get a pretty unique chance
28:23at seeing it from the ground up, literally,
28:26and then being involved in the planning out
28:28and the messaging about how to use the whole area.
28:31We see huge opportunities for our kids to become ambassadors
28:35for how to camp sustainably
28:37and, more broadly, just about how to use these beautiful areas
28:41we have in a sustainable way.
28:43Is this Kikui, yes?
28:48No, that's a Dianella.
28:50Oh, what do they do?
28:52The learning outcomes for our children are really broad.
28:54There's been a strong focus on biology, but also in maths
28:58and lots of persuasive writing tasks
29:00and information report writing.
29:01So, we see huge opportunities to integrate all subject areas.
29:06The kids know so much about these different species now
29:12and the way they work and the importance of them.
29:15Even though they might not look like much,
29:17they're so important in our sort of harsh coastal areas
29:21that hopefully we see the fruits of this in the future to come.
29:26I'm sure we will.
29:27A little later in the program,
29:29Karen and I will be heading back to remote Greenley Beach
29:32to see how the tube stock being grown by these fabulous school kids
29:36is being planted out by a team of dedicated volunteers.
29:42Still to come on Gardening Australia,
29:45Jerry grows a cool climate classic in Brizzy.
29:50Hannah gets into the tomato starting blocks
29:54and we meet some native plant growers par excellence.
29:59Sometimes when you're gardening, you've got to make some big calls.
30:08More isn't always better.
30:10Sometimes a few sacrifices are needed for the good of the many.
30:16Here's Millie to explain.
30:26When it comes to the productive garden,
30:28making sure vegetables have enough space to grow to maturity
30:31ensures you get a good crop.
30:35The truth is, I am not a very disciplined gardener.
30:39I commonly forget to do tasks, I often just make it up
30:42and other times I get it completely wrong.
30:45But there is one area that I'm trying to be far more disciplined
30:50and that is when it comes to thinning.
30:58I absolutely love growing lettuce.
31:01This is freckles and this brown one here is from my brother.
31:05I call it Ben's Best.
31:07And thinning is a really important part of growing any vegetable really.
31:11But lettuce, it's pretty critical.
31:13So when they first germinate, I come through,
31:15I leave say about five centimetres between those small plants.
31:19Now I don't want to thin to their eventual mature spacings at this point
31:23because they're still really vulnerable.
31:24Something might go wrong.
31:25So I leave more plants in the ground then.
31:28As they get a little bit larger,
31:30you can come through and thin to an even wider spacing.
31:34Also, just making sure there's enough space for ample air movement around the crop
31:42as you water them more.
31:43They're really susceptible to fungal problems
31:46and that is one of the real benefits of thinning crops to the right space.
31:50And then as these have gotten quite a bit larger,
31:54they're a little bit more difficult to pull out of the ground
31:56without disrupting the other.
31:57So a knife at the very base to about 10-15 centimetres between plants
32:04will ensure that those remaining plants can grow to full maturity.
32:08But I get a feed on the way.
32:14One group of plants that you do need to be really diligent about thinning
32:18are the root crops.
32:19Because to develop a nice, straight, thick root to full maturity underground,
32:23they do need a little bit of space.
32:26When I'm doing carrots,
32:27I just use scissors to thin every few plants to get a good row.
32:31The same can be said with parsnips.
32:33If you don't thin them,
32:34they don't get to develop into those lovely, big, thick tap roots.
32:39But there is one little myth that I want to bust,
32:42and that is about beetroot.
32:44Now it's in the same camp as far as being a root crop,
32:47but they are way less fussy about growing in a crowd.
32:51You see, a lot of varieties have a seed which we call aggregate,
32:54which means there's multiple embryos, two or three plants in each of these seeds.
32:59When they germinate, they're used to growing together.
33:02And so you can thin to little clumps of three beetroot,
33:05and they will mature quite well growing in together.
33:08When it's time to harvest one, you just twist it out.
33:11Instead of ripping up the whole clump,
33:12let the others continue to become even bigger and better,
33:15and you get even more beetroot for your space.
33:20One area where you really need to thin mindfully
33:24is when you've got a tray of mixed varieties.
33:27There's lots of varieties of plants, flowers and vegetables
33:31that you can get in a mixed seed pack,
33:33and it can be a good value way to get lots of variety in the patch.
33:37And when they germinate, they're actually going to do so at different stages,
33:41at different ages, it'll take a longer time for some than others,
33:45and they will have different vigour as well.
33:47Now things like this, this is mixed silverbeet.
33:50You can see really obviously just by the colour of the seedlings
33:54that they are different varieties.
33:56You've got yellows and pinks and reds.
33:58So in this case, it's quite simple to thin
34:01to a nice representation of the different varieties.
34:05But over here, you can see these are tomato seedlings,
34:08and I sowed these on the same day in the cells
34:11from three different varieties.
34:13And you can see how different the vigour is
34:15between these big strong plants and this spindly little thing.
34:19A gardener's instinct is often to really thin
34:23to those biggest, strongest plants.
34:25But if I'd done that in a mixed tray,
34:27then I would have only been thinning to a single variety,
34:30which would have meant all of my mixed tomato seedling varieties
34:34would have been lost.
34:35I grow lots of things from seed, not just vegetables.
34:42And here I've got a lot of native shrubs, grasses,
34:45and perennials on the go.
34:47And thinning is also really important.
34:50So I'll commonly sow into these larger tubes direct,
34:54which means I skip that step of having to prick
34:56those tiny little seedlings out and move them into another pot.
34:59That's a place where they are quite vulnerable.
35:02But I still need to thin.
35:04So once I'm really confident that they're well established
35:07and they've been through that really vulnerable stage,
35:09I'll choose the strongest plant in each of those cells.
35:13I can pull one out.
35:15And then I'm ending up with a lovely strong plant in each of those cells.
35:20When I'm dealing with plants that are really, really tiny or particularly susceptible to root disturbance,
35:27I tend to use a pair of snips.
35:29That way I can snip out any of the excess plants without pulling and disrupting the roots of the one I want to keep.
35:35Now, it does feel a little bit wasteful and I don't like chucking out little plants,
35:42but it is really important in nature.
35:45Not every seed that hits the ground reaches the sunlight.
35:48So I try and sort of harness my inner lyrebird or wallaby and do a little decisive destruction to get to the strongest plants.
35:56When it comes to growing lots of plants for very little money,
36:05there is no doubt that seed is the best way to grow.
36:08But if you want to get those full rewards,
36:11you're going to need to spend a little bit of time and sacrifice a few of those seedlings.
36:16But I promise, thinning is winning.
36:19Can I grow rhododendrons in Brisbane?
36:26Well, yes, you can.
36:28You can grow conventional azaleas, but in my opinion,
36:31varaya rhododendrons are far more successful.
36:34Varayas are tropical.
36:37They come from South East Asia and Australia has one species.
36:41But they grow in mountainous conditions.
36:44So the best tip that I can give you is not to treat them as a shrub
36:48that grows in the ground, but a shrub that grows in a tree,
36:52just like these epiphytic orchids.
36:55In fact, their root systems benefit from this kind of open basket
37:00because they clasp the tree.
37:03And just like epiphytic orchids, you feed them with a foliar feed once or twice a year.
37:09You can give them iron chelates by spraying that on once a year
37:13and that keeps the leaves really lovely and green.
37:16But most importantly, they grow in mountainous areas.
37:20So they like humidity, dappled shade, protection from western sun and strong winds.
37:27And while they like it cool, they don't like too much frost.
37:31So plant them under a tree.
37:33And if you collect them carefully, you can have them blooming for many months of the year
37:38and some of them have delicious sweet perfumes.
37:50In the southern parts of Australia, tomatoes are a summer garden staple.
37:54But if you want to grow them yourself from seed, you have to start when it's really cold.
37:59Anywhere from mid to late winter.
38:04Over the years, I've grown a few proven performers.
38:07And along the way, I've been saving their seed.
38:11To raise seed, you need a good quality potting mix, which needs fine particles to make contact with the seed,
38:17moisture holding capacity and well draining composition.
38:21Here I'm using equal parts compost, coarse potting sand and leaf mould.
38:25Fill seed raising pots.
38:28Make sure they're not too large as you don't want them to stay cold and wet.
38:31Although you must water them in well to make sure that soil gets settled.
38:39Sprinkle the seed over the surface.
38:41Or if it's on paper, lay it on the soil and cover it lightly, being sure not to bury it too deeply.
38:48And water again.
38:50In a climate like Hobart, these little pots will need warmth,
38:55which can be provided via artificial heat, a little hothouse or a warm windowsill.
39:01The seeds should take seven to ten days to germinate.
39:04Once you see the second flush of leaves come up, which are actually the first true leaves,
39:09it's time to pot up all those seedlings to give them more space and more food.
39:14Also, make sure they get at least half a day's worth of sunlight.
39:18As they grow larger, I'll pot them up again and again until the soil in my garden
39:23is finally warm enough for me to plant them out.
39:27Raising tomatoes in a cool temperate climate takes commitment and care.
39:31But the summer sellers and sangas are well worth the effort.
39:35Back to Sophie now on the stunning Eyre Peninsula, but there's no real time for her to enjoy the views
39:48because she's rolling up her sleeves and getting stuck into it with the local land care group.
39:54I've been exploring South Australia's stunning Lower Eyre Peninsula to understand how local volunteers
40:06are supporting the regeneration of coastal bushland.
40:09And it's all systems go here at remote Greenlee Beach.
40:19So, there's a hive of activity going on here. What's happening?
40:23So, today, Sophie, we're doing some erosion control with the matting.
40:29We're watering our plants and we're brushing.
40:34So, what is brushing?
40:36Well, it involves putting out prunings of local native plants.
40:41We use it for wind erosion.
40:43So, the soil collects amongst the prunings, but also they're laden with seed.
40:48So, we hope that eventually we've introduced a seed source
40:52and we might get some seedlings growing there.
40:54And does it work?
40:55Yes.
40:56Amazingly, we're having some success with that method.
40:59The prunings are keeping it moist underneath too.
41:01So, yeah, it's a bit of mulch on it.
41:03So, yeah, it's working here at this very windy side.
41:06Amazing, because here it is baking hot.
41:09It is hellishly windy and also there's no soil.
41:13It's sand and it's just being blown away.
41:15Now, you also have another hack to do with planting.
41:19Yeah.
41:20So, Sophie, here we use a technique which, through trial and error,
41:25led us to this technique called deep planting.
41:33So, I'm just going to put some water in, Soph, just with this method.
41:36We want to make sure that it is moistered down where we're putting the root ball.
41:40It goes against what most gardeners think when they're planting plants from pots,
41:45and that is we're going to half-bury this plant.
41:48We've pruned the lower leaves off, and so it has several benefits.
41:53Firstly, with the soil movement, sand movement here due to the wind,
41:58the roots are lower down, so less likelihood of them being exposed.
42:02And also the root ball is closer down to the soil moisture.
42:06The regeneration of this beachside bush is a great example of the importance of volunteers.
42:20Over the years, they've established thousands of native plants
42:24and helped to advocate for better management of camping sites
42:28and the education of everyone who visits.
42:31I just think putting trees back in the environment, in the landscape,
42:36is just one of the most important things that, you know,
42:40people can do for their local environment.
42:43There's such power in that people power and coming together
42:47and lobbying for protection of what you love.
42:52Well, it's amazing to see how what started as a revegetation project
42:57has turned into a powerful community anchor,
43:00bringing together people of all generations
43:03to care for this unique and stunning environment.
43:07And all individuals involved are learning gardening techniques along the way
43:12in how to grow under these tough conditions.
43:30I love it when people dedicate their lives
43:33to understanding the beauty and diversity of plants in this country.
43:38And better still, imagine building a garden to celebrate those plants.
43:45Well, this is exactly what our next story is about.
43:48And you better brace yourself for some serious eye candy.
43:53I just knew when I got here that this was where I wanted to settle down and live.
44:14It's just like sort of stepping back into a wild sort of a bushland area,
44:20but with gardens dotted through it.
44:23It's a wild garden.
44:24It was designed for habitat.
44:26We still treat it as habitat first and garden second.
44:34My name is Neil and I'm a passionate conservationist and horticulturalist.
44:41I've written a number of books on grevillea and grassland plants.
44:46I'm Wendy and I've been a horticulturalist for 25 years.
44:52I did natural seed resource management, which made me really want to protect the natural bush.
44:57And when I moved up here, we began our environmental consultancy.
45:02We go out and do flora surveys all over the place.
45:05The two of us combined, you know, we'd get some pretty comprehensive lists.
45:11He loves to identify things.
45:14And I like writing it down.
45:17So we work really well as a team.
45:19I do the botanical side and Wendy's does the recording,
45:23but she's also an expert in all the weed identifications.
45:27There's always weeds.
45:29Always weeds, sadly.
45:35This is our beautiful property called Panrock Ridge,
45:39which is in the Black Range just to the east of the Grampians,
45:43which is about three hours west of Melbourne in the central west of Victoria.
45:48We've got 200 acres here of just beautiful heathy and grassy woodland.
45:54I wouldn't like to count how many different species of plants,
45:58but we've got a huge collection of grevilleas,
46:01a huge collection of hakias and banksias, dryandras.
46:06They all just seem to thrive here.
46:08So we're very, very fortunate.
46:10And this is where we've made our home.
46:16My real passion is grevilleas simply because they're so diverse.
46:20You've got ground covers, you've got trees,
46:23and you've got everything in between.
46:25We've got approximately 350 different species
46:28and subspecies growing right here in our property.
46:34This is an amazing grevillea.
46:36Grevillea vestita mulberry midnight is the name
46:39that we've given to this.
46:41It's a Western Australian plant which no longer exists,
46:44but thanks to a nursery friend of ours,
46:47she was out wandering in this beautiful bushland area.
46:50Fortunately for us, she took cuttings, got them going in her nursery,
46:54and that's where I got this one.
46:56And sadly, she went back six months later
46:59and that whole valley had been bulldozed for a housing estate.
47:03So this plant is now extinct in the wild,
47:05but growing beautifully in our gardens.
47:08This is grevillea flexuosa, the zigzag grevillea.
47:16This is another grevillea which is very, very rare in the wild.
47:21There was one population in the whole world
47:23in a little nature reserve just out of Perth.
47:26It grows on granite outcrops,
47:28and we're fortunate we've got granite outcrops here,
47:31and so it's actually self-seeding in our garden.
47:33So we've got probably more here in our garden
47:35than actually occur in the wild, which is amazing.
47:42I grew up not particularly interested in plants at all.
47:46My interest was actually our native birds,
47:49and I just absolutely loved making records of all the birds
47:53coming to visit our garden.
47:55I soon realised that Dad had a lot of grevilleas in his garden
47:59and a lot of banksias,
48:00so they were the two genera that I really liked.
48:03Out of my love for our native birds has become this passion
48:08to try and hunt down and find as many grevilleas as possible.
48:15This is another beautiful Western Australian grevillea,
48:18the Christmas grevillea.
48:20Grevillea insignus, subspecies insignus.
48:23Sadly, it's now almost completely confined to the roadsides
48:27in the southern wheat belt of Western Australia
48:30due to the history of agricultural clearing,
48:33and it's a real pity when you think about it
48:35because the entire genus in Western Australia
48:38is two-thirds of the whole genus.
48:43About a decade ago, there were discussions
48:46about whether grevillea
48:48and the very place-related genus haecchia
48:51should be lumped together.
48:53So I thought, oh, crikey,
48:54if haecchia is going to be included in grevilleas,
48:57I'd better get a good collection of haecchias going here too.
49:01There are approximately 175 different species of haecchia.
49:05We've got about 165 of them growing here
49:09beautifully in our garden as well.
49:13Many people get confused
49:14between the difference between haecchias and grevilleas.
49:18This is a cricket ball haecchia, haecchia platysperma.
49:22It's got huge big woody seed pods,
49:25but not all haecchias have great big seed pods.
49:27There are some like this tiny little one here,
49:30which probably are more typical of haecchias.
49:33The feature that makes a haecchia different from a grevillea
49:36is that haecchias have these hard woody nuts
49:40which enclose two seeds.
49:42A grevillea has a thin leathery seed pod called a follicle
49:47and that also includes two seed pods.
49:49So it's an easy difference between the two genera.
49:56The diversity in here is really important
49:58for attracting birds and animals for different reasons.
50:03The 200 acres was an old farm,
50:05but the 20 acres that we've enclosed with a vermin fence
50:10means that there's no cats or foxes in here.
50:13The only predator they would have inside here is from above,
50:17and that's birds of prey,
50:18but that's part of the web of life
50:20and we're very happy to be helping support all of those.
50:24But it wasn't like that when we first bought the property.
50:27It was just completely flogged out.
50:30All you could see was dirt.
50:32There wasn't even a tussock of grass anywhere.
50:35And a lot of my friends said,
50:36why on earth did you buy such a degraded property?
50:39It's just a waste of time and money.
50:42We're very lucky.
50:44Our soils here are beautiful free-draining granite sands,
50:47but that's about 30 centimetres over sticky clay.
50:51So in very, very wet years,
50:53we've had to build the garden beds up to allow for that,
50:56to give a better depth of drainage for the root zone.
51:00It'll never be perfect,
51:01but it's coming back so well
51:03that it's really, really satisfying.
51:07The first garden that I ever planted
51:10was the garden that you see around you here.
51:12It gets the hot baking westerly sun all through the summer months
51:17and so the grevilleas I planted here,
51:19I knew they had to be drought tolerant and very, very hardy.
51:24The whole garden got burnt out in the 2006 bushfires
51:28that went right through the Grampians and our Black Range.
51:32But amazingly, this area came back really superbly
51:36and there are still seedlings still popping up to this day.
51:40After the fire, I never imagined that Neil would be so devastated.
51:45He was as devastated as the land.
51:47So we decided to build a garden here
51:50and we decided on verticordias
51:52and we decided to put white gravel over it
51:54as a contrast between the black and the white, I think.
51:57It worked out very well and we called it Australia.
52:02This property has got a conservation covenant on it
52:05with Trust for Nature, so it's permanently protected,
52:08which is really important.
52:10So when we pass on or we sell the property,
52:13we know that it's going to be protected into perpetuity,
52:17which is really, really wonderful.
52:19I could almost live without anything else.
52:23Just being here is very fulfilling.
52:26For me, this is just living in paradise.
52:29We're just out here, surrounded by nature
52:33and it's just so calming and relaxing.
52:36It's great for the soul.
52:37What an amazing couple in such an incredible garden.
52:49It's well and truly got me inspired,
52:51so much so that I've got a gift for you,
52:54your jobs for the weekend.
53:00In cool temperate areas,
53:02welcome some waddle into your life
53:04with the red flowering cultivar,
53:06Acacia Scarlet Blaze.
53:08This early bloomer is frost tolerant
53:10and is a standout specimen
53:12in full sun to dappled shade.
53:14Remove dead raspberry canes,
53:16scratch back the bark
53:18and cut down the dead brown ones.
53:20Those that reveal green when scratched
53:22will produce this summer's fruit.
53:25Keep collecting sticks, leaves, straw,
53:28dead foliage and paper to add to your compost.
53:31These brown materials help to balance the compost
53:34and they feed the microorganisms that break down your veggie scraps.
53:40In warm temperate areas,
53:41Cineraria can be planted out now.
53:44These bloomers love full sun,
53:46but will be happy in part shade on a balcony.
53:49Keep them well watered for dazzling displays in spring and summer.
53:53Prune back lavender while it's still sleepy
53:56to encourage bushier growth and flourishing flowers through spring.
54:00Avoid cutting into the woody stems
54:02and focus on shaping the green tips.
54:05Remove the competition around fruiting trees
54:08by digging a barrier ring around the root zone.
54:11Use a spade to create a 10cm deep trench
54:14so the weeds can't make the jump
54:16to eat up vital nutrients.
54:18In subtropical areas,
54:20it's time to divide and conquer your ginger.
54:23Split rhizomes into chunks
54:25and position 5cm deep
54:27in fertile, well-draining soil.
54:29Protect from wind and harsh sun
54:31and water weakly.
54:32Prepare your gardens for the heat
54:34by digging in an oya.
54:36Terracotta pots buried underground
54:38will seep water out slowly,
54:40avoid water evaporating
54:42and help plants adjust to the heat.
54:44Head to the GA website
54:46to see how to make your own.
54:49Sow cat mint seeds around roses now
54:51to ward off aphids in mid-spring.
54:54This tropical mint
54:55will attract beneficial pollinators
54:57and the aphids will avoid
54:59the sweet, lemon, aromatic foliage.
55:02In tropical areas,
55:03cover fruit trees susceptible to fruit fly.
55:06Ensure that holes are no bigger than 1.6mm
55:09to keep the fruit flies out
55:11and keep our wildlife safe.
55:13Plant out Queensland blue pumpkin seedlings
55:16into mounds rich with compost,
55:18plenty of water and space to sprawl.
55:21Add mulch and a little bit of shade
55:23to stop them drying out.
55:24Having trouble with traditional coriander
55:26in the tropics?
55:27Why not try perennial coriander?
55:30Hailing from Mexico,
55:31this humid-loving herb
55:33grows well in heat and shade
55:34and will keep the spice in your life.
55:38In arid areas,
55:39get your grevilleas in shape
55:40with a light trim
55:41between flushes of flowers.
55:43Pinching out buds
55:44may seem like tough love,
55:45but it will encourage the plant
55:47to branch out
55:48and produce more flowers.
55:50It's always a great time
55:51to plant a tree,
55:52but planting now as temperatures rise
55:55will give tube-stock trees
55:56the best chance to establish.
55:58These fast-growing, low-cost plants
56:01are fantastic value.
56:03Time to sow some quick growers
56:05to provide fast returns
56:06before the onset of hot weather.
56:08Radish and rocket not only grow fast,
56:11they're also great companion plants
56:13and will ward off flea beetle.
56:16That should keep your green thumbs busy this week.
56:19And while you're at it,
56:20get your thumbs up going
56:21on our social media pages
56:23where there's plenty of ideas
56:25to get you out in the garden.
56:27And one last thing,
56:29it's the Logies this Sunday
56:31and we're humbled to have a nomination.
56:34So if you love the show,
56:35we'd love your vote.
56:37Full details on our website
56:39or just Google how to vote.
56:45Well, that's all we have time for this week,
56:48but we've got plenty lined up for next time.
56:51See you then.
56:53I'm catching up with a citizen scientist
56:58whose imagery is a window into this hidden wonderland.
57:04Getting native plants to adapt to conditions
57:06that don't normally suit them
57:07gives us more choice for our gardens.
57:09But how is it done?
57:11Today, I'm meeting a specialist in plant grafting
57:14to find out.
57:16And I feel like I'm in an oasis.
57:18This fascinating arid garden
57:20has a huge range of aloes
57:23and lots more.
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