- 26 minutes ago
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:05Hey!
00:06Hi!
00:11Hey!
00:19Hey, honey.
00:22Hey!
00:25Hey!
00:27Hey!
00:28Hey!
00:33Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:36Summer means showtime in the garden.
00:39And we're full to the brim
00:41with all the inspiration,
00:43ideas and information
00:45you need to get
00:47your patch pumping.
00:49Here's what's in store.
00:52After a big rain event, I'm bringing my
00:55home garden back up to scratch
00:56with some new plants, some new soil
00:59and a new lease on life.
01:01It's summer and it's time
01:03to prune your fruit trees to keep them
01:04healthy and productive.
01:06And I'm going to show you how.
01:08We all love spending time in the garden,
01:10but there's one thing we don't
01:12necessarily want to come across
01:14and it's one of these
01:16fellas. A snake.
01:18But with a little bit of care
01:20and understanding, there's no reason
01:22why we all can't coexist
01:24together happily.
01:26And we meet a horticulturist
01:28dishing up some menu
01:30inspiration.
01:38I'm in Sophie's home state today,
01:41visiting the Cedars in Harndorf,
01:44a peaceful, historic house and garden.
01:47The cool climate of the Adelaide Hills
01:49lends itself to this style of garden.
01:53Now, if I said lush, balmy, colourful and tropical,
01:57Adelaide mightn't necessarily
01:59be the first place that comes to mind.
02:02Well, Sophie's checking out a garden
02:04that'll have you rethinking just what's
02:07possible in South Australia.
02:2115 kilometres south of central Adelaide
02:24is the coastal suburb of Seacliff.
02:26It's here that Stuart and Kinder now call home.
02:29They've created a colourful, eclectic,
02:32subtropical garden that's full of life.
02:35It's also a highly productive garden
02:37and they're growing food plants that connect them
02:40with their roots.
02:46Now, Kinder, this garden has an amazing tropical feel.
02:50How have you created that?
02:52We love travelling to tropical areas like Bali
02:55and we wanted to have this look in our garden.
02:59We tried to get the tropical plants with big leaves
03:02like the taro and I'm a little bit obsessed with them
03:04so we have nine different types of taro.
03:08We learned in Bali how to cook the leaves like spinach
03:12and the roots we can use them as potatoes.
03:15So that was really interesting to know.
03:18We love the look and we love that it's useful also for food.
03:23And you've got some of the ornamental gingers that look gorgeous.
03:26Yes, and the flowers are amazing and we have the cardamom also.
03:30Beautiful.
03:30Oh, I love the smell of that.
03:32Yeah, it's beautiful.
03:32Beautiful, yeah.
03:33Now you've also got cannas.
03:35Now these are a bit of an old-fashioned favourite.
03:37They are and they stay flowering nine months a year.
03:40It's amazing and it's a great food for all the butterflies and bees and all insects.
03:46So what sorts of butterflies do you get in your garden?
03:48So we have the blue butterflies, the small ones, and we have the skipper, also native ones,
03:54and the admiral and the painted lady.
03:58We try to get the feeding plants and breeding plants.
04:02So how have you done that?
04:03We have some grassy plants for the natives and the dichondra for the blue butterflies
04:08and some grass in the water for a different type of butterflies.
04:17Stuart migrated from California to Adelaide 31 years ago.
04:22Kinder was born in Syria and came to Adelaide 14 years ago to do her PhD
04:26and together they've been working on the garden for nine years.
04:32What was the property like when you came?
04:34Well, the front yard was a plastic lawn and then the back was full of overgrown natives
04:41and a kaikuya lawn throughout most of the back.
04:45And how did you decide what you wanted from the property?
04:49We wanted a garden full of butterflies and colours and beauty.
04:54I always had the vision of a pond system as the centrepiece
04:58and then to grow plants all along that with fish and butterflies and flowers.
05:07Stuart and Kinder hired renowned natural waterscape designer Patrick Handley
05:12to create a series of ponds connected with waterfalls.
05:20It's 17,000 litres with a large pond in the bottom.
05:25The water comes up through a biological filtration system
05:29and so the water is crystal clear when it comes out.
05:32It goes through one stream of a small pond to another stream with some waterfalls
05:37into the main pond and it recirculates about once an hour.
05:41And you're creating habitat and biodiversity.
05:43Absolutely.
05:44So we have frogs, we have dragonflies, fish, butterflies.
05:49We've had blue-tongued lizards in the springs.
05:53When people have a water feature, they're often concerned about mosquitoes breeding.
05:57How do you manage that?
05:58Because the water is circulating and flowing,
06:01mosquitoes don't live in flowing water.
06:04They need still water.
06:05But in addition to that, we have pygmy perch and Murray River rainbows
06:10that will eat whatever's available to them.
06:13One of the things about those fish, though, that's really important
06:16is because they're small, they don't eat frog sex.
06:19That's correct and that's why I got these fish,
06:22because we have spotted marsh frogs that also breed in here
06:25and we'll hear them croaking at night.
06:27What a wonderful ecosystem.
06:29Yeah, it feels like we're out in nature just walking in our backyard.
06:34I always had this vision and Kinda wasn't quite sure
06:38because I was going to rip up the entire backyard
06:42and put huge rocks in there.
06:44When I saw the rocks the first day, I was like, what are you doing?
06:49But once it was in place, you could see this is incredible.
06:53Do you have different roles in the garden?
06:56Who does most of the work?
06:57Well, I find it to be actually low maintenance
06:59because Kinda does all the work.
07:02But...
07:03And I pay for everything.
07:05I have different...
07:07I am the war wearer.
07:10Kinder and Stuart have seamlessly combined
07:12an attractive subtropical feeling garden
07:15with a productive patch.
07:18See, this is my space.
07:20So this is your domain.
07:22This is my kingdom.
07:23Wow!
07:23And we have a wall between me and my husband.
07:26Okay.
07:27So he doesn't start pinching your ground space.
07:29I love it.
07:31So what are you growing here?
07:32So we have tomato, cucumber, some turmeric, spinach, onion,
07:39and some Syrian zucchini.
07:41I was so excited to find it in the digger's club.
07:44So what's a Syrian zucchini?
07:45It's similar to the Australian zucchini
07:49where just the colour is light green
07:51and taste is a bit different.
07:53And how would you use it?
07:54The traditional way is to hollow it
07:56and stuff it with rice or meat.
07:59You've also got a bit of a project
08:00that you're interested in with your tomatoes.
08:03Oh, yes.
08:04So we want to craft a tomato and eggplant on a devil plant.
08:09And then we have like a tree,
08:11all year long eggplant and tomato,
08:13which is my favourite food.
08:15And you're also growing a special eggplant
08:18that reminds you of home.
08:19Yes.
08:20So I have what you call here slim gem
08:22and also the pickling eggplants we use in pickling.
08:26How important was it for you to find varieties of vegetables
08:31that were from your home country?
08:33Oh, it was very important
08:35because for the first few years I couldn't see them here
08:38and I would wait to travel back to Syria
08:41and wait for my mum's cooking.
08:43But then when I discovered I can just plant them here,
08:46it was just an amazing discovery
08:48and it connected me to home and connected me to Australia.
08:54Yeah, I believe gardening has a brilliant grounding effect
08:58for a person from a foreign background.
09:01When did you get into gardening?
09:03When I moved to Australia, I was very isolated.
09:07And then one day somebody told me about Marino Community Garden.
09:10And just talking about plants, learning how to prepare soil,
09:14was an amazing experience.
09:16And it's beautiful connecting to the community and feeling at home.
09:26We do have different interests.
09:29I'm really into the pond and plant identification.
09:32Kinda's amazing with nurturing and caring for plants.
09:37And is there always harmony in ideas?
09:40Always.
09:43Kinda said we should do something in the gully to make it useful land
09:48and she wanted to build terraces so I just do what I'm told.
09:53I just gave him, in the Valentine's Day, a big pile of soil behind his car
10:00and he can't move his car until he finishes the soil.
10:04And that's how we started the terrace project.
10:09It's a lot bigger than it appears when you first come in.
10:13Yeah, there's probably a couple hundred square metres here that was wasted space.
10:20So what was here?
10:21There were a lot of weeds, very steep.
10:23We had these huge century plants that are very thorny.
10:27And then I realised they have very shallow roots
10:30and I could just pickaxe them out and just roll them down the hill.
10:33We started at the very bottom.
10:35We had to first build steps so we could actually get to the bottom.
10:38I wheelbarrowed, with the help of backpackers,
10:4170 cubic metres of soil from the driveway to here and dumped it down.
10:46Oh, my goodness.
10:47And how long did that whole process take?
10:49About two years and nearly killed me.
10:53But this has now given you a whole area to put productive fruit trees in.
10:58Absolutely.
10:58I would estimate, you know, maybe an extra 300 square metres of usable land
11:04and now very productive with fruit trees, apple, peach, apricot, almond, persimmon, plum, pear.
11:14And then we have two rows where we have shade house for avocado and mango.
11:21And we're growing banana in the gully area along with watermelon and pumpkin, which spread out.
11:29We're growing up.
11:31We're growing up.
11:32We're growing up.
11:33Kinder and Stuart have done an extraordinary job of creating their garden
11:36in a relatively short period of time.
11:40For me, it's like almost everyday adventure and discovering new plants that they can do.
11:46And it's beautiful.
11:48I love gardening.
11:49So what's next?
11:51The terrace is the last project, I believe, and just like adding another to a terrace.
11:56I have to ask my cardiologist about that.
12:08What's a beneficial plant for the veggie patch?
12:11Check out Mexican marigold Tagetes lemoni, flower in the cooler months and into spring
12:16and attracting the pollinators.
12:18Also, the roots of this plant can help repel soil nematodes, while the aromatic foliage
12:24can repel and confuse a range of airborne pests, including carrot fly, white butterfly
12:29and pumpkin beetles.
12:31And recent research has shown that marigolds are particularly useful for repelling whitefly
12:36from your tomato patch.
12:38You can also plant in various spots around the garden.
12:41And when you prune it, dig the prunings into the soil.
12:44Keep the soil moist and as the prunings rot, they'll keep nematodes away.
12:48A supreme little plant.
12:50What's wrong with my eggplant leaves?
12:52Mottled eggplant leaves can be a sign of spider mite or lace bugs.
12:57This one had webbing under the leaves, a telltale sign of mites.
13:02They love hot, dry weather and will go for plants that may be struggling already with moisture stress.
13:08If it's just one or two leaves, cut them off and bin them.
13:11If it's spread further, hose down the plants, making sure to get both sides of the leaves
13:16and in amongst stems and new growth.
13:19A healthy, diverse garden without pesticides can also attract beneficial insects,
13:24which can help control pests.
13:27When is the best time to prune a mango?
13:29Well, as the tree is growing, the best place to prune it is once it's got beyond a metre high.
13:36By cutting it at this point, you create more branches to create a vase shape to the future tree.
13:43After that, you can remove dead wood and crossing rubbing branches at any time of the year.
13:49The next most important time is after you've harvested your fruit.
13:54By reducing the stems by 30 centimetres, you can keep it to a safe picking height
14:00and that pruning removes the most concentrated sources of disease.
14:05That way, you get trouble-free mangoes.
14:13Sometimes gardening plans can go a little off course.
14:18Summer doesn't just mean sunshine.
14:21When the weather throws you a curveball, think of it as an opportunity for a reset,
14:27to take a different approach.
14:29Clarence is working on his home garden and getting it back on track.
14:37Stormwater.
14:39When hundreds of millimetres of rain falls in a short period, it gets biblical.
14:45And even when it passes, the impact on your garden can be long-lasting.
14:51This is my home garden on Dharawal Country, home of the Wadi Wadi people.
14:56And after some really significant rain events, it's taken plenty of hours to bring it back to life.
15:01And there's still lots more to do.
15:04If my garden's going to flourish into the future, it means learning how to bring it back to its best.
15:10It's a garden I've designed that's devoted to native species.
15:14But as I've learned, not all of them like to be inundated.
15:20This grevillea just did not survive here.
15:28Some plants might like wet feet, but I might not like them.
15:32My next step is to weed out any staleways that have washed in with the stormwater.
15:37This is crocosmia, or copper tips.
15:39It's found itself right at home.
15:42The new natives I have in mind don't need the competition.
15:45So weeds, out you go.
15:51Now I'm getting to this just in time.
15:53It's finished flowering.
15:54You can see it's set a heap of seed, so it's about to go nuts and multiply.
15:59But not only that, it's starting to bulb, starting to run.
16:03Got all these little babies, so it'll be sending pups if I don't get it out.
16:07Luckily, it's out.
16:10Next, after any big storm event, your soil needs to be refreshed.
16:15Not only will stormwater bring weeds into your garden, it'll also take out some of the good things that you
16:20have in your garden, like nutrients from this garden bed, which was about twice this size.
16:24So we've lost a fair bit.
16:26It's time to aerate, replenish, and lift it up a bit.
16:31As well as rinsing the goodness out of your soil, stormwater disrupts microbial activity and encourages fungal pathogens.
16:40By aerating the soil, you improve oxygen flow, as well as drainage, and you break up any soil compaction.
16:47So I want to lift this bed by at least 200mm, so it's going to take at least four good
16:52sized buckets of sand and soil mix.
16:58One plant in this bed is getting special attention today, and it's one of my favourites.
17:04This is one of two featured grass trees in my garden, and this one has been through a lot.
17:09It's probably 10 to 12 years old.
17:11I don't want to lose it.
17:12It has actually sunk.
17:14The water has taken a lot of this garden bed away, and it's dropped quite a bit.
17:20Unexpectedly, the seed from the flower a year ago has given me two beautiful little babies that I can transplant.
17:28This one, I don't want to disturb too much.
17:30I'll just lift and backfill, lift and backfill without disturbing that root zone,
17:34giving it a bit more height and giving the bed a heap more volume.
17:37Its very fine root system is going to make it a delicate process.
17:42But because they're also very prone to waterlogging, I have to give it a try.
17:49If I left it like this, it could easily rot to death during the next rain event.
17:55First step, a man bun.
17:58Get that skirt up.
17:59Give yourself plenty of room to work with.
18:03I've already loosened up around the grass tree with a fork.
18:06Now I'm going to gently lift it with a shovel, and then backfill it with well-draining sandy soil to
18:11build up the bed underneath.
18:14Hopefully I haven't disturbed those roots way down.
18:18I could feel it was pretty forgiving.
18:20So I've got all this backfill in.
18:23It's come up by about 200mm.
18:25I'll backfill the rest of this bed.
18:28Hopefully we'll be right for next time.
18:31Just in case the heavens open soon, I'll rescue these grass tree pups,
18:35and find the next generation a great spot above the storm zone.
18:41It's also a good chance for a haircut.
18:43Of course, the best way to prune your grass tree and promote new growth is fire.
18:49But in all of that, just get all this dead stuff out from underneath and give it a really good
18:53clean-up.
18:55I am quite surprised at how well some of my plants have bounced back from the storm event.
19:00But you never can have too many.
19:03A few more natives will look quite at home here.
19:08Who doesn't love a bottle brush?
19:11So this is a new Calistomin cultivar, pink champagne.
19:15The pink flowers are going to be absolutely striking in this little bed,
19:18up against the white of the xanthorrhea.
19:20Pretty happy with that.
19:21Calistomin thrives in both wet and dry conditions.
19:25They're great for attracting small birds.
19:28This one's xanthostamin, the golden pender.
19:31Floral emblem of Cairns.
19:33So it's a far north Queensland rainforest plant, but an absolute stunning flower and a great tree.
19:38It's also fast-growing, so hopefully it'll get established before the next big soak.
19:43To finish, a layer of yuki mulch to protect the soil from erosion and lock in moisture.
19:50Last but not least, give them a good water in with some seaweed solution.
20:02Natural environments are always under the pump from floods and droughts, pests and predators.
20:07We really should create gardens that can mimic the renewal and the resilience of nature.
20:13Time for a cover.
20:23One of the biggest things that I've wanted to do with renovating the house is bring the feel of the
20:28garden indoors.
20:29And because it's an old cottage, it's sort of designed, it walks its way down the hill a little bit.
20:35And so we had this huge level change between the original front two rooms and the kind of more modern
20:41lean-to end of the house.
20:42And so to get people down the stairs, I decided this was the perfect place to put a tree.
20:47This is a sugar gum, it's a plantation tree and it's used often as a timber in playgrounds, those sorts
20:53of things.
20:53You might have jumped over some stepping logs made of one of these.
20:56But I think it's a lovely thing to put your hand on as you walk past and give you a
21:00hand down the stairs.
21:01And it just reminds me of how important trees are in my life.
21:15I'm at a home overlooking Pittwater on Sydney's northern beaches.
21:20It's a beautiful sloping one-acre block with lush gardens and a variety of vegetation, including native bushland.
21:29It's the perfect place to talk about how to deal with snakes in the garden.
21:35Tina.
21:36Hi, Kosta.
21:37Hi, John.
21:38Kosta, how are you?
21:39Tina and John Mostyn are licensed snake catchers who are passionate about teaching people how to live safely alongside snakes.
21:47What do you think the general perception is in the public around snakes?
21:52Is it getting better? Does it get worse?
21:55Some people will deal with it really good.
21:57They're quite happy to have it around their property as long as it's not going to come into their house.
22:02And other people, they've still got that mentality of a good snake is a dead snake.
22:08A good ecosystem has plenty of snakes in it.
22:12You know, a lot of snakes keep the rodent population down.
22:14Diamond pythons, which are common around here, their favourite food is rats, mice, possums, birds.
22:20So that's what they come in for.
22:22One that's commonly found...
22:24And you can probably guess who is in the bag for me to meet.
22:27...which is our harmless diamond python.
22:30Oh.
22:31So he does get his name because of the diamond rosettes across the back of him.
22:37The colours are so beautiful.
22:39He just blends so well into this type of habitat, doesn't he?
22:44Yeah.
22:44Yeah.
22:44Would you like me to pass him over to you?
22:46Oh.
22:46Hold him.
22:47He's making his way.
22:48I can feel that ripple.
22:50Yeah.
22:50He's come round already.
22:53Oh, it's so soft and yet strong.
22:57If you do come across a diamond python in your garden, Tina and John have a suggestion that
23:03might shock some of you.
23:05Think about not removing the snake.
23:08If you have him removed, you've still got a food source there.
23:12You could have something dangerously venomous come onto your property, such as a brown snake
23:16that you don't want around your pets or your children.
23:20In Australia, around 3,000 people are bitten by a snake every year.
23:25But only a few hundred of those require anti-venom.
23:29Which means the vast majority of snake bites are dry, where the snake doesn't inject any venom.
23:36Snakes react to fast movement.
23:39Like if you spook a snake and you stand still like a tree, they're not going to react to you.
23:44But when people move fast, they wave their arms about or jump about and that spooks the snake.
23:51Then the snake could strike.
23:53Snakes are purely defensive, so they'll only strike in an attempt to get that person to back away from them.
24:00So where are you normally going to find a diamond python like this in this landscape?
24:07In this landscape?
24:08Well, these rocks, there's gaps, holes under these rocks that he can absorb that heat but stay hidden.
24:15But now, look at him, he's going into that undergrowth.
24:17Yeah.
24:18So he's camouflaged in there. As you see, you'll go deeper in there.
24:22So this banksia here, possums will come in to feed on the nectar that these guys exude.
24:28The diamond python will smell that the possum has been in here.
24:32He'll follow the scent trail. He'll get up into the tree here.
24:35And he'll sit in an ambush position, waiting for that possum to come back at night time.
24:41And then he gets a feed.
24:43There are lots of spots in the garden where you might be more likely to come across a snake, like
24:49your compost bin.
24:50All the veggie scraps in here, all the other food scraps, rodents are going to be attracted to it.
24:57Snakes' favourite food, rats and mice.
25:00So putting mesh underneath your compost bin is a good security measure, but I suppose moving it further away from
25:09the house is another one.
25:11Perfect. Yeah, still have them on your property, but the furthest point away from your home,
25:16so at least the snakes aren't where you're coming in and out of the house all the time.
25:21If you've got a pile of mulch or wood chips in your garden, this might attract snakes for a different
25:27reason.
25:27It's nice and warm. You put your hand in there and it's nice and warm.
25:31So they get in there and they bury themselves in there.
25:33What we always suggest is rake the area first.
25:37Check for any movement before putting your hands into that pile where you can't see in there.
25:43So get a rake and just sift through it quickly.
25:46Maybe wear gardening gloves.
25:48We've got thick, loose-fitting long pants and enclosed shoes.
25:51Our snakes have relatively short front fangs.
25:54If they do grab a hold of loose-fitting clothing, their fangs aren't long enough to penetrate through to the
26:01skin.
26:02Drains in your garden are also a potential snake habitat.
26:07They'll often travel in around the drainage systems, the stormwater systems and use it as an underground...
26:14Highway. Highway. Yeah.
26:16Rodent mesh is a very fine mesh and you can cable tie it to the drains.
26:20And that way, if you do get snakes on your property and they are going to try and dive or
26:26hide in the drains, that stops them.
26:29One snake you do find a lot in drains are red-bellied black snakes, because frogs and tadpoles are a
26:36primary food source.
26:37There's quite a lot of toxins in their venom, so it will be quite a painful, nasty bite.
26:43But again, a snake like this is only going to bite if it feels threatened or if you accidentally jump
26:51on the snake.
26:53Another hotspot for snakes in the garden are where you've got things stored, like sheds, garages and carports.
27:00We go out to a lot of places where they say that they've spooked the snake and it's shot into
27:05their garage or their shed.
27:07And we go out there and as soon as you open the roller door, it is jam-packed.
27:13And you can't find the snake, you've got to take everything out to find it.
27:16So, if you've got doors where you can stick a finger under, your laundry door, your front door,
27:22get those locked down weather strips where you close the door, they lock down and that keeps them out.
27:27The next snake friendly location is also often used for backyard storage and is always out of the sun.
27:35I'm talking about the space under a house.
27:39Here we are with this death adder and you can see how well he is camouflaging into the leaf litter.
27:48But his home range would be one of the smallest out of all of the snakes.
27:53Approximately two square metres would be his entire home range.
27:58What?
27:59I know, right?
28:00Two?
28:00Two.
28:01You mean just here?
28:02Yeah.
28:03That's his home range?
28:04His home range.
28:05You could be standing right on top of him.
28:08You wouldn't even know he's there.
28:09Particularly gardening.
28:11And a lot of the time, people won't see them until they've completely weeded their garden bed.
28:17They've been putting their hands in or reaching into the area where a snake's been.
28:21They haven't even seen it.
28:23So make sure you clean up the leaf litter under your house.
28:27Last but not least of the snakes we're meeting today is one of the deadliest of them all.
28:33Whoa.
28:34Look at that.
28:37So this guy is our eastern brown, quite common around the peninsula here.
28:42Now these guys will travel along fence lines, ridges, hedges.
28:47So this is one that you really don't want around your gardens at all.
28:50Now these guys are a very nervous, very flighty snake that are highly attuned to movement.
28:57If you do get very close to one of these guys and they're standing in that double S defensive position,
29:02just stand still, don't move.
29:05The snake will settle down once you stop moving.
29:08And then slowly back away from the snake and give them an opportunity to get away.
29:13So if you've got a hedge on a fence line, think about removing lower branches
29:17to reduce some of that snake cover and make it a less appealing pathway.
29:23So, Tina, John, you've given us so much information about the habits of snakes,
29:29the habitat they like, but the reality is I could be out there gardening
29:34with a friend in a community garden somewhere.
29:36They get bitten.
29:37So it's like, hello, Tina, my friend's been bitten.
29:41What should I do immediately?
29:43All right, don't panic, don't worry about what snake it is.
29:46We need to make sure a compression bandage is applied to that limb,
29:49so to the arm or the leg.
29:51If it's not in that area, head, neck or torso, apply pressure to the area.
29:55And also important is to make sure that your friend keeps still.
29:59We don't want him moving or travelling anywhere.
30:02Just get him to sit down after that compression bandage is applied.
30:05Get on to emergency services and get an ambulance to transport him to hospital.
30:11Hopefully we've given you some useful tips to make your garden a little more snake safe.
30:17And who knows, maybe even make these incredible creatures a little less daunting for you.
30:24Still to come on Gardening Australia,
30:28Jerry pipes up about a threatening plant.
30:32Josh visits a wetland that became a social media sensation.
30:37And we meet a horticulturist defining the menu.
30:49Summer means fruit.
30:51Plucked off a tree, picked off a vine, could be in baking, like a tart or even a pavlova.
30:59There's fruit salad, of course, or even grilling it straight on the barbecue.
31:04But either way, a good harvest relies on sound groundwork.
31:09Hannah knows this better than most, and she's here with your seasonal reminder.
31:17Summer is a great time to prune your established stone fruit trees.
31:21Once you've picked all the fruit, of course.
31:23I actually really love pruning in summer because it keeps your trees really compact,
31:27making it easier to net, to harvest and to manage.
31:30Plus, with good pruning, you can increase the airflow
31:34to prevent any fungal diseases from moving in.
31:36Stone fruits are susceptible to fungal diseases like peach leaf curl,
31:40which spread during cool, wet weather.
31:42So pruning in summer reduces the chance of your tree becoming infected.
31:47There are a range of stone fruit trees,
31:50and there are a range of methods of pruning them.
31:52So I'm going to show you just two today,
31:54starting here with my Danzen Plum.
31:57The first thing is to gather some tools.
31:59I'm just using some secateurs in this plum tree because it's still very young.
32:03But for more established fruit trees,
32:05you'll probably need some loppers or a pruning saw.
32:09Regardless of the tools, make sure you sterilise them
32:11in between each tree that you're pruning
32:13to stop any potential disease being spread.
32:16I'm using a splash of methylated spirits and lots of water as my steriliser.
32:22Before you get snipping, make sure you step back
32:24and have a look at your tree and see what it's doing already.
32:27You want to be looking for any dead, diseased or damaged branches
32:31and remove them first.
32:33Then you can look at the structure.
32:35Here we're pruning to an open vase shape,
32:38which means we start with one central trunk
32:40and then from there we have between three and five branches
32:43that come off it with this nice open shape in the middle.
32:47Remove any inward growing branches and any suckers from the base
32:51to improve airflow and prevent congestion.
32:55When you're cutting off branches, make sure you cut them as close as you can
32:58to the branch they're coming off without hurting the collar.
33:02Now the collar is this swollen bit right up here.
33:05You don't want to touch that at all.
33:06So go maybe a few mils up branch and you'll be right.
33:12With this little branch here, I'm actually going to prune it a further way up.
33:16That's because I want to give myself more options in the future.
33:19You see, I've got this branch here, which is currently coming out nicely,
33:23but it might get in the way in the future
33:25because it's a pretty tight space around here.
33:27So to give myself options, I'm going to start pruning this branch
33:31to eventually replace it, but it'll be higher up and it will be out of my way.
33:36So you can think years ahead and shape your tree accordingly.
33:40For this branch, I'm going to be looking at the nodes
33:42which tell you where another branch could grow from.
33:46I'm going to choose this one here
33:47because it's pointing away from the middle of the tree and towards me.
33:51I'm going to cut just above it on an angle
33:54so you make sure any moisture and rain can shed.
34:01Plum trees fruit on second year wood.
34:03That means when it comes to taking off the height,
34:05you don't want to take off too much, otherwise you won't get any fruit.
34:08So with this kind of length, I'm just going to take off around 20% to 30%.
34:22And there you go, that's it.
34:23We had a pretty small harvest this year,
34:25but next year it's going to be even bigger
34:27and part of that is because of good pruning.
34:35And now for something a little bit different.
34:37This is my peach tree, which is only a few years old, but another stone fruit.
34:42However, unlike the plum tree, which fruits on second year wood,
34:46the peach fruits on first year wood.
34:49This means that when it comes to pruning,
34:51I can actually take off a fair bit of height
34:53to make sure it's always easy to access the fruit.
34:56First up, I'm going to remove the dead wood
34:58and some of the newer growth, which is compromising the fan structure.
35:02And like the plum tree, I'm always cutting on an angle
35:05to make sure no moisture can collect.
35:08When it comes to removing branches the size of your thumb or bigger,
35:11you're going to need a pruning saw.
35:13And just like your secateurs, you want to prune as close as you can to the collar
35:16without damaging it.
35:22The final step is to reduce the height of the tree.
35:25I usually go between 30 and 50% with my peach tree.
35:29It will just depend how much you need to do
35:31to make sure you can still access all that beautiful fruit
35:33at the top of the tree.
35:35If you want productive and healthy fruit trees,
35:38then pruning is for you.
35:40Make the time to get to know the different methods available
35:42to meet the different trees' needs
35:44and you'll have abundant orchards for years to come.
35:54This fabulous beast is a giant Dutchman's pipe
35:59and it comes from the Atlantic rainforests of Brazil.
36:03This is a tropical vine.
36:06It's growing 17 metres high right to the top of this tree.
36:10And while it has fabulous flowers and foliage, don't be fooled.
36:15It's regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland and New South Wales
36:20and as a potential environmental weed or sleeper weed
36:24in many other regions of Australia.
36:26It was recently ranked amongst the top 50 most invasive plants
36:31in South East Queensland.
36:34Like many other species of exotic vines,
36:38Dutchman's pipe competes with and replaces native plants
36:42via its smothering growth.
36:45Anywhere you can grow these outdoors, it can set seed.
36:49And that is the beginning of the problem
36:51because the seed are windblown.
36:54But that's not the worst part.
36:57The worst part is the foliage smells like the host plant
37:02for the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly and the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly
37:06and the latter one is an endangered species.
37:09They lay their eggs on them and the caterpillars are poisoned
37:14because this is toxic.
37:15And the butterflies never learn the difference.
37:18So they're constantly losing their babies.
37:21So what can you do?
37:23Well, the first thing you can do is cut it down, poison the stump and remove it.
37:28And put one of these in its place.
37:32This is the Richmond Birdwing Vine.
37:34It's the natural host plant for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly.
37:39Get rid of that and plant the future.
37:48We all love the beauty and majesty of our natural areas.
37:53But sometimes we can love them a little too hard.
37:57And a bit of TLC is needed to bring them back to what they once were.
38:03Josh is checking out a community effort
38:05to restore one of Perth's treasures.
38:13This is the Kraniap Wetlands Reserve.
38:15We have Kareen regional open space to the north
38:18and to the south we have Lake Gwellops.
38:20This is the chain of wetlands
38:21that runs through this western side of the city of Stirling.
38:25You'll see this juncus.
38:26Yeah, this was only planted a year ago.
38:28I'm a 15-minute drive north of Perth's city centre,
38:31chatting with Ryan Flint.
38:33That's so quick.
38:34As a member of the city of Stirling's environmental management team,
38:38he's been part of an ambitious revegetation program.
38:42Where we're standing now is part of the Kraniap Wetlands Restoration Project,
38:46the northern end of the reserve we're at,
38:47large wetland reserve.
38:48This project's been running for the last three or four years.
38:51It's been a huge undertaking to get rid of some of this stuff we have behind us.
38:54This stuff is the dreaded morning glory.
38:58And for many years, it absolutely dominated the landscape.
39:02Known locally as the Secret Garden,
39:05a section of wetland resembled an elaborate theatre backdrop or film set
39:10and became a social media darling.
39:12Even a scene from the screen adaptation of a Tim Winton novel was shot here.
39:27All this exposure attracted hordes of visitors to the fragile wetland.
39:32And it wasn't long before this developing environmental issue popped up on the radar
39:37of City of Stirling council member Carlo Perkov.
39:41The pressure on the environment and the pressure on the locals was immense.
39:45The messaging on social media was bring the kids, bring your boots, bring the dogs,
39:50everyone come down, it's fantastic, have a day out.
39:53The numbers were massive.
39:55It was actually heartbreaking for us to see what was happening here to the wetlands
39:59and to the natural wildlife.
40:02How important were local community members in initiating this transformation?
40:08They came to public question time at council and they really said,
40:12this needs to change.
40:14You're our representatives, you've got to do something.
40:17Let's get this back to what it should be.
40:19Just a beautiful natural wetland.
40:21If you talk to the locals that have been here for 40, 45 years,
40:25they will tell you this had its own beauty before the morning glory got introduced.
40:30We thought, how do we get it back to that?
40:32I mean, you planted some of these trees, didn't you, Carlo?
40:34We absolutely did.
40:35The whole community...
40:36Carlo and the council were on board, but the scale of the task ahead was immense.
40:42Ryan and the environmental management team called on the community,
40:47locals like Julie May, to be part of the revegetation effort.
40:52There have been lots of trees being planted, which has just been fabulous.
40:55The community's jumped in big time to do it, which is great.
41:01We're talking just over two and a half to three hectares of restoration site.
41:06We've so far established probably three and a half to four thousand native plants here,
41:12including probably 300 trees.
41:14Over numerous weekends, dozens of volunteers turned up and metre by metre reclaimed the wetland
41:21and replanted native flora, which over the long term will provide habitat for local fauna.
41:28I think what we have achieved is to make this place back to its original state and make it even
41:35better,
41:36so we can have our turtles back, we can have our swans back, we can have our ducks back,
41:41we can have some more snakes back because this is their environment.
41:44We can get the birds back.
41:50What local native species are you putting back?
41:52So we've put back in a whole heap of understory species, some more shrubs.
41:56So we've planted Astartia, Scoparia, Acacia selignus.
42:03Another one would be the Viminaria junctia, the swishbush.
42:06Those understory or midstory species, we've planted them as little tube stock
42:09and some of those shrubs now in the last few years have tripled in size,
42:13so it's been really rewarding to see.
42:15We've planted the Carex oppressor, Garnia trifida and Juncus pallidus,
42:21so probably the four main sort of rushes and sedges we've planted.
42:26How has the success rate been with the planting?
42:28Yeah, it's been really good, Josh.
42:29You can see here this Melaleuca we planted probably three years ago
42:32and really well established.
42:34We've got some natural recruitment here of these Eucalyptus rudus,
42:37which is really, really awesome to see.
42:39So I'm guessing your main challenge is ongoing weed control?
42:42Yeah, it is.
42:43And you'll see that when we do establish a lot of this native vegetation
42:46that the weeds are just always around.
42:48So the ongoing weed control, it just has to be regular.
42:53Pampas grass, it was dominating this site as well as the Morning Glory.
42:56If you look around the reserve now, there's still plenty of pampas grass around.
42:59So we do have a problem with the pampas grass sort of creeping back in
43:01to where we were trying to restore.
43:03Then we also have the giant reed here as well,
43:05which again is largely contained to a specific part of the site.
43:11We're still here at least monthly doing weed control.
43:14Do you think you're winning?
43:16Yeah, I think we're winning the battle.
43:17I really do, Josh.
43:18And you can see that by the reduction in the amount of weed coverage we've had here.
43:21There's very little Morning Glory left at the site
43:23and we've had probably over 80% success rate in what we have planted,
43:26which for a re-veg project is amazing.
43:31We have this wildlife that use our urban environments.
43:34They don't really have a voice, so we have to be a voice for our wildlife
43:39and our biodiversity.
43:40So to be able to be part of something that's assisting wildlife in urban areas
43:44for me is what I do this for.
43:49There's no doubting the photo Jenny Kalua of what was the secret garden.
43:53In fact, a debt of gratitude is owed to all of that social media coverage
43:57for drawing attention to what was becoming an ecological disaster.
44:01The restoration effort has been a triumph of collaboration
44:06between local government and community.
44:16Yum. Thank you.
44:18Gardeners know that the secret to a great meal is fresh produce
44:23straight from your veggie patch to your plate.
44:26And it's really inspiring to know that top restaurants all around the country
44:31are raising the flag for what fresh produce can look and taste like.
44:38Our next story is with a horticulturist
44:40who's working hard to make veggies star of the show.
44:58So when I arrive at work in the morning, the first thing I do is feed the chickens.
45:03I open up the greenhouse, check on the seedlings,
45:08and then I take a stroll around the garden, write myself a schedule for the day,
45:11and then harvest vegetables for the kitchen.
45:17My name is Sally Peterson.
45:19I'm a horticulturist and the kitchen gardener at Tedesco, Osteria.
45:24It's a small restaurant that celebrates seasonality
45:28and the produce from the garden.
45:31We are in Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula in Bunurang Country.
45:36The Mornington Peninsula is a beautiful area,
45:40and Red Hill is a slightly higher altitude.
45:43It has really great fertile soil.
45:46It's historically been an agricultural area with lots of vineyards.
45:50I originally moved down here to work in viticulture.
45:52It kind of segued back into growing veg, which is my true interest.
45:59The kitchen garden is roughly a quarter of an acre,
46:03which is a small market garden-sized plot.
46:08Originally, it was laid out in a very classic market garden style
46:12with very uniform beds set up for production.
46:16But over the years, it's evolved
46:18and it has become a bit more of a personal reflection
46:21of my gardening and food philosophies
46:24and also my own gardening style.
46:28The aesthetic is quite romantic, I would say.
46:34It's a hybrid between a very utilitarian, productive garden
46:37and a garden that is inviting and engaging and beautiful.
46:44I grow a lot of cut flowers for the restaurant, for floristry,
46:48and also just for general beauty.
46:50And they also have a great secondary value
46:55of attracting a lot of pollinators and birds.
46:59There is all these intangible elements of a garden
47:01and I think the beauty is what engages people
47:05in a discussion about food and the value in food
47:08and how it's grown and where it comes from.
47:14The garden is visible from your dining seat.
47:17I'm going to eat in the restaurant
47:20and diners will come and stroll around the garden
47:23and see me working and chat to me,
47:26which is a really beautiful aspect of my job
47:29and something that I really enjoy,
47:31to be able to talk about the crops I'm growing,
47:33how I'm growing them, answer their questions.
47:36I do get a lot of horticultural questions.
47:40But yeah, it tells me that people are interested in the story.
47:45This week we still have plenty of carrots that are really nice now.
47:51They've been amazing.
47:52Brigitte Hafner is the owner and head chef
47:54and our relationship is very collaborative.
47:57We'll stroll around the garden together,
47:59often reflecting on the season
48:02and what she would like more of and perhaps less of.
48:06We still have amaranth.
48:08Yep, more baby leaf style,
48:09not as bulk quantity as we've had in the past week.
48:12Okay, so we'll just take little bits of that
48:14and they're just good for small leafy greens.
48:16For sure.
48:17And I don't mind if you just like totally take,
48:19like wipe it out, that's fine.
48:20More will come.
48:21All right.
48:21So the selection of varieties that we grow
48:24is quite a considered process
48:27and the garden really offers the opportunity
48:29to grow all these wonderful things
48:31that wouldn't necessarily be available.
48:35This baby leaf escarole, which is really lush,
48:39and I think it's really still a nice, really delicate leaf to have.
48:43That'll be beautiful sautéed,
48:45maybe with something in the fish course.
48:50It comes from both sides.
48:51I generally grow what I really want to grow
48:54and that also really works in the restaurant.
48:58I have a general idea now of what the Tedesca style is
49:01and I choose crops based on what I think will work
49:05and Brigitte will give me feedback on that
49:08and request certain things.
49:12The bean in all its diverse glory is my favourite crop to grow
49:16probably because there's so much embodied meaning in the bean
49:20and this bean in particular is a bean we call Lena's bean,
49:25which is a bean that was given to me by a really good friend of mine,
49:27Lena, who immigrated from Italy about 50 years ago
49:30and she brought this bean with her and then gave it to me.
49:33It is a very regionally specific bean from Calabria.
49:37They're just starting to form their seed now
49:39and they're a mottled tan and white colour inside,
49:44similar to a Borlotti,
49:45but I think, and in everybody's opinion, much more delicious.
49:49I think it's a really special thing that we are preserving this seed.
49:54I trellised them on one single piece of jute twine
49:58which loops over a wire
50:00and that lasts the whole season until we cut it down in autumn
50:03and lay them out in the greenhouse to dry.
50:06And then the whole team shell them, which is really special.
50:11And they're eaten in various dishes over the course of winter
50:15and sometimes early spring when there's not so much abundance in the garden.
50:26So one thing that I've learned is that the health of a seedling
50:30in its early stages really determines how well it will thrive in the garden.
50:34So a couple of things you can do are making sure
50:37that you use a really high-quality seed-raising mix
50:40and ensuring that the seedlings don't dry out at any point.
50:43Because once they've declined in health,
50:46you can nurse them back to health in the garden
50:47but they will never achieve the same vigour
50:49should they have been healthy at the beginning.
50:52Tomatoes are particularly prone to powdery mildew
50:55when they're grown in the greenhouse.
50:57And a great way to prevent this is using a diluted milk spray,
51:01which you can use throughout the season as a preventative
51:03and also at first sign of disease.
51:06The greenhouse is a great way to extend the seasons
51:09and really gives us a longer growing period.
51:14But I am also known for being quite harsh with the seasons
51:17and seasonality
51:19and because we have such a small amount of covered growing space,
51:22it's a prized area and I need to use it strategically
51:25and it can be quite a rude shock sometimes to the chefs
51:28when I'm cutting the season short.
51:30For example, as we turn over into autumn,
51:32I'm cutting out basil on the equinox
51:36and getting ready for the new crops of the season.
51:41I think what makes it work and what makes it so special
51:44is that there's a real reciprocity between the kitchen
51:46and the garden
51:47and there's a true understanding of both sides
51:49and that's also the essence of the food story
51:52we're conveying in the restaurant
51:53that one inspires the other.
51:58I think as a young person I always wanted work
52:02or a career that aligned with my environmental values.
52:07So to find horticulture in a job such as this is such a dream.
52:13It really, yeah, aligns with how I like to live my life
52:17and gardening as a lifestyle and the way that it structures my year
52:21is something that I find a lot of joy in.
52:33Now, has that story made you as hungry for fresh veggies as I am?
52:37Look, they don't grow by themselves.
52:40Well, actually they do,
52:42but with a little help from your list of jobs for the weekend.
52:51Love it or loathe it,
52:53it's time to plant coriander in cool temperate areas.
52:56Planting now will stop this handsome herb from bolting to seed,
53:00meaning more foliage for your culinary capers.
53:04Liliums are finishing up with their fab flowering,
53:06so remove spent flower heads
53:08by cutting about halfway down the stem.
53:11This allows enough foliage to remain to boost bulbs for next year.
53:16Cracking in coleslaws,
53:17it's time to get cabbages into the ground.
53:20Plant in full sun, allow plenty of space
53:23and interplant with land crest
53:25to act as a foil for the cabbage white butterfly.
53:29Warm temperate gardeners
53:31give your summer flowering hydrangeas a helpful haircut.
53:34Prune the stems that flower this year back by a third
53:37and leave the rest.
53:39They'll flower next year.
53:41A summer sandwich staple and winter warmer,
53:44beetroots are a ripper crop in the home garden.
53:47Soak the seeds overnight
53:48and plant into rich friable soil,
53:51spacing apart to about 20 centimetres each.
53:55For a tough spot in a sunny rockery or hanging basket,
53:59fling in a fan flower.
54:01These native ground covers are as tough as boots
54:03and bear vibrant purple flowers for most of the year.
54:08In subtropical gardens,
54:10plant the pea that brings the native bees
54:12and drop in a pigeon pea.
54:14This tough, versatile legume provides seeds perfect for dull
54:18and attracts a host of beneficial bugs.
54:21While it might sound like a dance,
54:23the achacha is actually a delicious fruit.
54:27Tangy, sweet and tasty.
54:29This small evergreen tree is a Bolivian beauty for backyards.
54:33Give one a go.
54:35For year-round colour,
54:36consider some awesome autumn sage.
54:39These perennial cottage classics love heat and humidity,
54:43flower prolifically and are great performers.
54:47Possibly the ultimate tropical flower,
54:50heliconias are wrapping up their months-long floral show
54:54and will benefit from a tidy-up,
54:56so remove spent stems and old leaves and use as mulch.
55:00Short, stocky and dead-set delicious give a wax gore to go.
55:04This resilient climbing vine produces large melon-like fruits
55:09that can be eaten in salads, stir-fries and pickles.
55:13If your cordylines are losing their colour,
55:16it could be time for a feed.
55:17A nice whack of organic lawn food
55:19will give them a balanced kick of nitrogen and potassium,
55:23perfect for bringing back the bling.
55:26In arid gardens,
55:27sedermortum joy has great all-year appeal.
55:31These succulents are successful in the sunniest of spots,
55:34have great upright form and flower clusters
55:37that change with the seasons.
55:39A tough, attractive living mulch for hotspots
55:42is the creeping boobiala.
55:45These great ground covers establish quickly,
55:48flower prolifically and tolerate some foot traffic.
55:51Delicious and nutritious,
55:52fava beans can be sown now.
55:55A staple in Egyptian and Middle Eastern dishes,
55:58these quick and easy to grow beans
55:59can be potted and eaten fresh or dried and stored.
56:04Celebrate what's left of summer this weekend, gardeners,
56:07and head to our social pages
56:09to let us know what you're up to in your patch.
56:18Well, that's all we've got for this week,
56:21but there is plenty more in the tool shed for next time.
56:24Take a look.
56:27What happens when two doctors set their mind
56:30to creating a water-wise productive patch in the Adelaide Hills?
56:33Well, this, an extremely fruitful and beautiful garden.
56:39How many tomato varieties do you think there are in the world?
56:43Hundreds? Thousands? What about 10,000?
56:46Well, today I'm going to try and eat as many as I can
56:50and meet a grower who is passionate about the perfect tomato.
56:55And we take in some stunning arid scenery.
56:59Dawn is my favourite time of the day here.
57:02This is where the desert meets the sea.
Comments