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Gardening Australia - Season 36 Episode 37 -
Episode 37 Spring: Mediterranean Living & Super Soil
Episode 37 Spring: Mediterranean Living & Super Soil
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01:59The sun, the lifestyle, the people, the food and don't get me started on the plants
02:07Josh has found someone in Fremantle who shares my feelings
02:12So much so that she's brought a slice of the Mediterranean into her own backyard
02:18We live in a Mediterranean climate
02:26Characterised by long, hot, dry summers and cool, wet, mild winters
02:32Being hallmarks of countries from the Mediterranean region
02:36But what does that mean for gardeners?
02:41Hi Josh
02:42How are you?
02:43Good
02:43Welcome to the garden of the house
02:44I'm visiting the North Fremantle garden of Margot Tobin to find out
02:48In 2009, after buying a tired 1905 workers cottage
02:54Margot and her husband Guy set about designing a renovation and an extension
02:59Along with a new garden
03:01Margot is a Mediterranean garden aficionado
03:09Who also happens to be the head of the Western Australian chapter of the Mediterranean Garden Society
03:15An international garden club headquartered in Greece
03:19First of all, Margot, what a journey yours must have been to get to a point
03:25Where you're heading up the WA Mediterranean Garden Society
03:29Just how far afield have you travelled pursuing this love of Mediterranean gardens?
03:34So France, Italy, Spain, Mallorca
03:39We've been to lots of gardens there
03:41Been to Greece several times, including Corfu, which has a beautiful climate
03:45So I have seen a lot of Mediterranean gardens
03:47Even California, Mediterranean climate in California
03:50So I've been to lots of Mediterranean gardens there
03:52And how have these travels informed your understanding of what a Mediterranean garden is?
03:58And how would you define it?
04:00I think from a design perspective, a Mediterranean garden's got to have three things
04:04It's got to have water
04:05Because it dates back to the Islamic time
04:07Where the water was sent down a rill or water channel from the mountains
04:12To irrigate people's gardens and provide water for their homes
04:15And I particularly like this area where the rill is
04:17I'll often go and sit down there with my cup of coffee in the morning
04:20And just, you know, chill there and look at the water
04:23And look at the fish
04:24It's also got to have shade
04:25Because a Mediterranean climate can get very hot
04:28And the whole Mediterranean lifestyle means that you've also got to have somewhere outdoors to eat
04:33Because people do eat outdoors a lot in the Mediterranean
04:36So those three design things
04:37And then, of course, from the planting perspective
04:40You've got to have plants that will grow in a Mediterranean climate
04:43I've used a mixture of Mediterranean plants plus Australian native plants
04:48But there's very little irrigation out here
04:50And it survives some pretty hot summers in Fremantle
04:54I mean, we've been getting 40 degrees in October sometimes
04:57And that's pretty hot
04:58And I've also put in quite a bit of shade from the olive tree
05:01So they're going to give us a nice delicate shade over the plants
05:05Now this old fig tree has caught my eye
05:07Can we have a closer look?
05:08Oh, absolutely
05:09I see that you keep it pruned in a traditional way
05:14That's very Mediterranean
05:16And I learnt it from my travels
05:18They do keep it down lower in the Mediterranean
05:20Because it makes it a lot easier to pick your figs
05:23So nobody wants to be getting up ladders to get figs
05:26You can just walk out and pick them straight off the tree
05:28Do you get plenty of fruit off this?
05:30I've been getting about 400 a year every summer
05:33It's prolific
05:34Given that it's so old
05:35It's probably close to 100 years old
05:37But it is on its last legs
05:38Hence my husband training up the new fig
05:42And that has produced figs as well
05:44But we're sort of thinking of succession
05:46What a great idea
05:48I love that
05:49So this is only part of the garden
05:53What else is there to see?
05:55Well the garden's called Riot and Restraint
05:57And out the back here
05:58A lot more restraint was shown
06:00And I've been very limited in my planting
06:03So a lot of species are repeated
06:05And very little colour out here
06:08The Wastringia
06:09They've got quite a bit of that
06:10And the Plectranthus at the back
06:13Whereas the other garden
06:14Is the riot part of it
06:15And that's a riot of overplanting
06:17Wow, this is a very different feel
06:24Yes, this is probably my favourite part of the garden, Josh
06:28This is where I get to indulge my love of plants
06:31There's always room for one more plant
06:33But every plant's got its space
06:35It'll come to the fore at different times of the year
06:37So the euphorbia's flowering now
06:39And that'll die right back in summer
06:41And other things will come up
06:43So I've got pelargoniums and so on down there
06:46And they'll come up in summer
06:48So seasonality is a big thing
06:50Even in gardens where the focus is on foliage
06:53Yes, well it's my garden
06:55So it has to look good 365 days of the year
06:58And most of that's done with foliage
07:01I don't have a lot of flowers here
07:02But I just like the foliage
07:04And of course I get to indulge a few favourites
07:06Like my favourite tree
07:07Yeah, the Cassonia
07:08Now that is not common
07:10No, it isn't
07:11I've only seen three in Australia
07:13So that's the Cassonia paniculata
07:16The mountain cabbage tree
07:17It's from southern Africa
07:18But I got it a long time ago
07:21And had it in a pot
07:22And I've got it for the bark
07:24I just love that corky type bark
07:26It's just gorgeous
07:27And it doesn't get any water
07:28Probably steals it from other parts of the garden
07:31But it's doing really well there
07:32It's been in the ground about 10 years
07:34And I like that silvery foliage too
07:36And great pairing with the Kalanchoe
07:39Yes, that's the Kalanchoe beherensis
07:41So I've got a couple of those
07:43But I quite like that
07:44It's just so easy to grow here
07:46It's very nice
07:46It's got that furry leaf
07:48Which is pretty common for Mediterranean plants
07:50To help with moisture retention
07:52And I've got the Euphorbia lambii in that corner
07:55Which I really like
07:56Now, does this garden take much work
07:59To keep it looking this good?
08:00It gets a bit of water in spring
08:02If we haven't had enough rain
08:04I might water in autumn
08:05If the rains haven't started
08:07But like most Mediterranean plants
08:09A lot of these are very quiet in summer
08:11They almost go dormant
08:13Well, some of them are dormant
08:14But you don't really want to be watering them
08:17It's not a huge amount of work
08:18I'd hardly get any weeds
08:20But it's because there's no room for them
08:22The idea of a Mediterranean garden
08:27Evokes a vision of people enjoying the outdoor spaces
08:31Socialising, entertaining
08:33Has this garden delivered on that promise for you?
08:37Oh, I think it has
08:38We both love being out here in the garden
08:40But we also get lots of visitors
08:42Family, friends
08:43Entertaining out the back
08:45And all of the entertaining is done in the garden
08:47You know, it's not in the house
08:49It's out here in the garden
08:50Because that's where people want to sit
08:51And it's really very special to us
08:54How do bugs survive in extreme weather?
09:04Well, over winter
09:06Many hibernate
09:07Which is why you don't see as much activity
09:09In your garden
09:10Moths and butterflies
09:11Can pupate in their own little sleeping bags
09:14Boras stay in their borer holes in trees
09:16And many other insects find safer places
09:20As the weather improves
09:22You'll notice a lot more activity
09:24As the insects warm up their cold blood
09:26And start to breed
09:28In the heat of summer
09:29Many thrive
09:31Like aphids and mosquitoes
09:32While others seek out shade and shelter
09:34Which is why it's so important
09:36To have plenty of variety in vegetation
09:38And water spots
09:40That are set up for bugs
09:41To get in and out of safely
09:43Why is some of the new growth in my plum tree curling up?
09:48It might be that you have aphids in there
09:49Which love to get into the new leaves
09:51And eat them up for themselves
09:53To stop this from happening
09:54There are a few things you can do
09:56Firstly, because this isn't a major infestation
09:59I'm just going to come around
10:00And snip off
10:01Any of the infested growth
10:03And stick it into a bucket of water
10:04With soap in there
10:05To drown the little fellas
10:06Secondly, I'm going to come back in late winter
10:09Before the buds swell
10:11And spray the whole tree
10:12With diluted horticultural oil
10:14Which you can make yourself at home
10:16With a bit of veggie oil
10:17And dishwashing liquid
10:18Finally, I'm going to fill my gardens
10:21With even more flowers
10:23That attract beneficial predators
10:24Like little wasps
10:25Ladybugs
10:26And lice wings
10:28What is deep watering?
10:31Watering is a technique to refresh plants
10:33That's obvious
10:34But by watering deeply
10:36You can improve the performance of your plants
10:39You see, plant roots are designed to look out for moisture
10:43So a light watering will bring roots up to the surface
10:48Where the soil is hotter and drier
10:50And plants can suffer heat damage because of that
10:53But deep watering is done less frequently
10:56And it trains the roots to grow deeply down into the soil
11:00Now if you're watering a tree
11:02That gives you deeper anchoring roots
11:05Which are more storm resistant
11:07So you see, deep watering is far more effective
11:10And your plants are more sturdy
11:23If you want to know the secret to growing heaps of veggies in your patch
11:28Like the team here at Paddington Community Garden
11:31Then this one's for you
11:33We all know that fruit and veg are full of nutrients
11:37Which are good for us, of course
11:40But they're essential for a plant's growth
11:43All these minerals come from somewhere
11:46And that somewhere is the soil
11:48Plants draw nutrients from the soil
11:51Up through their roots
11:53And as the seasons change and you harvest your crops
11:57The soil can become depleted
11:59So if you want to make sure there's nutrients available
12:02For your next round of planting
12:04It's time to supercharge your soil
12:07The process of making synthetic fertilisers
12:12Takes a lot of energy
12:13And can have a big environmental impact
12:16So today I'm going to show you some soil additives
12:19That are made from organic materials instead
12:22The simplest and cheapest way
12:28To naturally supercharge your soil
12:30Is to make your own compost
12:32With your food scraps and garden clippings
12:35It's ready when it gets this beautiful
12:39Crumbly texture
12:41And a nice earthy aroma to it
12:44Compost is packed full of organisms that give your soil a massive boost
12:50It not only adds good bacteria and microbes to your soil
12:54It also provides a home and food for them
12:57As all those microscopic little organisms get to work
13:00Breaking down organic matter
13:02They're also making nutrients more available for plants to take up
13:07This compost has been built over about six months
13:12By adding a ratio of around 40% green materials to 60% brown materials
13:20Now, green materials are things like your food scraps or garden clippings
13:26They're full of nitrogen
13:28Brown materials are things like cardboard, leaves and sawdust
13:35They're full of carbon
13:37Too much green material and it'll become wet and stinky
13:42Too much brown and it'll become dry and won't break down
13:46If you're struggling to find enough brown material in your garden
13:52Try putting a container of sawdust next to your compost bin
13:56And adding a scoop every time you add some green
13:59Make sure you've got at least two compost bins
14:03So you can keep adding to one
14:05While the other can be left to rest and break down
14:09Whenever you're starting a fresh compost pile
14:12Begin by adding a shovelful of finished compost
14:15It's a super boost of microbes and worm eggs
14:19To get your new pile going
14:21Worm castings is the somewhat euphemistic word for worm poo
14:27So what happens in a worm farm like this
14:30Is you put your food scraps in
14:32The worms eat it and when it passes through them
14:35They leave behind this stuff
14:38Worm castings
14:40Now, if you don't have space for a worm farm
14:43Or you might not even have space for a compost bin
14:47You can always buy worm castings and compost from your local nursery or garden centre
14:52Worm castings and compost both improve the soil structure and help with water retention
14:59Worm castings are full of an incredibly diverse mix of microbes and good bacteria
15:05As well as mycorrhizal fungi
15:08The tiny threads can extend the reach of plant roots
15:11And make it easier for them to take up water and nutrients
15:15Worm castings are also a great source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
15:20All things your plants need
15:26Pelletised chicken manure is a natural fertiliser made from composted chicken poo
15:32Now if you've got chickens at home
15:34You can compost their poo yourself
15:36If not, it's available in ready to use bags
15:40The key is that the pellets break down slowly
15:44Releasing the nutrients gradually
15:47Pelletised chicken manure also improves soil structure
15:51But the main reason to add it is because it's high in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
15:57Leafy greens and veggies need all these things
16:00So this is a really important addition
16:03If you can stomach it, blood and bone is a classic organic fertiliser
16:08The blood component contains slow-release nitrogen
16:12And the bone is full of calcium and phosphorus
16:16Nitrogen supports leafy growth
16:19And the phosphorus will help the growth of strong roots and healthy flowers and fruit
16:24I've got a couple of buckets of compost and a decent handful of each of the others
16:30I've given them a good mix
16:33And now they're ready to add to this raised garden bed
16:36This quantity will do about one square metre of soil
16:41And to protect it, always add some mulch
16:44To help keep the soil moist and slow down weeds
16:48And did you know that snow peas are also soil superheroes
16:53Their roots make the soil crumbly and loose for other crops to follow
16:58Especially leafy greens
17:01Snow peas are legumes
17:03And they add atmospheric nitrogen to the soil
17:06Through a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria on their roots
17:11When their roots are left in the soil
17:14They decompose and release the nitrogen
17:16Nature has plenty of soil superchargers raring to go
17:22Your veggies are as hungry for nutrients as you are
17:26So in between crops, be sure to feed your soil with all the good stuff
17:32What do you look for when you come to any garden show?
17:42What's the first thing you head for?
17:44For me it's the plants
17:46There's so much variety
17:48We've got different growers in different states
17:50And so everyone, I mean different climates
17:52So just to see what is available
17:54And then what I can go home with really
17:56How big's the bag?
17:58Empty bag
17:58I always love that
17:59Like it's right
18:00Like if you go straight to the plants in any place
18:03You've been all around the world, Jane
18:05You can get to know that place
18:06You know, what the climate's like
18:08You know, what the culture might be like
18:10Are they growing lots of food?
18:11It's such a window into people's world
18:13And it's good to see what's flavour of the month if you like
18:17You know, here there's lots of native plants
18:19Which are really taking off
18:20You know, it's great
18:21And what do you love to see?
18:23I think a little bit like Jane
18:25I love to be amongst lots of people
18:27Who are excited about gardening
18:29And I love that this gives an opportunity
18:31For people who are normally squirrelling away
18:32In their backyard
18:33Down by the compost by themselves
18:36To meet other gardeners
18:38And they might stand and look at a show garden
18:40And stand next to a stranger
18:42And have a conversation about what it is
18:43That they really love about it
18:44And I just think it's such a great opportunity for that
18:47I mean, we're really with our people
18:49That's exactly right
18:51Some plants seem destined to be just out of reach
19:01For the home gardener
19:02A good example is the sturt desert pea
19:05Stunning, iconic flowers
19:08That leap out and say
19:10This is Australia
19:12Tammy's tracked down an expert
19:14With all the insider tips you'll ever need
19:18The sturt desert pea
19:28With its unusual flowers
19:29Attracts everyone from florists to gardeners
19:32But they can be notoriously difficult to grow
19:35Especially in more humid and temperate climates
19:38Hey Jonathan
19:40How are you going Tammy?
19:41Good to meet you
19:41Love to meet you
19:43I'm getting top tips from Jonathan Lidbetter
19:46At a native flower farm
19:47On New South Wales' central coast
19:49He has years of experience
19:51Growing desert peas for the Sydney market
19:53We sell whole stems and whole plants
19:56And sometimes these flowers can be used in big display events
20:02Like in the opera house or in movie sets or things like that
20:06They naturally occur in the dry arid centre of Australia
20:09Pretty well in all Australian states except Victoria
20:13Where annual rainfall varies between about 250 millimetres to 500 millimetres a year
20:18Despite them growing across some of the harshest climates in Australia
20:23They actually prefer that to growing in our very high humidity
20:27Here on the east coast
20:29The high humidity means that they're prone to infection with foliage diseases such as botrytis
20:35And that's one of our biggest challenges growing it here
20:39We have chosen now to purely grow it as a summer crop
20:42Because in these open structures we can't grow it 12 months of the year without too many significant problems
20:49Right
20:50So really it's about understanding the climate that you're going to try grow these in
20:54Yeah, to give yourself the best chance
20:56And you're treating it as an annual
20:58Sturt desert pea seed can be sourced from nurseries or suppliers online
21:02Jonathan uses seed collected from their own seed pods
21:06Seed is incredibly variable in how viable it is when you seem to get it
21:11So if we have our own seed we actually know what's going on
21:14So does anything special need to happen to the seeds before we sow them?
21:18Well Sturt desert pea are a legume in the family Fabaceae
21:21So they have a hard seed coat and that needs to be softened before they can germinate
21:26So it acts as a form of dormancy that means that they can last a long time
21:31Out in the wild until the right conditions come along
21:34And the process of scarification which is softening the seed coat
21:37What would you normally do?
21:38Well there's different ways you can use a scalpel or a sharp knife to take a little
21:42bit of the seed coat off you could use a bit of sandpaper a bit of rubbing
21:46Or at the moment we're using hydrogen peroxide
21:49Why hydrogen peroxide?
21:50I use it as a soak prior to sowing
21:53Hydrogen peroxide can actually surface scarify because it oxidizes the seed coat
22:00Not removing but softening to allow water to permeate
22:04It can also act as a bit of a surface sterilant to kill any organisms that might be on the surface of the seed
22:11And to make the solution Jonathan is using 30 millilitres of hydrogen peroxide
22:16Diluted with about 160 millilitres of water
22:19Next adding a couple of drops of detergent
22:24This helps break down the surface barrier on the seed and ensures the seed gets fully wet
22:29And in full contact with the hydrogen peroxide
22:37Give them a good shake you can see that they start off they're all sinking
22:41Which is a good sign that that's your normal assessment of a seed
22:45I can actually watch its effect on the seed and whether the seed float
22:49And you can see the air bubbles coming out of them and whether they swell
22:53It's actually fun to watch it's quite therapeutic
22:57Whilst Jonathan is still experimenting with this method
23:00He's found about half an hour to three quarters of an hour is the sweet spot
23:04If left to soak too long or the solution is too strong that can kill the seed
23:09They segregate into floaters and sinkers and so the floaters that lift at this point will germinate about 80%
23:18And the sinkers will only germinate about 20%
23:21They may germinate down the track
23:24But I'm always in a hurry
23:27There's no time to wait
23:29There's no time to wait in a commercial operation
23:33The seeds are transferred to a fine mesh bag and the solution is disposed of responsibly
23:39Then it's time to rinse the seeds a couple of times in water
23:45The seed are getting softer so you've got to be a little bit careful
23:52And the frothing is largely just the detergent
23:55You can see there the difference between the ones that
23:59are swollen and haven't taken on any water
24:02Here you can see the ones that are clearly obviously expanding and
24:06starting to hydrate in preparation for germination
24:10The seed raising mix that Jonathan uses is lightly sieved
24:13one part native potting mix to four parts fine perlite
24:17Just placing on the surface you can see where you've been
24:19Sometimes it's easier with a paint brush to pick them up
24:22Then less likely to damage them
24:25Then you've got to be careful with the forceps you don't
24:28Squeeze them too hard
24:29Squeeze them, yep
24:32Then lightly cover the mix and water them in
24:36The seeds stay in the tray for a week or so
24:38And they're kept moist in a protected spot
24:43Once they germinate they're potted on into tube stock
24:45And so I'm just using this little stick as a dibbling stick to try and
24:52Carefully
24:55Extract this and put it in the hole with as little root disturbance as possible
25:00And yeah, so that's how we do it
25:05You can just see that the roots there
25:06Yeah, they're quite long already
25:08Yeah, they've already quite developed
25:10So how long do they stay in these pots for?
25:13Well, they stay in here for about six to ten weeks depending on how fast they're growing
25:17And so for example this one's been in here eight weeks
25:21And you can see the root development
25:24Wow, it's really holding the potting mix together
25:26Yeah, once the roots are strong enough we'll pot them straight up into a 10 litre pot
25:31Which is nice and deep at about 30 centimetres
25:33Yeah
25:33And they'll stay in that until they finish their life
25:38And another tip because they're prone to some root diseases good hygiene is a must
25:44Use a clean water supply potting mix and pots at every stage from babies to beautiful blooms
25:51Once they're in their pots do you then apply a stone based mulch on top?
25:55Yeah, we're looking for something to try and keep the leaves dry and the surface of the pot dry
26:00In this case we're using a leka ball which is an expanded clay ball
26:05It's very light, very easy to handle and it helps keep the leaves dry
26:09So when we're watering we're actually using a dripper like this which puts it down into the soil
26:18It's also feeding the plant because we're running liquid feed through there as well
26:21Because they're quite hungry and thirsty
26:23Right
26:25And I mean they require a bit to keep them going
26:29Yeah, are you up for the challenge?
26:32Are you willing to give it a crack?
26:34I think so
26:40I've grown a lot of plants but nothing like this quirky character
26:45And I've come prepared
26:46I've brought with me a free draining mix, basket and seeds
26:50And I'm picking Jonathan's expert brain
26:52So this is my homemade potty mix
26:55It's made up of two parts potty mix to one part coarse sand and one part scoria
27:00And I know yours is a seed raising mix because then you plan to transplant them
27:04But I want to grow it in this hanging basket
27:06Well this could be better than our normal mix that we grow in because we just try and do everything
27:11A standard way with the same mix to keep things simple
27:15Yeah
27:15But so yeah and I think it should be good
27:17There you go have the stool and
27:19Get comfy
27:20Yeah get comfy and it's
27:22It's all yours
27:23So how many do you think I should put in here?
27:26Well
27:27You don't know how many are going to germinate
27:29But if you use the swollen ones maybe if you put about five in there
27:31Then prick out to two or three of the best when they grow to see how they go
27:35And then I'll just lightly cover
27:44Yeah just sprinkle a little bit of soil over the top
27:47Can't even see where they put them
27:48Yeah
27:49They blend in so well
27:51So now what next best thing I can do for my seeds
27:54Well the seeds have got to stay moist
27:57So a nice protected spot that's reasonably warm
28:00And then when they start to emerge maybe dappled light
28:03It'd be good to get them going
28:05And once they come up a bit you might put a gravel mulch under the leaves
28:09To stop the leaves getting too wet when you water them
28:12And it reflects a little bit of heat up into the plant
28:15Yeah
28:15Maybe under cover to keep them out of direct rain
28:19What about my hanging basket?
28:21Is this the good size to establish them in or to grow?
28:25Depth is your friend so the deeper the pot the better
28:28Because it keeps it drier on the surface
28:31That depth isn't too bad
28:32And there's plenty of room for the roots to expand
28:35Yep
28:35Perfect
28:36Well good luck
28:37Well I've got my green thumbs crossed
28:42Hopefully I'll be harvesting a bunch of desert pea blooms sometime soon
28:47Still to come on Gardening Australia
28:54Millie turns on the waterworks
28:58We meet a sculptor recasting the natural world
29:02And we've got all your jobs for the weekend
29:05When you think of public spaces cemeteries don't automatically come to mind
29:22However when the Melbourne General Cemetery opened back in the 1850s
29:27It was designed as a large public park
29:30And visitors would come to explore the trees, the winding paths and the grassy areas
29:36Fast forward to around 170 years later
29:39And the 43 hectare site is jam-packed with around 300,000 recorded burials
29:47Multiple mausoleums
29:49A prime minister's memorial garden
29:51And even a grotto in honour of Elvis
29:54This space is almost at the end of its working life as a cemetery
30:02There's only a handful of graves left in this place
30:05And there's a waiting list for those
30:06But we've got an obligation to maintain this site into perpetuity
30:09Helen Tewton is the Horticulture Assets Manager at Southern Melbourne Cemeteries Trust
30:16Which oversees several cemeteries in Melbourne
30:19Including this one, the Melbourne General Cemetery
30:24She also used to be a researcher on Gardening Australia
30:27But left to take up this new challenge
30:29Creating a beautiful, biodiverse landscape in an historical site
30:35You have to be respectful of what has been here in the past
30:39Yeah
30:40How do you go about that?
30:41We looked at old flora studies that have been done on this site
30:45But we also looked at what the landscape would have been before this site was a cemetery
30:50And we know it was a grassy woodland
30:53We looked at what plants are appropriate for this site
30:56Regenerating the grassland environment that would have been here previously
30:59So how did the project get started?
31:08What happened here first of all?
31:10The way this site was being managed was unsustainable in the long term
31:14So we were using a lot of herbicide
31:17A lot of resources to just keep the weeds down
31:20And there's no environmental benefit in any of that
31:23So for us we wanted to look at a way that we could reduce or get rid of our herbicide
31:29Management but also turn these really barren areas of the site that were prone to run off
31:35That were really unappealing very, very hot into something more meaningful
31:41And that was how we came up with Project Cultivate
31:46This is pretty rubbishy soil
31:48So how did you get started?
31:50We didn't really have the ability to do soil improvement
31:54No
31:54We didn't want to import soil
31:55Because of the size and the scale of the area that we're working through
31:59The easiest thing for us to do was install mulch
32:03All of the mulch was spread by hand because of the headstones
32:06Because of the possibility of damage
32:09All up by the time this project finished
32:11We would have put in 5,600 cubic metres of mulch
32:14We saw within a month or two of installing that mulch how quickly the soil had improved
32:22It had worms, the colour had changed
32:24And the change in that soil was actually quite dramatic
32:27Yeah
32:27Cemetery itself is 101 acres and the area that we've worked through with this project so far is around 30
32:34All up it'll be about 56 acres when we're done
32:37So the only areas we've planted on here are unmarked graves
32:41We don't want to plant on people's monuments unless they specifically ask us to
32:45And we have had some specifically ask us to because they just love what we're doing
32:49Oh I think it's fantastic
32:50Yes
32:50That's really good
32:51Yeah
32:57It's lovely when these grasses are just waving in the breeze
33:00Beautiful isn't it
33:01It just brings movement to something that's so static
33:04And you know some of the grasses that we've got out here like our kangaroo grass
33:08It's really important to the space
33:10They're quite beautiful colour wise
33:12And they'll drop their seed
33:13And we're starting to see the little babies
33:16Coming up
33:16Come up that sort of second generation already
33:18But the kangaroo grass would have dominated
33:21This environment before it was a cemetery anyway
33:23And what's this one?
33:24That's one of our tussock grasses
33:26So it's one of our poa species
33:27We have two poa species out here
33:29Because it's been proven to be really an important plant for a lot of beneficial insects and native insects
33:39Isn't this a lovely little area
33:41Beautiful isn't it
33:43They are really sensational
33:44Oh they're beautiful aren't they
33:45They're golden billy buttons
33:46They're one of the real success stories in terms of you know some of our understory planting
33:53So while the grass is really dominant here we have to introduce that sort of diversity
33:58Look the bees love it and the pollinators and the hoverflies just come in and love it
34:02But also the people come in and love it
34:04You know we planted all the way along the edge of the pathway here
34:07And you know I think the pops of colour that we get from this yellow
34:10They really nicely accent some of the other great pieces of colour that we've got in here
34:15People underestimate grasslands and I think they're traditionally sort of undervalued
34:18And you know once upon a time
34:21Grasslands in Victoria ran all the way from sort of the mouth of the Yarra River
34:25Just about all the way down to the border with South Australia
34:29And there's now less than three percent of those environments left
34:32So for us being able to recreate a threatened environment like that
34:36But also teach people about the value of these space so that they just don't walk past and say
34:40Oh it's a bit weedy or why don't you cut the grass
34:44Being able to invite them in and have a look and say hey but look at the wildflowers
34:47Look at the insects that are using this space
34:50Look at the hoverflies look at the birds that are flitting in and out
35:06This is a very different little area
35:10It's one of the older Church of England areas here and was planted less than 12 months ago
35:16And the way it's established has been quite mind-blowing under the cypress but also
35:22There's no irrigation we haven't watered anything
35:25In here and you get these beautiful
35:27Plume grasses and the wallaby grasses and the diapers and these gorgeous
35:32Cephalums with absolutely no irrigation isn't that amazing yeah
35:36We didn't expect this area to do as well as it has because it is a little bit challenging
35:40But it's absolutely thriving that's it's now one of my favorite spots in the whole cemetery
35:45I just love it in here
35:47I think this area really
35:50Talks about project cultivate and what we're trying to do here where we're we're not taking away from the cemetery
35:55We're adding to it this sort of beautiful mix of the old and the traditional or cemetery
35:59traditional with the cypress and the new with the grasslands underneath
36:09How many indigenous plants would you have struck into the ground?
36:13So far it's a quarter of a million so it's 250 000 so far and that's across the area of the site
36:19When this project's done by the end of sort of 2025 it'll be half a million
36:24Half a million?
36:25Half a million yeah so this area alone which is actually a bit bigger than
36:29Than it looks took 80 000 plants yeah it's a lot of plants but we wanted to make it diverse but also to suppress those weeds
36:43You know we're demystifying cemeteries and saying no hey we want you to come in and have a look
36:47It feels like the sort of project that you maybe only get a chance to do once in a lifetime
36:53But the people in 50 to 100 years just like these cypress will come in and say hey that was a really good idea
36:59That was that was great and you know for me
37:02This area sort of brings all of that together and it just talks about the project
37:05I love hand watering it gives me a great opportunity
37:19To observe what's really happening in the garden every single day
37:23But the truth is i'm getting busier and it is getting hotter and drier and so today
37:27I want to put in a drip system to help me water my garden more efficiently and more effectively
37:37Now a lot of people are a bit intimidated by irrigation but it can be quite simple
37:42The first thing you need to know is how much water you have to work with
37:49Time how long it takes to fill a bucket this is a 10 litre bucket and it took about 15 seconds to fill
37:55Now in a 60 second minute you get four lots of 15 so that means i get four buckets per minute of water 40 litres
38:05Now in an hour there are 60 minutes so 40 times 60 gives me my total amount of water that i have to use
38:16Just like everything else in the garden it'll always be most effective when you've got a plan
38:20So once you've got your flow rate you can look at the areas that you want to water
38:25And ensure you've got enough supply from that water source to cover what you need
38:32I've drawn a mud map of the seven beds that i want the system to water
38:36Each is about five metres long by about a metre wide
38:39Now with this information plus your flow rate you can go and get some help from an expert to make a plan
38:45And if you want some more information you can hit up our website
38:53You don't need many extra tools to do a job like this in fact my secateurs
38:57do most of them but a trenching shovel will help so much and a thermos is a great little bit of kit
39:04Now you can see we've got this great trench here in winter it actually acts like a really effective drain for too much rain
39:15But in summer and those warmer months it gives an opportunity to use it for things like this
39:21So i've run a feeder pipe from the water source all the way along the edge of each of the gardens
39:27And it's a large pipe it's 19 millimetres which means we're going to maintain as much water flow as we can
39:33All the way down the slope
39:35While the garden is essentially one large area it is on a gentle slope
39:40So i've decided to divide it into two separate watering areas
39:45The top of the slope dries out much more quickly so i'm going to put that on a separate line
39:49To these lower beds which hold the moisture for much longer
39:53I'm going to water them as a group but at times we're going to have different needs in individual beds
39:58Like this bed when you sow out some seeds for those first few weeks while they germinate and get established
40:04It's difficult for them to actually reach the water from a dripper
40:07So top watering is going to be much more effective
40:11So each of the beds of course has its own feed line and this is where the drip irrigation will join
40:16I'm going to attach it to this feeder pipe and of course i've put a tap on every single bed
40:21So if i need to i can switch it off
40:24Now the next step is to attach the manifold to that feeder pipe so i'm just going to line it up
40:30About where it's going to sit in the bed and then cut that pipe
40:36Next thing i'm going to fit the tea which goes from that 19 mill feeder pipe down to the smaller size for the drip
40:42Now i've got to attach the manifold that's going to feed my drip to that tea
40:46Now this is where a little bit of hot water can go a long way if you're doing lots of joins
40:51Dipping that pipe in will soften it up and make it much easier to join
40:55Now i've just got to lay that pipe out in the bed
41:09So you can see that i'm using a pipe that actually has inbuilt drippers they're pressure regulated
41:23Which means that they'll let the same amount of water two litres from each of those drippers out
41:28And i've spaced the pipe a little bit closer than recommended because i want to get a really even wet across the bed
41:35It'll mean i run it for a shorter period but i'll get great delivery of water for every crop that i grow
41:43Now for connecting your water source your tap or your tank to your irrigation system
41:47Now i'm going to keep it really simple but you can get far more complicated and far more automated than this
41:54This is just the two feeder pipes that are coming out of the ground here
41:57They run across the path and down to the garden
42:00And i've installed a filter in each to stop any unnecessary stuff ending up in my drip system
42:05And also i've put a pressure reducing valve at the top
42:08That'll mean if that water pressure does fluctuate go much higher it won't overload that system
42:14I'm also going to connect up a simple two outlet tap timer
42:18And that means i'll be able to set each of those areas to water on different days for different lengths of time as they need it
42:24The first time you fire up the system leave everything open and let the water flow because it'll flush out any dirt or debris
42:33That's gotten in there and i like to leave the ends open some people join it as a box
42:39But i leave each and every one open and instead of putting a cap on it
42:43I just use a simple technique that means i can open it any time i want
42:47I just clamp it together just kick the hose we all know what
42:51What a blockage that can cause so that means that any time that i need to flush this line
42:57If i accidentally put a hole in it and have to repair it i can just take the end off and flush it clean
43:08A little bit of mulch of course it's got to be how you finish every gardening australia story
43:13But it's also going to help to keep that valuable moisture in the soil
43:17And i won't lie to you i find irrigation a little bit annoying and i have really resisted doing this job
43:23But i'm sure it's going to pay dividends watering at the roots it keeps water off the foliage it prevents disease
43:29And it's a really efficient way to do it
43:32It's also going to give me a little bit of freedom to go away and leave my lettuce for the weekend
43:37If i so desire so this bit of work i think is going to pay huge dividends for our little garden
43:44I love it when art can make you look at the world a little differently
43:55And when that art is looking at plants
43:59Even better our next story is with a sculptor who's breaking the mold combining plants with art
44:14One of the things that's always fascinated me since i was a little boy was
44:30How things fit together and the mechanics of things and the way we interact with the stuff around us
44:36My name is jason waterhouse i'm a sculptor fabricator a bit of a gallerist as well
44:48And i'm out here today at a factory in sunshine in the western suburbs melbourne
44:53We do all sorts of sculpture fabrication so everything from steel fabrication right through to bronze casting
45:05And all sorts of approaches to making artworks
45:11About 10 years ago i made my first plant work and i've been slowly making more and more plant-based works ever since
45:19There's an overarching theme in my work where things are bending or mutating or shifting in these kind of impossible ways
45:33I have this existing object that people can relate to so you you create a connection with the viewer
45:40But then i kind of manipulate them and change them in a way that it becomes
45:45It becomes this possible thing that's completely impossible and i love to think that that nature will you know conquer
45:55In recent times the cotyledon's been popping up lots in my artwork i think just it's it's almost a convenience thing
46:01It's sort of like my gateway to work and there's there's all these planted out and they cast beautifully as well
46:08What i'm doing is direct investing a cotyledon for bronze casting
46:12So here we use a process called lost wax which is where you create an object out of wax or in this case a combustible material
46:22We put a ceramic mould around it which we can then pop in the kiln
46:27Through the firing it burns the object out creating this void if you like so there's this magical moment where
46:34The sculpture is space and time you know it's just air
46:37And then we take that air and we fill it full of bronze molten bronze which is at about 1200 degrees
46:46From that point it's a waste mould so we water blast off the ceramic from the bronze revealing the piece
46:53Hopefully it's a perfect cast and from there we need to then cut all those pipes and airs off the work
47:00So it goes back to the original object in this case the succulent and here it is in its final post cast finish
47:09So we've cleaned all the surfaces on it and then um i'll be painting the succulent back to that sort of powdery white blue that they are naturally
47:19We're really passionate about eco ideas and green spaces we have a huge solar array on the roof
47:29We collect all our water we have a reed bed which recycles our grey water as well
47:35Oh and um these uh were the live to air satellite dishes from the abc that we've used for planters
47:41And then we've built this beautiful green space down the northern side of the factory which we grow our veggies in through summer and winter
47:50We also have an orchard and even a beehive has become this beautiful haven for birds
47:55It's become a haven for us as well at lunchtime and it creates this lovely shield from the the greater wasteland that is the urban environment here
48:03As well as my own art i am in this very privileged position where i get to make artworks on behalf of artists who don't
48:17Necessarily have the scope to do it in their own studio so that tends to be large-scale works like public artworks or museum works
48:25We recently were fortunate enough to create the new indigenous smoking ceremony dish for city square in melbourne
48:33And yet to be revealed the project was initiated with green shoot and the concept was dictated by auntie joy murphy wanden
48:43Auntie joy was very passionate about speaking to the manna gums and so auntie joy wanted me to sculpt manna gum leaves and flowers
48:51But at all the different stage of flowering and then the bottom plane of the work swings out and then reveals a second sculpt
48:59Which is a sort of more graphic interpretation of the the manna gum flower
49:05And then the person who is leading the ceremony can then burn the leaves and go through the welcome to country or whatever the event may be
49:14This piece here is for the new anzac station mayna did the design and then i hand sculpted a series of 11 poppies thin wax
49:32Like all things that we do here. It's they're always a first time thing
49:37So when I was approached to do poppies, I quickly visited a friend's garden and had a good look at those
49:43And what I learnt was that they tend to have four petals or on the the type of poppies that relate to the shrine
49:50We then put them through the lost wax casting process and
49:55Here they are straight out of the cast so these haven't been retouched or anything yet except for one of them
50:01But I get the the fun bit of putting all the information in and creating the textures to try to create a really beautiful
50:09Object that's going to be a new gateway to the shrine
50:15I'm really interested in this idea of
50:18The human sort of element in the natural world and and that sort of push-pull between the built environment and the natural environment as well
50:27I
50:30Spent a lot of time in a factory in sunshine and I really i'm yearning a little bit to be in my home
50:38Friday's a nice day because I get to return home to glenlion and um you know coming down the valley
50:44You know into the property and the air is clear and you know
50:47I get to hear the river and if it's the right end of the season and it's just it's just nice to be home
50:57I live on a beautiful bush property with my partner Magali
51:02We've been there for 19 years and raised our three children there
51:07What what is the other stuff that's in the tree you see what it's a type of mistletoe
51:11It's actually native
51:14The lolly gobble I don't know its real name but dad's always called it lolly gobble
51:18That would be right
51:20My father bought this property in 1984 when I was about eight years old
51:25We found this place with the incredible river although it was completely overgrown with noxious weeds
51:30This area where I'm sitting was an impenetrable paddock of gorse
51:34You couldn't get to the river here, but um over many decades
51:38We've slowly cleaned the place up and re-vegetated huge areas and brought in native grasses again
51:44And it's been one hell of a journey
51:46This big old managum here behind me is one of my favourites on the property
51:53It's been here since I was a boy and all the little little trees around it the now big trees
51:58I've watched grow from seedlings
52:01It was this tree that supplied the branch for the work slump
52:04You can see the broken off in the fork there a mulch truck came through and knocked it down
52:10I'm like there it is. There's my branch for this artwork
52:15And then what I had to do was collage from different branches and join each piece
52:20So then they created the form and then I recarved sections and repainted sections
52:25And presented the actual managum branch, you know sitting against a wall and in a state of kind of exhaustion
52:31When you look at the work I've produced it seems quite abstract
52:37But it's strangely autobiographical because each work maps where I'm at at the time
52:43So slump is very much about um me being pretty exhausted
52:49Like I'm on the I've been working incredibly hard for quite some time
52:53And the work I really wanted to speak to a certain tiredness but hold a beauty within that
53:01I feel so incredibly lucky to have somewhere where I feel such deep roots and connection to the place I live
53:09Like it really is my home and I feel really privileged to be there
53:12And I think the managums coming up in my work are a bit of a celebration of that
53:17This place for me is is everything. It's it's it's where I belong and I thank every day for it
53:31How's your gardening to-do list looking a little light on well, I've got just the thing your jobs for the weekend
53:48In cool temperate gardens group potted plants together over summer
53:52Clustered containers are less exposed to the elements and don't dry out as quickly and it's less work when you water
53:59If you've got some space in the sun get another round of capsicums in
54:05Varieties like Padron mini sweet and Antohe Romanian produce smashing small fruits that crop and ripen quickly
54:15Got a tricky shady spot where nothing seems to grow?
54:18Try a tough as boots silver spur flower
54:21Plectranthus Argentatus
54:23The silvery foliage of this sprawling native shrub brightens a darker area and they do particularly well under eucalypts
54:33Warm-temperate gardeners ramp up your rockery with a grouping of grass trigger plants
54:39Stelidium graminifolium
54:42Blooming now the showy pink flowers of these tough tufting natives
54:47Pollinate by an amazing explosive action
54:50Plants with grey foliage are hardy and provide perfect colour and contrast
54:56So it's time to go grey in the garden
54:58Some silver stunners include saltbushes, senecio, phlomus and stachys, the lamb's ears
55:06Up your indoor plant game with a native ginger, Alpinea cerulea
55:11Fantastic in low light the purple tinge foliage pops while the edible small white flowers and rhizome have a mild ginger taste
55:23In subtropical gardens give tired looking tomatoes a tidy up
55:28Removing shaded leaves and foliage from the centre of the plants increases airflow
55:34Keeping damaging diseases at bay and your toms ticking
55:39Have a good look at citrus camellias and gardenias for signs of magnesium deficiency
55:45Yellow older leaves with a deep green V at the base
55:49If the signs are there treat plants with a foliar spray of magnesium chelates
55:56Summer stressed cycads are susceptible to scale infestations
56:00So water them deeply each fortnight, give them a feed of organic fertiliser and treat any sign of scale with white oil
56:09Tropical gardeners give your zucchini and pumpkins a hand with pollination
56:13Gently moving pollen from male to female flowers
56:18Keep those salads spinning by succession planting quick-growing summer greens
56:22Mustard, sorrel, tatsoi and silverbeet can be sown at three weekly intervals for continuous cropping
56:31Look out for sap sucking spider mites on indoor plants
56:36Identifiable by their fine webs
56:38They hide on the underside of leaves and hate getting wet
56:42So give them a good blast with the hose
56:44In arid gardens basil is the best versatile vigorous tough and tasty
56:51Try Thai genovese or cinnamon basil for a world of wonderful flavors
56:58Mouth-watering mediterraneans like oregano marjoram thyme and sage are wonderful water wise herbs and are perfect for pots
57:08Next time you're spreading some mulch around the garden remember to spread some around the tops of your pots and containers
57:16This slows water loss suppresses weeds and helps plants manage the heat
57:23Let us know what you get up to on our GA social pages
57:32Well we're wrapping things up for another week
57:35We've got plenty lined up for next time
57:38Here's what's in store
57:42Perennials are all the rage at the moment but not all are suited to our climate
57:46I'll show you some that have a better chance of survival in our increasingly hot dry environments
57:53The warm weather is upon us so it's summer crop time at my place
57:58I'm exploring a farm growing one of the world's most celebrated and cultivated flowers
58:03This is the Peony
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