- 1 day ago
Gardening Australia 2026 Episode 10
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Whoo-hoo!
00:04Hey! Hi!
00:11Whoa!
00:17Hey!
00:18Hey, buddy.
00:22Hey!
00:34Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:37We have unearthed some real gems this week
00:40and I can't wait to share the harvest with you.
00:44Here's what's in store.
00:47We all know how amazing Australian plants are,
00:50but of course they have evolved with amazing animals.
00:54Today I'm learning a little more about the emu
00:57and its role in Australia's ecology.
01:00I'm meeting a cactus grower whose retirement project
01:03has rapidly expanded into hundreds of thousands of these spiky delights.
01:09Check this out.
01:11Look at the abundance of lychees on these trees.
01:14Today I'm having a very fruitful look
01:16at how these subtropical treats grow.
01:19And even better, I'm gonna eat them.
01:23And whether your garden is wild, formal or themed,
01:27there's an Australian native to fit any garden brief.
01:30I'm visiting a nursery
01:32so you can see some mature plantings for inspiration.
01:43Around 15 million years ago, a volcanic eruption created a geological legacy
01:49that helped create rich basalt soils in the cool, moist climate of the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
02:00And here in Mount Wilson, we find one of the most celebrated private gardens in New South Wales,
02:07Nauru Gardens.
02:10Created in 1880 by William Hay, this temperate haven is ideal for growing cool climate trees, shrubs and perennials.
02:20And right now, it's a pocket of absolute autumn splendour.
02:27The current owners of Nauru are Doctors Lorraine and Tony Barrett,
02:33who've been restoring and caring for the garden since 1992.
02:39Well, this looks like we're a bit out of the weather.
02:43Whoa!
02:44I felt like we needed to get undercover.
02:47A little bit cold, a little bit misty, a little bit sleety,
02:49but this time of the year is the peak season for colour.
02:56What are the real highlights of this garden?
03:00This time of the year, it really is lovely.
03:03It's like a kaleidoscope.
03:05You have crimson, gold, blue, red.
03:09And when you go around the garden, you get a lot of pleasure seeing the things change colour.
03:15It starts slowly, usually around the middle of April.
03:19We start to get some yellow colour.
03:21The maple behind us, for example, has been in colour for weeks and weeks.
03:26It's a really wonderful colour.
03:28And then after Anzac Day and into mid-May, we get the red colour.
03:33And of course, a lot of the colours caused by the Japanese maples that are all over the garden.
03:38But also, there are a lot of shrubs here that have wonderful autumn colour.
03:43The Mollus Azaleas, the Ancyanthus, the Folligiliae have an orangey-yellow leaf,
03:50and they tend to be earlier than some of the red maples.
03:54And the Ginkgo, we have a wonderful, huge Ginkgo,
03:58and that is the last tree to colour and is but a yellow.
04:04It's a really wonderful sight.
04:06And you can see it for miles, and all underpinned by the white narines.
04:13When did you actually take over here?
04:15November 92.
04:17We always loved Mount Wilson.
04:19We used to come here every year.
04:21And especially, we remembered Nauru and the bluebells on the lawns in the spring,
04:26which was very nice, you know, a beautiful garden.
04:29So we came, and we didn't know it was for sale.
04:32We came to see another property.
04:34Just by chance.
04:34And by chance, we saw a sign on the gate.
04:37I guess we purchased it, not knowing that it had a history.
04:42But we're not horticulturists.
04:45We're not...
04:46Botanists.
04:47Botanists.
04:47But we love gardening.
04:50A lot of gardening.
04:50Now we realised after we bought it that we bought something that was terribly important
04:56to a lot of people.
04:58So, you're both doctors.
05:00What was your diagnosis when you came here to the garden?
05:06Well, Lorraine...
05:07Oh, overwhelming, actually.
05:10I think that was the main diagnosis.
05:13We looked at the garden, we realised it had wonderful bones,
05:17and especially it had wonderful vistas.
05:26William Hay built Nooroo House in the late 19th century,
05:31identifying Mount Wilson as a perfect place for a temperate garden.
05:36He planted the oaks.
05:39There are three remaining oaks from the original plantings.
05:44There's also two chestnut trees,
05:47both of which still bear chestnuts in the autumn
05:50and are rather gnarled and ancient-looking trees.
05:54And then the nucleus of this garden was developed by the Valders.
06:01From 1917 to 1992, the Valders family,
06:07including horticulturist and botanist Dr Peter Valders,
06:11established Nooroo as one of Australia's most celebrated gardens.
06:17The Valders brought in from overseas many, many plants,
06:22including the seeds of plants that are now huge trees in this garden.
06:28They were avid collectors of plants from all over the world,
06:32North America, Europe and even New Zealand.
06:37And Asia.
06:38The Valders had a particular fondness
06:41for the striking colours and forms of maples,
06:45a tradition Tony and Lorraine continue.
06:48We augmented the planting of maples
06:51with lots of smaller maples and weeping maples.
06:55So down on the lawns under the oaks,
06:58there's a whole collection of weeping maples.
07:02We've also planted a lot of other trees that have autumn colour.
07:07We have some lovely beaches.
07:10We've put in another ginkgo.
07:12So we've put in also quite a lot of blossom trees.
07:15So we've put in a lot of crab apples.
07:18We've planted Wollemi pines.
07:22The fertile volcanic soils retain moisture all year round,
07:26creating ideal growing conditions
07:29for Lorraine and Tony's cool climate plants.
07:33The garden is rarely watered, only the new plantings
07:37and usually only in their first year or so.
07:41Occasionally.
07:41Because we mulch heavily.
07:43I remember putting in two or three hundred azaleas
07:47over two days, years ago,
07:49and I watered them once and never since.
07:52So what sort of planting have you implemented since you've been here?
07:56Oh, we've done an enormous lot of planting
07:58and of course we never think it's enough, you know.
08:00If I had my way we'd have double the number of plants we had.
08:04But we put in dogwoods, conifers, camellia hedges
08:09and of course everything grows so quickly here.
08:12It was a joy to do it.
08:13And the first thing we did
08:15was we planted a very long hornbeam hedge
08:18and created a long walk.
08:20We've put a lot of new beds in the side areas
08:23and that's really apart from the old garden.
08:26The old garden is still the old garden,
08:29but the newer areas we're freer to put in new beds.
08:34That's our stamp on the garden, really.
08:38We tried always to retain the vistas in this garden
08:42so that you get a long view from various parts.
08:46And also we wanted people to walk around and come around the corner
08:51and say, oh, look at that, isn't that wonderful?
08:55If I was sitting here interviewing the next owners,
08:59what would be the legacy that you feel you've left?
09:04I think we've maintained it.
09:07That is the main legacy
09:08because I think it could easily have gone to ruin.
09:12But we have left them something that I think is better
09:16than when we came here.
09:18Our legacy is the area outside the main garden
09:24where we've planted new beds
09:26and had a new vision for that part of the garden.
09:47Who doesn't love it when a feathered friend stops by our gardens for a visit?
09:52Well, the birds in our next story, they might just need a bigger bird bath.
10:02I'm visiting the Nanyak Tamburie Wildlife Sanctuary
10:06in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs.
10:10It's a 30-hectare parcel of land that was set aside by La Trobe University
10:14to create a haven for Australian plants and wildlife.
10:20Over a year ago, the university reintroduced emus into the area
10:24and they're already having a beneficial impact on the plants in the reserve.
10:31Olivia Swain is the sanctuary's operations manager.
10:35This is such an incredible place,
10:38quite largely in the middle of the city.
10:39Yeah, it's what I think is such a peaceful place
10:42to have so close to the CBD.
10:44And tell me about these emus.
10:47I mean, this is not what you expect to see.
10:49We have three young male emus here at the Wildlife Sanctuary.
10:54We reintroduced them to help fulfil an ecological function here.
10:58Hi, mate.
10:59Hi.
11:00Which is?
11:01Inquisition.
11:02One of.
11:04Nothing.
11:05Got nothing.
11:06They're very curious.
11:07They're quite young,
11:08so they're still sort of learning about the world.
11:10Because the public has access to this place.
11:13Yeah.
11:13Like, people can actually come and spend time.
11:15Yes.
11:15Not feed the emus, but spend time with them.
11:17Yes.
11:18You get to come and experience what nature might have looked like pre-European settlement.
11:24Emus are Australia's tallest native bird
11:27and belong to an ancient group of flightless birds called ratites.
11:32They're most common in open plains, but they're also found in alpine environments and dry forests.
11:38In the wild, they'll live for about 10 years.
11:42Emus are a big part of Australia's ecology.
11:45They would have been very widespread.
11:46They would have been all over Australia, but with increased urbanisation,
11:50they've been pushed in towards the centre of Australia more.
11:55Hi, mate.
11:56Hi.
11:58Hi.
11:59I don't have anything.
12:01Oh.
12:01They're clearly very beautiful.
12:03Tell me, what role do they actually play in a place like this?
12:06They play a really huge role in a wildlife sanctuary like this.
12:09They help keep the weed levels down.
12:12You can see the emus grazing all day long.
12:14They like to keep those broadleaf weeds under control for us.
12:17Have you seen a big change since they've arrived?
12:21We've seen, particularly with flickweed, quite a big suppression of that this season.
12:26And that's a monster to take care of.
12:28Like, once it's in your garden or your reserve, it's just such an exponential spreader.
12:33Yes.
12:33We also see our emus in a lot of our water bodies feeding off those lovely aquatic plants,
12:40the water ribbons being the main one.
12:41And you can see they kind of keep them nice and low, mowed down for us,
12:45and stop the water bodies from completely filling up with this plant.
12:48Because it's a native, but you don't want it to completely dominate.
12:52Yeah.
12:52We've got several species of aquatic plants in our water bodies,
12:55and the water ribbons really like to fill any space that it's given.
12:58So keeping it in a nice, manageable, but healthy population,
13:02the emus play a really important role for that.
13:04So in spaces where maybe there isn't a generalist grazer like an emu,
13:08those species can sort of take over and smother other,
13:11a bit more vulnerable native species.
13:13They haven't stopped eating while we've been sitting here.
13:16I imagine that they consume a lot of plant life.
13:19Do they do it a favour as well?
13:21Yes.
13:21They help spread seeds through their scat.
13:23You can see in their scats that they leave in pockets all over the wildlife sanctuary
13:27that they're leaving any grass seeds or native seeds in those scats
13:31for then when the right conditions come,
13:33they germinate in a nice little pocket of fertiliser.
13:36We see them grazing on basically anything that has a fleshy fruit.
13:41Salt bushes, apple berries, cherry ballards,
13:44all with those really fleshy fruits.
13:45That's what they really like to eat.
13:47But those fruits also need to be stripped of their fleshy outer
13:51before they can germinate.
13:52So the bird's stomach system does that for us.
13:55Right.
13:57Scarifying through an emu.
13:58Yes.
14:01There's no doubt that not every area would have space for an animal
14:06as large and influential as the emu.
14:09But it is fantastic to see that the reintroduction here
14:13is letting their ecological role really shine.
14:23It feels like cacti inspire a devotion like no other plants.
14:30Jerry has got past the prickles to discover the life's work of one dedicated collector.
14:37And let me tell you, there's some real curly ones in there.
14:50I'm in Caboolture, about an hour north of Brisbane.
14:54It's home to Robin Parry, a former chef whose lifelong love of cacti and succulents has,
15:00since retirement, really got out of hand.
15:05I'm here to tour his collection and uncover his secrets to successful cacti growing in any climate.
15:13So how long have you been collecting?
15:16It's been well over 40 years now.
15:19We now have far, far more than I ever dreamed we'd ever have.
15:22Somewhere in the region of a thousand species of cacti,
15:25two or three hundred euphorbias.
15:27And so it's been quite a journey to get here and I've loved every minute of it.
15:31I was a chef 35 years.
15:33It was a de-stress from work, so whenever I'm working my plants,
15:37all the stress and the drama of the day just evaporates.
15:42Wow.
15:44Into the candy store, eh?
15:46There's lots of very, very nice plants here.
15:48Just a joy to have so many very unusual plants.
15:51Things that I honestly never thought that I would be able to find in my lifetime.
15:55I have never, ever seen the like of that.
15:58It's an amazing plant. Amazing colour.
16:01And it is a variegated plant.
16:03The normal plant is grey in colour, but that's just lacking any chlorophyll.
16:07It's a euphorbia?
16:08Euphorbia. Euphorbia ablacuri, and that's the damask form.
16:11From Ethiopia, I think into Somalia.
16:14Absolute unicorn of a plant.
16:15And it looks otherworldly.
16:17It looks completely fake.
16:19It looks like it's made out of plastic, but it's a real living thing.
16:24Amazing.
16:25This is just beautiful too.
16:28That looks like carved jade.
16:31It does. It's a beautiful plant.
16:33It's a variegated agave poditorum.
16:36These are some of the older plants.
16:38Mostly the show plants that we take to the society events.
16:43I could just have a hothouse full of plants like this.
16:46It brings a lot of joy. It really does.
16:48I feel quite privileged in a way to have these plants in the collection.
16:54Because they're going to live a lot longer than I am.
16:56And they've cared for well.
16:58They'll live for a century or more.
17:00And this is just one of 12 greenhouses.
17:04Currently one of 12.
17:06We may be adding more.
17:07I built my last hothouse five hothouses ago.
17:10And I don't know how much more time I have to build anymore.
17:13But you never know.
17:19Robin propagates hundreds of cacti every day.
17:23And both he and his partner now run a thriving production,
17:27mail-order nursery business from the site.
17:29Getting these plants out to eager collectors.
17:34So these are some of your favourites.
17:36What are they?
17:38Well these are all Astrophytum miru stigma.
17:42Through a process of selective breeding.
17:44In particular the Japanese.
17:46Have created these incredible forms.
17:49From what is essentially this plant.
17:51They've created what they call Fukuryu.
17:55In Japanese Fukuryu means sitting dragon.
17:58It is a very strange and bizarre looking plant.
18:01Which doesn't look anything like the type parent.
18:03It's amazing because every single one is different.
18:05You can have the same parent plants produce seedlings.
18:08And every one will be different to the parent.
18:10Where do they come from?
18:11The type plant is from northern Mexico.
18:13And the Japanese have taken it to the extreme.
18:17Are any of these your own hybrids?
18:19There's this one here and these three.
18:21We're grown from literally hundreds of seedlings.
18:24To hopefully get that one or two really special plants.
18:27That are really show worthy.
18:28If I had the space I would have so many more of them.
18:34This is something very special to me Gerry.
18:36This is Gymnoclesium horsting.
18:39It is by far the largest one I've ever seen anywhere.
18:44Certainly in Australia and possibly the world.
18:46And it was growing on the side of the road.
18:48In New South Wales in Gilgandra.
18:50And we named it Gilgantor.
18:52Now the plant normally comes from northern Argentina, Bolivia.
18:56Where it gets quite cold.
18:58And it's possibly not used to the soil type that it was in.
19:00But it was absolutely thriving.
19:03Wow, what a story.
19:06This is yet another group of plants I have a particular fascination with.
19:10And these are Lithops.
19:12When I was a kid, these were the ultimate dream.
19:16These are a group of South African Mesobranthemum.
19:19And they receive between two and four inches of rainfall a year.
19:23And I'm fortunate enough to have accumulated a nice little collection.
19:26Of these absolutely fantastic plants.
19:28How old would these be?
19:29The oldest one here is now 23 years old.
19:32Wow.
19:33The rest are pushing about the 20 year mark now.
19:35They all have their own features.
19:38So some have lines, channels, rubrications.
19:41One of my favourites here, Gracilida lineata.
19:44This grows in white quartzite fields with black veins through the quartzite.
19:48So if you look more like a stone, you won't get eaten.
19:51So the leaf surface itself mimics the stones.
19:54Hence the name Lithops, which is stoned face.
20:00So these are some of the crown jewels.
20:02These are some of the best plants that I have in the collection.
20:06These are all of the genus Copipoa.
20:08They all come from the northern third of Chile.
20:11And they grow nowhere else.
20:13They all grow virtually on the coast line in the hills.
20:17Rainfall events are so few and far between.
20:20That the fog events that do occur quite frequently.
20:23Give just enough moisture to sustain the population.
20:26So these are fog watered cacti.
20:29They are absolute masters at survival.
20:32Because in their habitat it is absolute barren.
20:35There are no other plants in many cases other than Copipoa.
20:39And how old would these be?
20:41The oldest here, 40 years old.
20:44And this scenario is probably around the 35 year mark now.
20:48This one here, despite its size, is really only about maybe 18 years old.
20:53This is a Copipoa tenuissima.
20:54And I just love the tight form, the cresting, how it's folded together.
20:59It is just an absolutely fabulous specimen.
21:02I think they look gorgeous.
21:04Very, very popular amongst collectors.
21:05We call them unicorn plants.
21:07To get a decent sized clump like this is very, very hard to come by.
21:11Because plants of this size are so rare in Australia.
21:15Congratulations.
21:17If you've ever seen a cowboy movie with a huge cacti with the big arms, this is it.
21:23This is Carnigia gigantea, also known as the saguaro.
21:27And this plant is roughly 15 years old.
21:30Wow.
21:30So it's just a baby.
21:32I just love the form, the spines obviously.
21:35I think they're all endemic to Arizona too.
21:37I don't think they flow into Texas even.
21:39In their natural habitat, these plants grow initially as a seedling under the shade of
21:45what's called a nursery tree.
21:46Because the summers in their habitat are too brutal for a seedling to ever get established.
21:51So they need somewhere with protection, shade and hopefully a bit of moisture to get established.
21:58And once they get up to a certain age, like this age, they're probably fine to go into full sun.
22:02As they grow, eventually when they're about three metres tall, let's say, they will start
22:07to flower.
22:08Are they long lived?
22:09These will live up to 200, maybe 250 years.
22:13And in that time they will grow to an approximate height of 15 metres.
22:17Wow.
22:17With several branches.
22:18But here in Queensland, always kept in a pot, as it will not take our wet winters and our
22:24summer deluges that we have.
22:30Interestingly, Robin also has a large collection of cacti and succulents thriving in ground,
22:36which is no mean feat given the high humidity and rainfall of this locale.
22:43So what would be your top performers?
22:46So Euphorbia have outperformed everything.
22:48Euphorbia grandicornis, which is a fabulous plant in a garden if you have the space.
22:54Euphorbia didierioidae is a Madagascan species, which I was absolutely certain was going to
22:58die in our conditions, but has absolutely thrived.
23:02The best one for the sculptural look alone, Euphorbia cuperae, which is a fabulous plant
23:07with undulating stems, which I've thoroughly enjoyed.
23:10Also Euphorbia ariatreia, very sculptural, just beautiful looking plants to have in the garden
23:14if you have the space.
23:16Euphorbia buoy, which is a relative of grandicornis, which has only been there three years,
23:21and has outperformed almost everything else around it.
23:24It doesn't get too tall, but magnificent when it's covered in small yellow flowers.
23:29All are trunked, shrub and tree-like succulents that are green and generally covered with short spines.
23:37They do contain toxic sap and should be handled with care.
23:41We're getting lots of different types and textures in the garden, and it's just a joy to walk through.
23:51Forget retirement. Seven years since turning to cacti full-time, Robin now can't imagine doing anything else.
24:00I would much rather do this working with the cacti than I ever would have as a chef.
24:05I have found my place.
24:09And later in the program, Robin's going to demonstrate his propagation methods to multiply your cacti.
24:23Our guest presenter Tarn has been on the trail of the rarest and tastiest fruits,
24:29and giving the scoop on how you can get them growing at your place.
24:33This time he's telling us about something that's small, fragrant, pink and perfect in an ice drink.
24:42Take it away, Tarn.
24:51Where better for a fruit nerd like me to visit than the fruit bowl of South East Queensland.
24:57This area's home to the Big Pineapple.
25:00But the Sunshine Coast is also great fertile growing country for a number of other subtropical fruits.
25:08And one in particular that I think is the sweetest of them all.
25:13Now these little fruits pack a juicy punch.
25:17And in my world, the lychee is a fruit fit for emperors.
25:23So I've come to Wumbai, about 100km north of Brisbane, to meet a lychee grower to find out more.
25:29And I confess, I've got another motive.
25:32I'm hoping to sample some.
25:34Because I reckon there's no such thing as too much lychee tasting.
25:39Dave Crowhurst and his family have been growing lychees here for three decades.
25:43And today, I'm more than happy to help him pick some of these sweet sensations.
25:49Dave, how's it going?
25:51Good Tarn, how are you?
25:52These lychees look fantastic.
25:54What variety are they?
25:55These are Chompo Go.
25:56So these are our late season lychees and at the moment they're looking fantastic.
26:01So how do you correctly harvest the lychee?
26:03So you're looking for that little spot at the top of the lychee where the stalk connects.
26:07And you just roll your thumb and it'll click off.
26:11Nice and easy.
26:12So hands over the top, push down and it snaps easily.
26:16I see, I've learnt from the master.
26:17What happens if you tear the fruit?
26:19You're just going to reduce the shelf life of your fruit.
26:22It's not going to store as well in the fridge and it'll start oxidising and go off quicker.
26:27So if you tear it Tarn, you eat it now.
26:29I better eat this one then.
26:32I don't just love the sweetness but look how juicy it is.
26:36Now tell me how to pick a really good lychee.
26:39With the Chompo Go's you're looking for a nice filled out plump fruit.
26:44And generally what happens is the skin will smooth out a little.
26:47Gotcha.
26:48Now for the home gardener would they just keep trying them at home and finding out which one is the
26:52best one?
26:53That's the best way.
26:54I think I've got to eat another one.
26:58Now you're just throwing away those branches.
27:01Why is that?
27:01We just throw them on the ground and the mower comes along, chops them up and
27:05they double as mulch under our trees.
27:07Great organic compost.
27:08Yep.
27:12Lychees start to spoil soon after picking and need to be packed and stored in the fridge.
27:19It's really important that you quality control every batch.
27:25You can eat them fresh, use them in drinks and savoury or sweet dishes.
27:32Lychees hail from China, Malaysia, Borneo and the Philippines.
27:37They were introduced to Australia in the 1870s by Chinese miners during the gold rush.
27:45It's Chinese tradition to offer lychees as a Lunar New Year good luck charm because they're considered a symbol of
27:51romance.
27:52And indeed, what's not to love about these tropical treats?
27:55So Dave, how did you get into growing lychey trees and why lychees?
27:59So my wife Megan's parents started growing lychees here 30 odd years ago.
28:03And I think the main reason is lychees are so good to eat and you've got to grow something that
28:08you love to eat.
28:09I agree. I agree.
28:14Now, Dave, of course, there's hundreds of varieties grown in the world, but these three look so beautiful right next
28:20to each other.
28:21They do, Tan. Yeah, we've got Erdon Lee.
28:24These look like dragon eggs. They're so huge.
28:26They are huge. They're the giant lyche.
28:28Compared to the Kwai Mai Pink, these look like little tiny ones.
28:32And then you've got the Chompo Go's here as well.
28:35I'm ready to taste.
28:36Let's go.
28:38Wow.
28:38That is a fleshy lychey.
28:42That's so good.
28:45There's a really nice textural experience with eating this lychey because you're biting into something with a lot of juice,
28:51a lot of flesh, and you can get right into it.
28:54It's very satisfying.
28:56And they're so sweet.
28:58So good. They're a meal.
29:00Let's try the classic, the Kwai Mai Pink.
29:02These are my favourite.
29:04A really good sour tang with that.
29:06And quite often with these, you get a really small seed. They call it chicken tongue seed, which means you
29:10get more flesh.
29:11More flesh.
29:12All right, let's go for the Chompo Go.
29:14So with many lychey cultivars, there's a seam that you can see here. Just put your four fingers on it,
29:20pop, and it easily peels away.
29:22And just make sure that you don't eat the seed.
29:28Compared to the Kwai Mai Pink, that doesn't have as much sour tang, but it is super sweet and super
29:33juicy.
29:33So it's really interesting. They all have slightly different flavours.
29:37They do, Tarn. And I think it's, you know, the fantastic thing about lychees, it sets them all apart.
29:42And they're a little bit unique in their own way.
29:48Where can you grow lychey trees?
29:50Lychees grow best in subtropical climates.
29:53So anywhere really from Coffs Arbour right up to far north Queensland.
29:56And are they an easy tree to grow?
29:58They are. Yeah, there's a couple of key things you need to make sure you do with lychees.
30:04And one of them is probably give them a light prune after harvest.
30:08With some varieties, you can stag them or stump them about a metre from the ground.
30:13And that's one way to get them back to a manageable height.
30:16And they'll just grow back?
30:17Yep, they will.
30:21So Tarn, if you've got a lychey tree at home already, there's a really simple way you can propagate a
30:27new tree to plant.
30:28This is what we call air layering or marcotting.
30:32So we make a cut in the bark called a cincher.
30:34And then we just wrap a bag with a special soil mix in it, seal it up.
30:39And we wait about three months.
30:40And as you can see there, we've got nice healthy roots fully developed in the bag there.
30:46So we're just going to cut here.
30:47Yep.
30:50And there we have it, a brand new lychey tree, ready to plant.
30:53Just take the plastic off and you're good to go.
30:55So convenient.
30:56Easy.
30:57So if you wanted to pop a few lychey trees in your garden, what would you choose?
31:01I think for the home gardener, the two varieties I'd choose would be a Kwai Mai Pink.
31:06Just because it's consistent, it'll fruit for you nearly every year.
31:10They taste great.
31:11And the second variety that's really well suited to sort of cooler climates is the Chompo Go.
31:17There's a couple of important things you need to do when you first plant a lychey tree.
31:22And that's keep the water up to it.
31:24Don't let it dry out.
31:25And don't over fertilise.
31:27Now we're sitting here in a netted orchard.
31:30Tell me about the kind of pests that are involved with growing lychey trees.
31:33You've got a net because the birds and other things will always come and eat your fruit before it's ready
31:39for you to eat.
31:39Rainbow lorikeets especially, they love lychees.
31:42Flying foxes are also pretty partial to lychees.
31:46And then you've got the smaller pests, a lot of the pests that you can't see like mites and caterpillars
31:51and other insects that do cause issues from time to time.
31:54For me, lychees are one of the most romantic of fruits.
31:57It reminds me of my childhood, growing up in the fruit store, having the lychees, just gnawing through them.
32:03Most consumers out there, city folk, have never actually experienced a fresh lychey.
32:09Their first experience is the one in the can, and it's just not quite the same.
32:12That's right. It's a bit of a disappointment.
32:14But when they eat a fresh lychey after eating a canned lychey, there's just no comparison.
32:23Still to come on Gardening Australia, Sophie gets some tips on designing with native plants.
32:30We meet a fixture of the Northern Rivers gardening scene, and your jobs for the weekend are ready and waiting.
32:47Earlier, we met expert cactus grower Robin Parry, whose retirement project has rapidly expanded into hundreds of thousands of these
32:57spiky delights.
32:59We rely on two primary methods of propagation, one being grafting, but the main propagation technique is by seed sowing.
33:09On a good day, Robin can propagate 40,000 to 50,000 seed, and after decades of experience, he's now
33:17sharing his expert techniques to multiply your cacti.
33:23The plants that we end up selling, 95% of them are seed grown from here, so the seed we
33:30source is all from plants that I've collected over the years.
33:33Robin sows seed onto trays of his own specially prepared cacti germination mix.
33:40So it's three parts coir, sieved, then we use a fine to medium perlite, we use a fine to medium
33:47pumice, and probably a half amount of a blend of seed raising mix and sheep manure.
33:55And then we add to all of that about a third of a part of diatomite for no other reason
34:01than to control things like root mealy bug.
34:04And this is the resulting mix. So the mix is quite light, it's very crumbly, and it doesn't compact.
34:12So this little container has slow-release fertiliser, is that enough to do all this?
34:17For this amount of potting mix, it's ideal.
34:22So my mix is there, I've smoothed it without patting it down so there's good pockets for the seed to
34:27fall into.
34:28Now I'm going to sow out some seed, and in this case we're going to use Parodia Lenny Housie.
34:33I'm old school, and so what I do is this, simply go back and forward until I have run out
34:41of seed.
34:41He covers the seed with fine pumice.
34:44That's to give a little narrow microclimate that allows the soil to have a little bit of humidity around the
34:51seed.
34:52And now they'll be put into the hothouse, and they'll get a good deep watering until it's running out of
34:57the tray, and that makes sure that that wet soil will be suitable for the germination process.
35:03These are the same species as what I've just sown out.
35:06These are four to five months old, and you can see by the size of the plant that they're getting
35:11ready to be pricked out into their own growing tray.
35:14Lenny Housie is one of the easier plants to grow, very forgiving, and not a slow growth rate.
35:20Is there a preferred season for sowing?
35:23The best season is really early to mid-spring.
35:29Grafting is your next method of propagation.
35:33You have to ask the question, I guess, why do I need to graft?
35:36Some things are obvious, like the plant has no chlorophyll, so it's a variegated plant.
35:40It's devoid of anything to feed itself, so it needs to be grafted into a green rootstock.
35:45And there will have to remain for the remainder of its life, because there's no way it can actually be
35:50grown onto its own roots.
35:52Other times, the plant is rather rare and tricky to grow on its own roots, because you might be saving
35:57a plant.
35:57You might have a rock in the plant, and you want to save as much of it as you can,
36:01and grafting will just help you to do that.
36:04Grafting is the process of physically joining a vigorous, strong-growing rootstock with a desirable top half, or scion.
36:12It's used in cacti to speed up growth or improve the resilience of particular species.
36:19All rootstocks are not necessarily created equal.
36:21These are the two that we principally use for our grafting.
36:25It's Hylicerius undatus, a rainforest cacti, and this is Matilla cactus geometrizans.
36:32Hylicerius accepts all cacti quite successfully, but it does tend to be fairly short-lived,
36:37usually around the five-year mark before the tissue will perish.
36:41The Matilla cactus is much longer-lived, and you can have a plant for decades on this rootstock.
36:46So often I will start plants on this to get some size, get some offsets,
36:50and then I'll often transfer them to the Matilla cactus once I have the numbers that I do require.
36:56A few things to consider when grafting is when do I do it, because the time of year matters.
37:04You want the time of year when both the scion and the rootstock are at their premium growth rate.
37:12The middle of spring especially is a very, very good time.
37:15The other thing to keep an eye on when you're grafting is actually the weather,
37:18because the weather is a key factor in whether your scion survives.
37:22Make sure it's a nice, bright day.
37:25On the drier side, if possible, is a very good time to be grafting.
37:29First of all, I'm going to sterilise my blade.
37:36For that I use just little alcohol wipes.
37:38After you've done that, dry it off with a clean towel,
37:41because the alcohol itself can actually damage the tissue of the plant that you're trying to save.
37:47So I get my approximate length, I do the cut, and you'll do a second cut in a minute,
37:54but I will bevel the edges, because as this dries, it will curl inwards,
38:01and often it will curl in and pop the top of the scion off.
38:06So we're going to graft this little echinopsis hybrid variegate.
38:10We're just going to do a flat cut.
38:12There's nothing left behind.
38:15There's no spines or hairs or anything.
38:17And then we'll do a second cut from what we just did before,
38:21and just match up the vascular bundle.
38:24So there's a little ring of tissue,
38:26and that transfers the nutrients from the root to the tip of the plant.
38:31So we're just going to put that little guy there,
38:34and give it a little wiggle to pop it in the air bubbles.
38:37And now all we need to add to that is some downward pressure,
38:40so that the bonding process can occur.
38:44And that will take roughly about a week.
38:48And beyond that, the plant will then begin to grow.
38:53And just make sure the tension on your little elastic is nice and even,
38:58and one graft to plant.
39:00If you can master the art of propagation and grafting,
39:04you too can grow your passion and cactus collection.
39:15Australian native plants offer so much for any garden.
39:18But they go together in so many different ways it becomes a bit of an overwhelming design puzzle.
39:26Not when Sophie's here.
39:28She's checking out a native plant nursery to help inspire the masterpiece at your place.
39:38We visit all kinds of gardens on the show.
39:41Formal country gardens, vivid Mediterranean gardens, bush gardens designed for wildlife,
39:48and everything else to suit our diverse climates and tastes.
39:54I'm going for a walk in an Australian native plant nursery in the Adelaide Hills to take some inspiration from
40:00their mature plantings.
40:02It's pretty obvious, even at first glance, that with some clever plant choices and some creative gardening,
40:09Australian native plants can play to a wider range than they've typically been typecast in.
40:18I think originally it comes back to the idea to remember what country we live in and also observe the
40:25magnificent vegetation that already exists here.
40:28Duncan spent his days here at the nursery chatting to gardeners about native plants,
40:33a daily practice of encouraging the wider use of our incredibly diverse native flora.
40:40So how did you get into native plants?
40:43So basically, as a six year old immigrating from the UK, I was very interested in birds back in England.
40:52But coming out here and spending time in the bush and then realising, watching what birds were feeding on,
40:58I could then get those birds in my garden.
41:00So that was a huge thing for me. And it's basically gone on from there.
41:04It's reality TV at its best, really, isn't it?
41:07It is. And when you're aware of it, you'll never be bored.
41:10It's always, as I say, that free entertainment, we call it.
41:13I'd love to be able to show people that they can use native plants in lots of more formal ways,
41:17but I'd love to get your input. So how about we go and look at some of these plants?
41:21Sure, why not?
41:25Traditional formal gardens call for neat structural elements like clipped hedges,
41:31symmetrical designs and a simple palette.
41:34Conifers are classic formal plants that provide density and simple consistent shapes.
41:41This is pretty easy because this is a gorgeous Australian native conifer and yet people don't know much about that.
41:47No, exactly. This one's colitrus oblonga, beautiful specimen, unpruned. It's about 10 years old now.
41:54And it's such a beautiful blue-grey colour.
41:57It's lovely, Sophie, isn't it? And it's a wonderful nesting habitat for small birds as well, we find, and very,
42:04very tough.
42:05If you want to achieve the structured look, but with a more iconic Australian twist, try Banksia integrifolia sentinel,
42:13which is an upright, narrow form of coast banksia.
42:16This one's approximately 20 years old, and as it is now, it's completely untouched.
42:22But you could prune it and keep it to two to three metres.
42:25Gorgeous.
42:27Leptus burnum foreshore, a dwarf coastal tea tree, grows naturally into low balls,
42:34or can be used as an alternative to an English box hedge.
42:39There are also plenty of natives available as standards, giving an Australian take on topiary.
42:47So, Sophie, I'd really like to show you two of my most favourite plants, the standard grevillea, the royal mantle.
42:53This one's been around, probably at close to 20 years old.
42:57A great alternative to a standard weeping tree, but these are evergreen and flower for many months.
43:04Yeah, exactly. And very easy to maintain.
43:07Basically, all you need to do is give them like a basin haircut, probably every two years, and they'll layer
43:12out from the top.
43:13You'll see the flower buds starting to come on it, and they're really good for bringing in the birds.
43:21Conifers are also used to create a Japanese aesthetic, providing an evergreen backdrop, while plants like maples and ornamental cherries
43:30highlight the changing of the seasons.
43:34Duncan suggests weeping wattles, like this prostrate acacia hawitii, as a good alternative for our climate.
43:42As a 20-year-old tree, the twisted, nailed trunk has grown to look like a bonsai, and at the
43:48right time of year, it will have yellow blooms that mark the transition from winter to spring.
43:55Okay, so I've also got some other plants here that I believe will look really good in a Japanese-style
44:00garden.
44:01We've got the prostrate casuarina casunit. The way it mounds up, structurally very interesting, and replaces that Japanese-style moss
44:10ground cover.
44:11But as you see, quite architectural.
44:13Absolutely.
44:14Following on that, clisper and great balls of fire.
44:18Bamboo alternative, with that sort of colour foliage, and then vibrant red foliage this time of year.
44:23Yeah, it really lights it up.
44:25And also, the prostrate Calathamnus quadrophytus.
44:29Mm-hm.
44:29It's an awesome ground cover, with that sort of unusual sort of look about it.
44:36Mediterranean-style gardens are designed for hot summers and dry soils.
44:41In Australia, that often means a blend of exotic plants from anywhere like South Africa to Europe, including aloes and
44:49other succulents, olives and lavender.
44:53Colours are a really important part of a Mediterranean garden.
44:56What are some of the plants that you like to use in that style garden?
45:01I really like to use the eromophilus, the variety that's available, intense colours, duration of flowering.
45:09They do like a heavy prune when they finish flowering, almost up to a third.
45:13Wow.
45:14And you'll get them shooting back as thick as ever.
45:16There's a range from ground covers right the way through to small trees.
45:21The Westringers, they ball up extremely well.
45:25Very tough variations in the foliage and also the flowers.
45:31So, in terms of bling, you really can't go past the kangaroo paw, can you?
45:36Oh, they're incredible, aren't they, Sophie?
45:38I've never seen so much colour before like that, and I'd never thought I'd see a blue-flowered kangaroo paw.
45:43Yeah, definitely one of my favourites.
45:45So, do you think Australian native plants are used as well as they could be?
45:50I believe in the early days we were a bit restricted with our initial varieties,
45:55but now with the breeding that's been done and the selections that have been made,
45:59there's a huge variety.
46:01So, we can do basically whatever we need to do, I believe, with native plants.
46:09Australian flora is some of the most diverse in the world,
46:12having evolved to our conditions over millions of years.
46:15Without compromising on aesthetics, you can choose something local for your garden,
46:21whatever your style.
46:31I enjoy listening to people talk about gardening.
46:36It's where you hear their passion shine through.
46:40If you live in the northern rivers of New South Wales and listen to Talkback Radio,
46:46I have no doubt that you've had a solid serve of our next guest's enthusiasm.
46:53And I absolutely love him.
47:07You know, I get very thrilled about seeing a plant looking happy and healthy,
47:12and compost. Something about compost just excites me and it never ends.
47:17I've been doing it for over 35 years, growing food, and I can't get enough of it.
47:23My name's Phil Dudman. I'm a gardening writer and presenter and a broadcaster.
47:29And I've been writing for 25 years for Gardening Australia and Organic Gardener magazines,
47:36and I've been horticultural editor of both those magazines previously.
47:42Dippity-dippity!
47:44Take a look around your local garden centre these days,
47:47and you'll see a lot more of the type of plants that won't let you down in the dry.
47:51I've worked in TV years ago as well.
47:54I've written three books for ABC Books,
47:57and I run workshops in my garden showing people how to grow their food,
48:01and I also run garden tours travelling to beautiful gardening destinations across the world.
48:06Look, you know, I like to keep busy.
48:14So I've pulled out the garlic, and I don't want to leave this space bare.
48:18It's really important to maximise your production, to always have something ready to go to fill any gaps.
48:23So I've always got seedlings on the go.
48:26I never direct seed. You lose time.
48:29But if you've got seedlings that are established, they might already be four or five weeks old.
48:33You're ahead.
48:36So I'll rake this level.
48:38I'll layer down some compost and rake that level too.
48:41Then I'll use my magic dibbler.
48:44It's a giant dibbler stick, which I use to mark out the rows,
48:47and then I'll use the stick as well to put the holes in the ground in the rows,
48:52and then drop those seedlings in, water them in.
48:55Job done!
49:04I grew up in Brisbane in the 1960s, so I was born in 65.
49:09You know, my parents weren't gardeners, but we had a big backyard,
49:13and I loved being out in the backyard.
49:16So I was always being sent out to deal with the plants, water the plants.
49:19That became my role, was to basically maintain the garden from a young age.
49:25Later on, I sort of lost contact with gardening, really,
49:28because I was a young man studying, playing music.
49:32I joined a band. I moved to Sydney.
49:35But the drummer in our band was a horticulturist,
49:38but he taught me a lot about the plant world.
49:41And I realised years later, I travelled overseas,
49:44came back thinking, what am I going to do next?
49:46Just like a flash.
49:49On a Greyhound bus one night, I had my epiphany,
49:52and I thought horticulture, so I was about 25, 26 at that time.
49:56And once I made that move and started studying horticulture,
50:00everything fell into place, so there was no turning back.
50:07Another thing I like to do is multi-sow the seed in the cells in the punnett.
50:11So, for example, with these spring onions,
50:12you can see I've got about 10 or more in there,
50:15and I plant them as a group.
50:16They'll grow beautifully.
50:17They don't need to be split up.
50:19It takes a lot of time to do that.
50:20And similarly, I've done that with my bok choy and my leafy greens here.
50:25I've put the spring onions down the centre,
50:27so I've got these wide-growing things either side.
50:30So, if I can mix it up through the bed,
50:32I can have tall things, shallow things around the outside,
50:35I can maximise my space that way.
50:39I had a midlife crisis, I suppose, in my mid-thirties.
50:43I had two kids.
50:45And, you know, here I was, busy as a home dad,
50:48and a frustrated one because I just wanted to get my hands
50:51into some kind of horticultural pursuit.
50:54So I decided to pursue media.
50:57And I really needed some stimulation, adult stimulation.
51:03And I was finding that I was forgetting how to speak.
51:06It was all goo goo ga ga stuff, you know.
51:09And radio offered a great outlet for me.
51:13Glorious. Have you had some time to get out into the garden?
51:16No.
51:17I'm only going out there putting buckets of water
51:21onto the poor, starving, dying plants.
51:24In radio now with ABC North Coast,
51:26doing Gardening Talkback on a Saturday morning,
51:29which I love, with Angela Coterns.
51:31Obviously, there's always the citrus questions.
51:34They're the bread and butter for Garden Talkback people,
51:37and if we didn't have it, we probably wouldn't have a show.
51:40We have a 700-square-metre block.
51:43Most of the action takes place here in the backyard.
51:46Where the sunshine is.
51:48And there are loads of tropical fruiting delights.
51:50We just love the citrus espalier here.
51:53It's taken us years to establish,
51:55but it's a great hedge,
51:56and it provides us with all the fruit that we need.
52:00And it's a beautiful screen and backdrop to the veggie patch.
52:03This is a beautiful bunch of bananas over here.
52:05What do you reckon? I just love looking at beautiful bananas.
52:08And we've got a lychee tree.
52:10There's some pawpaw over there.
52:12But the real delight for me is the plum tree.
52:15And here it is. We affectionately call this tree Frankenplum,
52:19because it's got eight different varieties of plum grafted onto it.
52:23We started with one, realised we needed a pollinator.
52:27So we put that on, and then some friends wanted to drop over,
52:31and they came from a nursery and they said,
52:32Phil, what can we bring you?
52:34And I said, we'd love some more plums.
52:36So they brought over a heap of cuttings,
52:38and we stuck them all on in a ceremony of grafting.
52:42And now we've got eight beautiful plums on here,
52:45early, mid-season and late-season plums,
52:48and it's absolutely delicious.
52:53We managed to produce 75% of our fruit and veggie needs in this small backyard.
53:01Over 30 years, I've realised that the secrets to enjoyable gardening
53:06is to make it as simple as possible.
53:08You're not spending your time digging the soil.
53:12But when you leave all the soil in place,
53:14the structure is able to build.
53:17And you're just putting compost on the surface,
53:19and it builds and it's permanent.
53:21And I've designed my garden in such a way to make that easy.
53:25You'll see that the compost heaps at the end of the beds on the terrace.
53:30So I normally visit that compost heap daily, sometimes twice a day,
53:35just to talk to the worms.
53:39The thing that drives me is the connection to the gardens
53:43and the gardening world and the interaction with people.
53:46The gardening industry, the people who are behind gardens, gardeners,
53:51fantastic people.
53:52I think I've found my tribe there with the garden world.
54:04Gardeners, on your marks, your jobs for the weekend are ready, set, go!
54:16In cool temperate gardens, fill bare spots in your veggie patch
54:20with fast growing greens.
54:22Think spinach, coz lettuce, rocket, silverbeet and Asian greens.
54:26They're tough, tasty and terrific for you.
54:29Planning on bunging in some broad beans?
54:31Take the time to add some lime.
54:34Dust a handful over a square metre of prepared soil
54:37two weeks before planting for sweet soil and bute beans.
54:41Head to the high country for some awesome colour.
54:45The native deciduous beech are shimmering gold,
54:47while exotic tupelo, ginkgo, maples and more
54:51are bold, beautiful and breathtaking.
54:55Warm temperate gardeners pop in a prostanthro rotundifolia
54:59the round leaf mint bush.
55:01Native to southern Australia, this tough, tidy shrub is perfect in pots
55:05and the foliage is aromatic and edible.
55:08Cut back the feathery foliage of asparagus now that the cooler weather
55:12has turned the leaves yellow and brown.
55:15Chop the lot, leaving about two inches above the ground and mulch well.
55:19Keep an eye on clivias in the cold.
55:22Wet weather can see these beauties succumb to fungal issues.
55:25Ensure they're not kept too damp and keep mulch well away from foliage.
55:31Subtropical gardeners, if you're looking for a super citrus,
55:34why not plant a pomelo?
55:36These tough, fast-growing trees bear huge fruits,
55:39which are far sweeter and less bitter than grapefruits.
55:42If you're growing a handsome hardened berger at home,
55:45training their stems horizontally will encourage foliage and flowers
55:49from the ground up, making this native even nicer.
55:53Fabulous frangipanis can be propagated from cuttings now.
55:57Take a piece of hardwood about 30 centimetres long,
56:00leave it in a protected spot for a couple of weeks to dry
56:03and plant it out. Too easy.
56:05In the tropics, make your patch pop and plant some sweet corn.
56:10Sow seeds direct into rich, free-draining soil
56:13and instead of planting in a line, plant in a block for best pollination.
56:18Indoors and outdoors, is there anything more colourful than a croton?
56:22Tough, tolerant and oh-so-tropical,
56:24these fab foliage plants love full sun
56:27and their bright, bold foliage is a must-have.
56:30If you're in Darwin, contact the council and get involved
56:33in the Gardens for Wildlife program,
56:36helping to connect people to their environment
56:38and create precious wildlife habitat at home.
56:42In arid zones, stop the spread of brown rot
56:45by removing low-hanging branches of citrus trees
56:48and replacing straw-based mulch with chunkier wood chip mulches over winter.
56:53With olives ready to harvest, it's time to get picking and start pickling.
56:57Olives can be picked when green or black.
57:00The darker the colour, the riper the olive.
57:02Soak, salt, preserve and enjoy.
57:06Spend time checking over your irrigation system this weekend.
57:10Check connections, flush lines, replace drippers and adjust as required
57:14so you know it's going to work when you need it most.
57:19Have a ripper weekend in the garden
57:21and be sure to subscribe to our Gardening Australia YouTube channel
57:24for loads of tips, tricks, ideas and inspiration.
57:36Well, that's just about everything we could fit in the Shade House this week.
57:41But don't worry, we'll be back next time with even more.
57:45Take a look.
57:49Autumn is a busy time in my patch here in Tassie
57:52and it's a really good time to get lots of jobs done
57:55before the winter chill sets in.
57:57And today, I'm going to plan for future pops of one of my favourite colours.
58:03Pink, of course.
58:04And if you like the weather-beaten look, I've got a planting idea for you
58:08that's as rusty as a red dirt sunset.
58:11And I'm meeting a team of working dogs
58:13that are playing a very important role in plant biosecurity.
Comments