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00:05Hey!
00:06Hi!
00:11Whoa!
00:17Hey!
00:19Hey, mate!
00:22Hey!
00:23Hey!
00:24Hey!
00:25Hey!
00:25Hey!
00:26Hey!
00:27Oh!
00:34It's that time of the week.
00:36Your prescribed dose
00:38of inspiration,
00:40greenery and down-to-earth
00:42advice. And you better be ready
00:44because we're getting straight
00:46into it. Hello and welcome
00:48to Gardening Australia.
00:49Here's what's coming up.
00:53Autumn
00:53is a busy time in my patch here
00:55in Tassie and it's a really good time
00:58to get lots of jobs done
00:59before the winter chill sets in.
01:02Today, I'm going to plan for
01:04future pops of one of my favourite
01:06colours. Pink, of course.
01:09I'm meeting
01:10a team of working dogs that are
01:11playing a very important role
01:13in plant biosecurity.
01:16new.
01:17And if you like the weather-beaten look,
01:18I've got a planting idea for you
01:20that's as rusty as a red-earth sunset.
01:29Container gardening really stretches
01:30the limits of what's possible.
01:33New places, new ways,
01:35new opportunities to grow.
01:37Tammy has found a fantastic
01:39idea that takes
01:42challenging places
01:43and turns them into vibrant
01:45pockets of green.
01:57For those of us with busy lives looking
01:59to maximise our gardening happiness
02:01in the most time-efficient way possible,
02:03I'm visiting a gardener who may have
02:05found the perfect solution.
02:07It's a planter designed to help plants
02:09thrive in the most tough,
02:11space-restricted environments.
02:13Rooftops, paved backyards,
02:15balconies and steep slopes.
02:19Here in Darling Point,
02:20four kilometres from central Sydney,
02:23Sandra Dixon's home and garden
02:24stretches out into the harbour.
02:29Oh, look at this.
02:31Back in 2017, Costa paid a visit
02:34to explore the steeply terrace garden
02:36which took loads of maintenance.
02:40But since then,
02:42Sancha has been finding ways to maximise
02:44her gardening pleasure with less effort
02:46here on her exposed terrace.
02:50Hi, Tammy. Hi, Sancha.
02:52Lovely to see you.
02:53Lovely to be here.
02:55What an amazing garden you have.
02:57I just love it.
02:58It's my pride and joy.
03:02And how long have you been here?
03:0450 years.
03:05Wow.
03:08And was the garden looking like this?
03:11No, it wasn't.
03:12It was just pretty shocking when we bought it.
03:15All the walls were falling down
03:17and it was just full of fish fern
03:19and weeds, really.
03:21So we're here today to have a look at the plants
03:23on the terrace.
03:24Mm-hmm.
03:24Can you tell me a bit more about them?
03:26Like, they have to put up with a lot, don't they?
03:28They do have to put up with a lot.
03:29Firstly, they have to put up with me,
03:31because, you know, I try anything and give it a go.
03:35They have to put up with the salt air.
03:37They have to put up with the strong northeasterly,
03:39which is a very harsh wind in the summer,
03:43and the westerly sun in the afternoon.
03:46Hence, succulents and cactus are the perfect ones for the job.
03:50I am a great plant collector,
03:52and I had about 10,000 plants.
03:55So to have them in pots was extremely difficult
03:58because of the maintenance.
04:00They'd be either too dry or too wet.
04:02Whereas when you've got them neatly planted
04:05into these fabulous gabions,
04:07you can look after them so much more easily.
04:10If you've got a pot, you planted something in the top.
04:13But if you've got these gabions,
04:15you can plant all the way around.
04:17So hundreds of plants could go into, you know,
04:20one structure like that.
04:22So when you say gabions,
04:24so they're these large, hage-like structures?
04:26They're like a hay bale, but they've got wire around them,
04:29and then they've got this fantastic medium inside
04:32that nurtures the plants
04:34so that you can put very tall cactus in those,
04:38which, I mean, that would be, what, two and a half metres,
04:40and hopefully he'll get bigger.
04:42This one, which I call my coral reef,
04:44is just like a blanket that's over stairs,
04:47and it's got short-rooted plants.
04:50If you've got a small space,
04:51you can have masses of plants and make it neat and tidy.
04:56So this gabion structure is what underpins all your plantings?
05:01All of it, absolutely.
05:02In different shapes and sizes,
05:04depending on where they have to go.
05:06So I can see we've got various layers of fabric...
05:09Yes.
05:09..which would help then the roots cling on too...
05:12That's correct.
05:12..before they grow deeper into the media?
05:15The media, yeah.
05:16And this polystyrene allows the water to...
05:20Drain away.
05:21Drain away.
05:22A drip irrigation line runs along the top of the gabion
05:25releasing about a litre of water a day.
05:27The water absorbs through the porous outer layer,
05:30where it finds a capillary mat,
05:32which holds moisture for the plants to draw on when needed.
05:35The gabion acts like a rock face
05:37that plants cling to as they would in nature.
05:42This is my coffin.
05:44When it was nude,
05:45it was the perfect size, shape, everything for a coffin.
05:49And how do you know that?
05:50Well, because we made them in the old days.
05:53But not like these.
05:55Ours were in timber and only had one purpose.
05:58And it wasn't a very pretty one.
06:00So that was your business?
06:01Well, it was one of the businesses, yes,
06:04that my husband and I owned, yes.
06:06But my husband was an accountant
06:09and he worked out that you could only sell one to one person.
06:14And so therefore, you know...
06:17A true businessman.
06:18Yeah, absolutely.
06:19So we gave that one up.
06:20And these are so much prettier.
06:24And what have you got planted here?
06:25Well, euphorbias and agaves
06:28and other various cacti and succulents
06:32that I bought at various times.
06:34Different colours and textures.
06:36That's what my garden is really all about.
06:38And where did you get the euphorbias from?
06:41They're magnificent.
06:42A lot of them came from deceased estates.
06:44They have auctions
06:45and they sell the plants that are in pots in the garden, etc.
06:50And he's done so well since he's been in this medium.
06:53When he came, he only had two arms
06:55and now he's got all of that.
06:57He's just multiplied.
06:58He has. He's a happy chappy.
07:01This is another gabion.
07:02And he's got my leftovers.
07:04But he's flourishing.
07:06He seems to be thoroughly enjoying the leftovers.
07:08So I can see you've got various...
07:10There's kalanchoe, there's blue chalk sticks.
07:12They're all cascading from the gabion.
07:15Well, that's right.
07:16And that's...
07:17The beauty of the gabion is that
07:20it isn't just a flat top
07:22so that everything can fall down
07:25and cover the entire structure,
07:27which I think is stunning.
07:29It gives me pleasure every day.
07:31When these do get leggy, as this one is,
07:35you can just cut it off and then stick it back in.
07:39It's just so easy to look after.
07:42And this begonia,
07:43this is not something that you typically see
07:45in such an exposed area, but it's thriving.
07:48It is. It's the most extraordinary.
07:50Begonia was given to me by a friend.
07:52She just gave me a small one.
07:54And anywhere I've got a difficult spot in the garden,
07:57I stick it in.
07:59And I love the fact it's got that lovely red,
08:02the back of its leaf.
08:03It's beautiful all round, I think.
08:06Yeah, normally with begonias,
08:07they can be quite, not necessarily fragile,
08:09but they prefer like filtered sunlight, cooler conditions,
08:13but he is exposed and just...
08:16It does and it just takes it.
08:18I don't know why, but it does.
08:19You've made it tough and hardy.
08:21Of course, like me.
08:27But this, your coral reef.
08:29Yes, this is my special little treasure.
08:32There's so many different textures and shapes
08:34and even colours.
08:36Absolutely.
08:36And many of them, I can remember where I got them.
08:40And so they're sort of...
08:41It's a bit like a family album.
08:43You can, you know, look at them
08:45and enjoy memories of where they came from.
08:49That's so sweet.
08:50So there's...
08:50You've got haworthias.
08:51There's, I think, a few aloes in there.
08:54And then agaves.
08:55Agaves are a real recurrent theme in your garden.
08:58They certainly are, yes.
08:59Absolutely.
09:00And so where does the name come from?
09:02What, the coral reef?
09:03Yeah.
09:03My imagination, really.
09:05Because on my very rare trip to the barrier reef,
09:09when you snorkel down
09:11and you see all those different corals
09:13and they're all moving
09:14and the colours and the textures,
09:17that's just what this reminds me of.
09:20As with most living things,
09:23occasionally something dies
09:24and then you've got to, you know,
09:26find something else to put in and...
09:28Gosh, where will you find something to put in?
09:30It's tough.
09:31It's tough.
09:32Tough, yeah.
09:32But somehow I manage.
09:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:37So with all these planting schemes,
09:39what does it bring to you?
09:41Untold treasure.
09:42And particularly at night.
09:44You know, when you're on your own
09:45and to come out here
09:47and look at all my friends,
09:51it just gives me tremendous joy.
09:59I love how Sancha has transformed her terrace
10:02from a multitude of scattered pots
10:04into a beautiful and intense display
10:06of form and texture.
10:08And even better,
10:09we can all think about using this technique at home.
10:12Whether you have a hot rooftop,
10:13an awkward slope or a bare backyard,
10:15it's a great solution.
10:22Where does cork come from?
10:25Well, cork is the bark of the cork oak tree.
10:29It's an evergreen tree from the Mediterranean.
10:32It grows to about 15 metres
10:34and you'll find it growing wild from Portugal to Italy
10:38and from Morocco to Tunisia.
10:40This tree grows in a dry temperate climate
10:44and the cork is harvested
10:46when the trees are about 25 years old.
10:49Sheets of bark are removed very carefully
10:52so it doesn't damage the tree.
10:54Once the harvest is over,
10:56it can be re-harvested every nine years.
10:59The best thing about cork
11:01is that it's fully recyclable.
11:04Can I put eucalyptus leaves in the compost?
11:07Gum leaves are in abundance
11:09and they're a great resource too good to go to waste.
11:13They reputedly have allelopathic properties,
11:16which means they contain chemicals
11:18which can inhibit the growth of other plants,
11:20but the more decayed they are,
11:22the weaker this effect.
11:24They can take a long time to break down,
11:26but if you let them dry out first,
11:28they can be crumbled up and spread throughout the compost
11:31or added in lightly with other materials
11:34so they don't form a thick layer.
11:36Now I think a better idea might be
11:38to make a pile of gum leaves on your lawn
11:41and run your mower over it.
11:42That'll chop them into fine pieces
11:44and they'll break down quicker.
11:46Now remember, when adding anything to your compost,
11:48it's all about the right balance of brown materials
11:51that are dry, including the eucalyptus leaves,
11:54and green materials that are fresh.
11:56And you need that balance
11:57to get the composting process happening properly.
12:01What kind of shade cloth do I need for my shade house?
12:04Throwing shade is a little more complicated
12:06than you might think.
12:07These are all shade cloths,
12:09and they all have different shading abilities.
12:11It's usually measured as a percentage.
12:14The higher the number, the more light it blocks,
12:16and the more shade it creates.
12:17This one's 30%.
12:19This one's 50%.
12:22This one's 70%.
12:25Choosing the right shade cloth depends on what you're growing
12:28and how much sunlight hits your structure.
12:31Forest orchids like Stanhopia grow naturally in deep shade,
12:35so they flower best under heavy shade cloth,
12:38often 70 to 90%.
12:40But orchids like soft cane dendrobiums,
12:43cilogyny, and cattleyas need brighter light to trigger flowers.
12:47So they prefer lighter shade cloth,
12:49around 40 to 60%.
12:51Shade cloth isn't a one-size-fits-all.
12:54Too much shade gives you leaves but no flowers.
12:57Too little shade and plants burn.
13:05Oh, fruit!
13:07Mm.
13:10Fresh off the tree.
13:12And how good has it been?
13:13Over the last couple of weeks,
13:15guest presenter Tan the Fruit Nerd
13:17has taken us on a tasting tour
13:21of some of the most unusual fruits grown around Australia.
13:25And guess what?
13:25The most unique-looking fruits on the planet.
13:29So if you want to grow a splash of edible colour at your place,
13:34then listen up.
13:36Mm.
13:36Yum.
13:37Yum.
13:49As a fruit nerd, I'm on a mission to get Aussie gardeners
13:52expanding their fruit and veggie horizons.
13:55And today, I want to show you a fruit with out-of-this-world skin,
13:59flesh, and flowers.
14:02Dragon fruit is named for its vibrant, spiky skin.
14:05It's the fruit of several climbing cactus species,
14:08native to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
14:13It's also known as pitaya and comes in red or white-fleshed varieties.
14:18It's cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions around the world
14:22and is extremely popular in Southeast Asia and China.
14:26Now, I'm a bit of a dragon fruit whisperer because my name is Tan,
14:30and in Vietnamese, the meaning of Tan Long is dragon fruit.
14:33Now, I can tell that this dragon fruit is really ripe,
14:36because the skin is really thin and smooth, and it's really plump.
14:41And the distance between these two fins is quite far.
14:44So I'm going to give it a harvest.
14:47Wow. Bountiful.
14:51And here in the Sunshine Coast hinterland,
14:54about 70 kilometres north of Brisbane,
14:56is a sweet spot for growing subtropical fruit.
14:59I'm near the superb Glasshouse Mountains,
15:01where the region's rich volcanic soils and subtropical climate
15:05makes it perfect for pineapples, avocados,
15:08but also lesser-known crops like dragon fruit.
15:12Karen Martin and her family have been growing dragon fruit here
15:15for close to two decades.
15:18Karen, there's a lot of healthy-looking dragon fruit plants here.
15:21How did you get into growing them?
15:22Well, we grow a number of subtropical fruit,
15:24lychees and custard apple,
15:26and we were looking for another type of plant
15:29that we could harvest at a different time of the year.
15:31Right.
15:32What kind of varieties of dragon fruit do you grow?
15:34We grow two varieties.
15:36We grow the white-flesh variety,
15:37and this is the red-flesh variety.
15:39And what kind of growing conditions do dragon fruit plants like?
15:43They like to grow in the subtropics.
15:45They grow from far north Queensland right down south,
15:48but they like the heat.
15:49They get an annual fertiliser.
15:51We mulch them as well,
15:52and they like a lot of water just before harvest time.
15:56And they're a climbing plant, right?
15:58Yes.
15:58The red variety love to grow on a trellis system.
16:02We have three wires, and we train the plants up the wires.
16:06It takes about two years to get a good structure.
16:08Right.
16:09And what about white dragon fruit?
16:10Well, they grow a little bit different.
16:11We can have a look at that if you like.
16:13All right, let's go.
16:13Yes.
16:20So, Tan, these are the white-flesh dragon fruit.
16:23They like to grow on a single post.
16:26As they grow up the post,
16:27they come out like an umbrella.
16:28It cascades down, and that's the way they like to grow.
16:31Now, I can see these white cacti look really spiky.
16:35They are, and these are the spikiest of the two varieties that we grow.
16:39I always wear long sleeves and gloves when I'm picking the fruit.
16:43I think it's time we give the whites and the reds a taste.
16:46I agree, Tan.
16:47There you go.
16:48This is amazing.
16:51All right, shall I give it a cut?
16:53Yes, go ahead.
16:54Let's do it.
16:56It looks beautiful.
16:57And it's just such a vibrant fruit.
17:00Easy in a fruit salad.
17:01And for those who, you know, are a bit wary about, you know,
17:04it being a difficult fruit to handle,
17:06it's basically just like a watermelon.
17:08Yeah, you slice it open, scoop it out with a spoon,
17:11or cut it into wedges.
17:13It's so easy.
17:15Just peel the fruit back.
17:20Delicious.
17:21It is.
17:22Very juicy.
17:23And I love the crunchy pulps when you bite into the seeds.
17:26It's very textual.
17:27And it's like a fruit salad taste.
17:29People say it has a subtle flavour, but I like that really gentle tanginess.
17:34Let's try the red.
17:35Let's try the red, yeah.
17:36Oh, check out the vibrancy.
17:38That is such a stunning colour.
17:40The juice is all over the board,
17:41and it feels like it's much more juicier than the white.
17:44Yes, they are.
17:45They are.
17:46Wow, the pigmentation.
17:50There's so much more aroma and perfume in this dragon fruit.
17:54It's really floral.
17:56Oh, that is stunning flavour.
17:57What a delicious, healthy snack.
18:00They really look otherworldly, don't they?
18:02Yes, they do.
18:03Wait till you try it with lime, though.
18:08Mmm.
18:10I like that.
18:12I'm going to keep that tip.
18:15Karen, I hear that your family have a nickname for you.
18:19Well, it's more my husband.
18:20He likes to call me the dragon lady.
18:22I love that.
18:24Now, as the dragon lady, what should home gardeners look out for if they're keen to grow a dragon fruit
18:29plant?
18:30There's a few tips that home gardeners can take on board.
18:33The first one is deciding which variety they want to grow.
18:37The second one is, once you've worked that out, what infrastructure you're going to be needing for that, whether it's
18:42posts or posts and trellis.
18:44You need space in your home garden because the plants will grow quite big.
18:50You'd at least need a two metre radius.
18:52It needs to be in full sun.
18:54And you need to give it a good dose of water.
18:58Although it's a cactus, during the flowering and the fruiting part of the season, they like a lot of water
19:04and that helps get the size of the fruit.
19:06But they're a pretty resilient sort of plant.
19:09Now, along with their very striking looks, there's another side to dragon fruit, isn't there?
19:13Yes, it's a spectacular show of flowers and they come on usually of an afternoon and they are open through
19:23the night and they're pollinated through that evening.
19:27And by the next morning, they've wilted and they'll start that process of developing fruit because it's all timed by
19:34the moon phases.
19:34So often of a night time will come out when it's a full moon.
19:40They look like lights, but it's the flower that's there and they're just hundreds and hundreds of flowers.
19:45It's really spectacular.
19:46I'm going to have to come here during the full moon time.
19:48Yes.
19:49What's remarkable about the flower is the size.
19:52It's about 30 centimetres in diameter, about the size of a dinner plate.
19:56And it's very delicate flower.
19:58And when you first come across that of a morning, you'll see hundreds of honeybees, native bees, beetles, flies.
20:08Everything that can go in there, just love rolling around in that pollen.
20:12Looking right inside the flower, it's quite an experience, yeah.
20:16It's an event.
20:16It is, it is, yeah.
20:19How often do you need to prune the dragon fruit?
20:21They're pruned once a year in about August.
20:24And how about propagation?
20:26Very, very easy.
20:27So what we'll do when we're pruning, we will take them off, let them dry out a bit,
20:33put it into the soil with a small stake and away you go.
20:36You just need a bit of sun and a bit of patience.
20:38You do, you do.
20:39Here's one I cut about three weeks ago.
20:41It's starting to grow shoots already.
20:44Why don't you take that home and you can grow it.
20:46I'm going to give it a try.
20:52For us, it's been an experience of learning what the plant does,
20:57experience with the flowers and what to do with the fruit, how to eat it.
21:01In Australia, it hasn't been a very well-known fruit.
21:04So if home gardeners are interested in growing the plant, it's not difficult to grow.
21:09It's a little spiky, but lots of other things are spiky in life as well.
21:14So says the dragon lady.
21:27Us gardeners know as the temperature drops, the gardening action fires up.
21:33At her place in chilly Hobart, Hannah can't wait to get things cranky.
21:54Autumn is such a great time in the garden because there's so many fun jobs to do before the winter
22:00chill kicks in.
22:01Top of my list today is the plan for future pops of colour.
22:05And here, the clue.
22:10It's no secret I'm a huge fan of the colour pink.
22:14Look around and it's hard to miss.
22:17Pink flowers.
22:19Our pink house.
22:22And even pink hair.
22:27So what's not to love about a pink flowering feature tree?
22:32I reckon every garden needs at least one statement tree.
22:37And while my garden has a whole lot of trees which I love, I haven't actually got a feature tree.
22:42So today, I'm going to plant a hot pink number.
22:47It's a crepe myrtle and it's going in right at our front gate.
22:51So it can be our welcome tree every time we come home.
22:58Crepe myrtles are great trees.
23:00They thrive in a variety of climates and soil types, can get by on little water,
23:06and have the triple appeal of long-lasting flowers, autumnal colour as the leaves drop,
23:11and shiny, iridescent bark when the leaves have fallen.
23:15And they generally don't get too big, usually topping out at between 4 or 5 metres.
23:21Plant breeders have been hard at work and these days, crepe myrtles are available in a variety of shapes and
23:27colours.
23:28There's a real rainbow from white, lavender, reds and, you guessed it, multiple shades of pink.
23:42Autumn is a great time to plant trees, as there's still some warmth in the soil,
23:46but none of the heat stress that can come in the warmer months.
23:50I'm digging a hole as wide as the pot the crepe myrtles in, and a little bit deeper.
23:55Plus, I'm sloping the edges, it's almost a wok shape that I'm after.
24:00Before the plant goes in, I'm watering well to help give it a good head start.
24:05I'm going to gently nurse the tree out of the pot.
24:09Oh, yeah, and you can see it's got quite a lot of roots there.
24:12It's a little bit root bound.
24:14We're going to give it a tickle, which is another way of saying give it a root prune,
24:20and that will help activate more growth in its new home.
24:29And now I'm back filling.
24:38Add a bit more water, and there you go.
24:41Over the next couple of years, it's going to spring into hot pink blooms,
24:45ready to welcome everybody into our garden.
24:47I can't wait to watch it grow.
24:52So next on my list, they're not pink, but they will be a lovely shade of purple,
24:57and my two young wisteria vines, which are ready for a bit of autumn TLC.
25:03Now these two vines, they've only been in the ground for around one year,
25:07so they're very young.
25:08So right now, it's more about training them to make my life easier later on,
25:12and some minor pruning to make sure I get a good array of flowers.
25:17When you're using a ladder, safety is always number one.
25:20Make sure it's on flat, stable ground.
25:23If you're going up really high, it's worth tying it down up top if you can.
25:28Come on, love.
25:30And to be extra safe, get someone to hold the ladder to make sure it's nice and steady.
25:36Today, I've got my sweetheart Anton helping.
25:39Never climb past the second highest ladder rung,
25:41and never straddle the top of an A-frame ladder.
25:44I'm pruning off the dead wood and some of the wispy bits.
25:49Wisteria's flower on second year wood.
25:51So prune the existing growth back to around four leaves,
25:54or 150 millimetres from the old stem,
25:56and this is where the new flower buds will form.
25:59I'm twisting the vines around a steel rod
26:02in the direction that I want them to grow in.
26:05Lastly, I'm using a bit of jute twine to tie them down
26:08to make sure they're nice and secure.
26:18Last on my autumn job list is to dig up and store some of my dahlia tubers.
26:23I went big on dahlia this year, planting many dozens.
26:27And you guessed it, some of them were pink.
26:30But their glory has well and truly died back now,
26:34leaving just the underground tubers,
26:36which I'm about to dig up and store safely until we replant them in spring.
26:42In warmer climates, dahlia tubers will generally survive the winter in the ground
26:47and come back year after year.
26:49You only really dig them up in order to subdivide them to make new plants.
26:54But in climates with wet and long winters,
26:57it's safer to lift and store your dahlias
27:00to prevent them from rotting in the cold, wet conditions.
27:04I can just ease the whole crump out nice and gently
27:08because they're quite brittle.
27:09They can break quite easily.
27:11Oh!
27:11And then you can have a look to see how many you've got in here.
27:17You've got lots of tubers.
27:19I'm going to work all this soil off,
27:21let them dry out in the sun for a couple of days or so.
27:25Then I'll gently separate them and store them in a bucket of sawdust
27:29in my cool and dry and dark shed.
27:35When you're dividing your dry tubers,
27:38you want each tuber to have at least one eye.
27:42That's this little bump here and that's where the growth point is.
27:46Come spring, I'm going to plant all these back into the garden again
27:49where there's going to be a flurry of blossoms overwhelming the garden
27:53with lots of colours including pinks.
28:13I just want to hug these camellias
28:16because I've got this wonderful relationship with them.
28:20It's in the Camellia Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney
28:25and about nine years ago,
28:27I had the opportunity to do a pruning workshop
28:30for a lot of the apprentices and a couple of the staff here
28:34around how to do a structural prune on camellias
28:39because what had happened,
28:40they hadn't been pruned for many, many years
28:43and they'd all grown really big.
28:45They'd created this wall of foliage
28:47so that when you enter the gardens at the top gate there,
28:50you couldn't even see the beautiful old conservatory.
28:54And the idea was twofold.
28:57They wanted to open up the view.
28:59But the main thing was to bring the camellias down
29:03so that visitors to the gardens could appreciate the flowers.
29:09Now, a botanic gardens is an educational space.
29:13You want to be able to see a flower, get inspired and say,
29:16wow, I'd love one of these at my place.
29:19So that meant going in hard.
29:21And a structural prune is one of those things.
29:23And if you come in here with your historian's hat on,
29:28you can see exactly where these hard prunes took place.
29:32And we basically cut these camellias back to just four or five branches
29:38in the shape of a vase.
29:42Now, these ones, after their big structural prune, look at what it's done.
29:46It's bushed them out.
29:48Over the years, the staff have kept them down.
29:52And each year you get all this beautiful new lime green growth
29:57from which you'll get new buds that then produce the flowers
30:03that everyone wants to see.
30:05People will be able to come up to them and say,
30:07oh, right, what's this one?
30:09This is the Aspasia macarthur.
30:12And then from your garden point of view,
30:15there's no reason why you can't have a featured japonica like this,
30:19but keep it down in a garden bed with other things growing around it,
30:23like these ones are now.
30:25But if you wanted, the other thing you could do
30:29is take out the lower branches, which is something we call crown lifting.
30:35And that way, if that was in a courtyard or a small space,
30:38you could have a table and chairs underneath it.
30:41You can actually sit down and appreciate the canopy, get the shade,
30:46but at the same time, look out through the leaves and the flowers.
30:50So there's plenty you can do with camellias.
30:53And I think the most important thing is don't be afraid.
30:56A tough prune, a bit of tough love will bring awesome results.
31:04Still to come on Gardening Australia,
31:08Clarence bangs the drum.
31:11We visit a garden that's a cool climate centrepiece
31:15and we get you working with your jobs for the weekend.
31:25Protecting Australia's biosecurity is important stuff
31:29and we need all the help we can get.
31:32Over in Perth, Josh has found a few furry friends
31:37and they're doing their bit to help preserve our precious natural heritage.
31:47This looks like a typical morning at Perth's Kings Park.
31:51Dogs on a lead, being taken out to stretch their legs.
31:54But this is no ordinary walk in the park,
31:57with arguably the cutest gang of hounds you're likely to see.
32:01The cuteness is actually a disguise.
32:05These are working dogs with a very specific job description.
32:09And this is a big day for them.
32:14Dr Kylie Ireland also has a very specific job description.
32:18There you go, what are we looking at today?
32:20As the Plant Diseases Program Leader
32:22for WA's Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,
32:27Kylie is a plant pathologist leading a team
32:30on a mission to protect local flora from biological threats.
32:35Combating plant dieback, a slow killer of plants,
32:38is one of the team's most challenging assignments.
32:42Phytophora dieback is the disease
32:43and it's caused by a little pathogen called Phytophora cinnamomai
32:47and it's a water mould, so it actually isn't a fungus.
32:50It's more closely related to brown algae.
32:52And so it creates these amazing little motile zoospores
32:56that can swim and infect roots
32:58and start to cause all that damage in a tree.
33:06Effectively it's choking up the whole kind of vascular system of the plant
33:10and affecting the fine roots and the roots of the plants.
33:13They just can't get the water and everything up there
33:15to actually keep it alive.
33:16So that's what we often see is those first plants
33:19starting to die off in that landscape
33:21and we have a sweeter species.
33:24Some are more susceptible than others.
33:25So those are what we call our indicators.
33:28So if we see them starting to flag,
33:30then there's a good indicator that it's in that system.
33:33So we find Phytophora cinnamomai in every state
33:36except the Northern Territory.
33:37So where you get higher rainfall,
33:39you get bigger problems with Phytophora cinnamomai.
33:41Places like WA it's known as the biological bulldozer
33:45because effectively it hits so many species it comes through like a front.
33:49And certainly down in the southwest we see very clear lines of where it's been
33:53and where it hasn't been.
33:54And it's present at Kings Park, isn't it?
33:56It is unfortunately.
33:58The banksia garden at some point, something's come in and contaminated that area.
34:02But just across the way is the threatened species bed and it's clear.
34:06In WA we have what we call registered dieback interpreters
34:09and they're effectively reading the landscape.
34:11So they go around with a GPS, they map where those plants are dying
34:15and then they produce a map which you can use to manage.
34:18So if you're going in there for forestry or if you're going in there for mining
34:22or you want to put a trail in, you can start to plan where you would put it
34:26to reduce the risk of spreading further dieback.
34:29Is there an easier way to do it?
34:31Well, we think there might be.
34:32And so as soon as we found out the dogs might be able to sniff out Phytophora,
34:36we were like, oh wow, how could this work?
34:42And the research has been really amazing.
34:44They look like they're accurate.
34:46They look like they're way quicker than the lab.
34:48So the lab's like two weeks and we're dealing with maybe minutes with the dogs.
34:52So we're really excited now to be welcoming three new little puppies into our team.
34:57So our dear dieback interpreters, they won't be out of jobs necessarily,
35:01but they'll still be looking for all the other evidence.
35:04But the dogs can take that nose evidence and we can add that to all of that mapping we do
35:09to understand where the dogs think it is in the landscape and build a better picture.
35:14And also we've had some really dry conditions, some really horrible conditions for our vegetation.
35:19We can't map there very effectively anymore.
35:22But the dogs with their noses might actually be the trick.
35:29Their heightened sense of smell is setting these dogs on a very important career path.
35:35Animal trainer Ryan Tate and his team have put the pooches through detection school at their New South Wales base.
35:41And today these canine graduates are ready for work in WA.
35:47So what makes dogs so well suited to the task?
35:51Ah, so the dog's nose is essentially how they see the world.
35:54So they've got 40 times more olfactory receptors than we do.
35:58And the part of their brain that's designated to looking for smell is 40 times bigger than ours.
36:03So you're talking at factors of, you know, one drop in 20 swimming pools, they can sort of smell those
36:10kind of differences.
36:11Parts per trillion.
36:12Fine.
36:12Nice, mate.
36:13What the dogs are doing when they're working through the environment is they'll work in basically an area where it's
36:19negative, right?
36:20So there's nothing they can smell.
36:21And they're searching the air for a single volatile organic compound of phytostero.
36:27So they're searching the air for particles.
36:29As soon as they find one particle, they then want to work through what we call like a plume or
36:34a scent cone and work out where there's more and more and more.
36:37Until they work out, I'm as close as I can possibly be to the strongest part of phytostero, which is
36:43usually near like a dying banksia or something like that.
36:46And that's where the dog freezes and says, I believe I'm as close as I can be to the strongest
36:51part of phytostero.
36:52And that's where the handler is, you know, usually going to mark and reward their dog there.
36:59Yes!
37:00Oh, good boy!
37:02Yes!
37:05The dogs are really useful at helping us zone in where we take our samples from.
37:09So even if they bump up our strike rate a little bit, we're saving our lab technicians time by sending
37:15them fewer negative samples.
37:21Yes!
37:21Yes!
37:21That's what I'm after!
37:23Good girl!
37:24How accurate are these furry finders of phytophthora?
37:28Kylie says the lab results only confirm that these dogs are seriously good at this.
37:34But we're excited about the dogs because if we know that they're mostly correct most of the time, we can
37:38say we're confident in that and actually reduce the number of samples we're popping through the lab.
37:43The way we verify whether phytophthora is in that system is the dieback interpreters will take samples from the best
37:48spot they can find.
37:51We put it into a tub.
37:53You cover it with water.
37:55And because it's a water mould, what happens is that stimulates the spores to actually start swimming up.
38:00And we have little leaves and things like that on the top, which it then infects.
38:04And we isolate that in the lab.
38:06For now, detection, identification and containment are our only defences against phytophthora dieback.
38:14Everyone can play a role with limiting the spread of dieback.
38:17So it spreads in like soil and plant matter.
38:19And so any time you're out hiking or anything like that, basically practising come clean, go clean.
38:25And I always say be mindful in between as well.
38:28So being really mindful of your vehicles, of your bikes.
38:31If you're a horse rider as well, you've even got to watch those feet.
38:35Look at your boots and you're like, OK, there's no soil on there.
38:38Or if there is, grabbing a really good brush, give me a good brush down.
38:41So anything that can carry soil, making sure that it's clean as you go into an area and then as
38:46you leave as well.
38:47Science and technology have never been more advanced.
38:51Yet nothing comes close to the sensitivity and sophistication of a dog's snout.
38:57Add dieback detection to a growing list of credentials and dogs really are our best friends.
39:10Gardening gives us a chance to get creative, turn bits and pieces into something that we need.
39:16Of course, you can buy it off the shelf.
39:19But when you put some elbow grease into it, skin into the game,
39:23suddenly you're creating something that's unique, one of a kind.
39:28And I reckon this next project of Clarence's, well, it's just shot to the very top of my to-do
39:35list.
39:38Doesn't matter where you are. Doesn't matter what you're made of.
39:42Aussie conditions take their toll.
39:46Look at me, barely 30.
39:48Lucky, the rusty weathered look works well in a native garden.
39:52With the right planters, the right native plants, you can do it yourself.
39:57When it comes to rusty garden planters, you can spend as much as you like on Nexi options made from
40:03Core 10.
40:04A kind of steel protected by a layer of rust.
40:07So I've gone with the classic 44-gallon drum.
40:10This drum is from a trusted reseller, so I know it's safe to plant into.
40:14And it takes about an hour to split with an angle grinder.
40:17Personally, I love the look of a rusted 44-gallon drum.
40:20You can buy these for about 25 bucks, and these will eventually rust.
40:25But if you are in a hurry, there are a few tips and tricks.
40:29First, scrape off some of the paint.
40:32A wire brush and a drill bit.
40:34Flat disc on a grinder.
40:36Whatever you like. Just be careful.
40:38Have a think about the aesthetic.
40:40You want all over rust, one side rust, dings, patches, your dog's name.
40:46Go crazy. Do whatever you like.
40:48Alright.
40:4944-gallon drums come with lids, which are great if you want to keep your planter contained.
40:53You just need plenty of drainage holes.
40:56I'm doing 20 holes in this small one, 10 in the big one.
40:59You'll find out why very soon.
41:02With the paint gone, you might see some rust in the next couple of days.
41:07If you want to speed up the process, there's nothing like a bit of chemistry.
41:10We take vinegar, a little bit of nappy sand and salt.
41:15The reaction? Let's wait and see.
41:19It will froth, but fresh is best for fast results.
41:25Spray it liberally on all the abrasions.
41:27Rust is just iron getting too friendly with oxygen.
41:30And this is an oxygen-rich solution.
41:32And with any luck, we will see rust fast.
41:39And while I'm waiting, I'll gather some plants for two different habitats.
41:44One's kind of swampy, the other more arid.
41:46My two brand-new rusty planters.
41:50Alright.
41:51Well, it's only been about an hour.
41:53This is working an absolute treat. Chemistry, eh?
41:56Now, before we plant these up, we've really got to give some thought
41:59to where to put them because they're going to be super heavy.
42:01This one, we can probably manage to move around.
42:03This one, there's a lot of weight going to be in here once we put the soil in.
42:07It's going to be anywhere between 100 and 200 kegs.
42:10This one, probably going to be about 50.
42:12This one, we're going to have more of the swamp sort of feel,
42:16so it'll stay a bit more moist.
42:18Plus, only the 10 holes.
42:19This one, drier, hotter, 20 holes.
42:23All comes clean in the wash.
42:26When you're happy with your container's position,
42:29add plenty of native potting mix.
42:33You'll need six 30-litre bags between these two planters
42:37before the first is ready for its feature plant.
42:42Now, the feature plant swamp banksia.
42:46Perfect.
42:47A little bit more moisture in the soil, as the name suggests, obviously.
42:51Grows in the swamp.
42:51But the flowers, as they start to form, almost iridescent green.
42:56Just beautiful.
42:57What's nothing like about banksias?
42:59Along with our feature plant, we've got a little WA native.
43:03This is a velvet rush.
43:05These beautiful, lovely, chocolatey flower heads on top.
43:09Well, they're really seed heads, but they look like flowers.
43:12Good contrast with form.
43:14And another contrast, the soft, beautiful coppery,
43:19sometimes almost red foliage of the leprosperm of copper glow.
43:24It will bush out quite a bit,
43:25so it'll really keep a nice understory below our feature plant
43:30and our nice tall rush.
43:32Our drier pot, we're going to go with the beautiful baronias.
43:36And this is baronia heaven scent.
43:38Beautiful, dusky pink flowers.
43:41The aroma from the flowers of this, even the foliage, absolutely stunning.
43:45Along with this one, which is another baronia.
43:48This is baronia dark prince.
43:50More of a deep plum-coloured flower once it starts doing its thing.
43:54And then to top that off, this absolutely stunning Lassia petalum bronze velvet.
44:00Gorgeous foliage that'll cascade over the edge of our pot.
44:04And these little delicate flowers that just give it that really beautiful bronze velvet,
44:10as the name suggests.
44:11But to really tie these two pots together, real burst of colour.
44:16What could go better than a couple of paper daisies?
44:20Putting a bit of pizzazz, a little bit of colour, a little bit of oomph.
44:24That'll look an absolute treat.
44:26I'll get to planting. Once they're done, we'll see what they look like.
44:30Sun and drought tolerance has seen a lot of Aussie plants evolve muted tones in flowers and foliage.
44:36And these work great in rusty planters. You really can't go wrong.
44:40Plants like grevilleas, gums, acacias and melaleucas.
44:43Your drums will look so sharp, you'll want to take precautions.
44:47Now if you are worried about sharp edges, grab a bit of old hose, slice it down the middle.
44:53It works perfectly as an edge.
44:57Now it's nice and smooth and soft.
45:00Doesn't look too bad.
45:03Well, I am unbelievably excited about how well these have turned out.
45:08The science of the rust, the colour, the form, these different species are really setting each other off.
45:14A little taste of Australia right here in recycled 44-gallon drums.
45:21Nothing more Aussie than that.
45:32Gardening makes you think about time.
45:34Some of the things you plant today will live on long after you've gone.
45:40And sometimes you care for a garden only for a brief period of time.
45:47The plants were there before you and they'll live on into the future.
45:52Our next story takes us to Tasmania, where one gardener is carefully guiding something precious into its next era.
46:21I'm Dinah and I live here with my husband Philip, Ruby and Ginger, two Vizslas.
46:28We're here at Killane, which is on the edge of Westbury, a village in the north of Tasmania.
46:37I think it was named after Killane Castle on the west coast of Scotland.
46:42It's just a fabulous place to live.
46:46This property was built in the 1840s and it was on a block 40 acres and we still have 32
46:56acres of that original property.
47:00It's been passed down through many families, many people.
47:06Killane has a really wonderful history.
47:11The garden is about 10 acres and we irrigate 10 acres.
47:16Of course, there's the lake, which takes up about three of those 10 acres.
47:21So it's a big garden, some historic areas, some much newer areas.
47:26When I came here, we had some original trees, probably planted when the house was first built.
47:38Over the 13 years that I've been here, we've watched these trees grow and grow.
47:44They've just flourished.
47:46This tree here is a sequoia.
47:49It's not an original.
47:50It was planted in 1878.
47:52It has its roots in the lake, so it has plenty of water and plenty of space to grow.
47:58So it is a beautiful example of a sequoia dendron or what we call Wellingtonia pine.
48:06They're absolutely beautiful trees.
48:13This is one of my favourite trees.
48:18It's the Indian bean tree, Katalpa biganoides.
48:23We think this is about 110 years old.
48:27And these are the beans.
48:29They're not edible, but they're the seed pods.
48:32It's a beautiful tree for summer because it gives this very comfortable, cool shade.
48:39And it flowers at Christmas time, usually on the 23rd of December, which is very handy because that's where we
48:48have our Christmas lunch.
48:49So a perfect tree for a big garden.
48:57We grew up in Hobart on a small property on the Eastern Shore and I've always enjoyed those days.
49:04And we went to live in England for 12 years.
49:08And there, of course, there are so many beautiful gardens.
49:13And then when I came back, I just didn't have time for gardening.
49:18I worked for 40 years full time and it was hard to build gardening into my time.
49:24But I was always interested and started to see gardening as the thing that I'd probably want to do as
49:33I retire.
49:35The two gardeners before me were avid tree people.
49:40They planted beautifully.
49:42They could see visions of trees as they got bigger.
49:46So I took it upon myself not to plant any more trees because I think we've got enough and tried
49:53to fill in that understory.
49:56And I always loved woodland plants.
50:01When we came, we had a few hydrangeas in a beautiful bed, which we can see from the house and
50:09the veranda.
50:10You know, hydrangeas probably to me were a bit old fashioned, but I did go to a lecture by a
50:19garden designer who said,
50:20don't follow fashion.
50:23Look at what survives in gardens.
50:27And he said hydrangeas.
50:31This is just an ordinary mop top and another type of hydrangea here.
50:38They do well because it's the south side of the house.
50:42They don't get direct sun and we give them plenty of water.
50:47And I think the soil is just perfect pH for them.
50:51One of the things we have to think about is pests.
50:56We have deer visit the garden very regularly.
50:59We have possums, wallaby, rabbits, hares.
51:03So I've found over the years that hydrangeas just don't get eaten.
51:08Things like this big ears don't get eaten.
51:11So really what's here in the garden is the things that will survive.
51:17Learning to live with that is part of gardening.
51:26When you're the owner of a beautiful garden like this, you often think about the people who've lived here and
51:32what they thought and how they did things.
51:38Very fortunate that the Lakers bought the property in the mid 60s.
51:43Dr. Laker and his wife were avid gardeners all their life and they really did put a lot of the
51:50bones back into the garden.
51:53And I'm thrilled to bits to have Judy come to see the garden and she hasn't seen it for 25
52:01years.
52:03Hi Judy.
52:05How are you?
52:06Good.
52:07Welcome back to Collette.
52:09Lovely to see you.
52:12So how does it feel?
52:14I was really concerned about coming back as to what would have changed, what has, you know, maybe not been
52:21looked after, but that's certainly not the case.
52:23It's wonderful to see that the garden has continued and grown from when I was here because basically it was
52:30nothing.
52:31There were the lovely old trees, but there was really no garden to speak of.
52:36And when I left, the garden Father had created and of course that included all the lake and the landscaping
52:43there.
52:43It was immense.
52:44How did the lake come to be?
52:46We were kids and all of a sudden it just happened.
52:49In came the bulldozers and they took that field right out and made the dam wall with that.
52:57So Judy, tell us about the oak tree, this tree over here, because it's one of my favourites.
53:05Well, Diana, I think this tree is one of the most unforgettable of my childhood.
53:11We just loved it.
53:14And I think it's very old.
53:16It would have been one of the first trees on the property, I'd say.
53:19I would think so.
53:20And that makes it probably 180 years old.
53:24So it's amazing.
53:25It's amazing.
53:26It's a magnificent tree.
53:28You really do feel you're here just to look after it for the next people.
53:34And hopefully you don't change things too much.
53:39That there were no trees and you could see straight through to Westbury there.
53:43Yes.
53:44No, it's incredible.
53:46It's amazing to think how you can create a forest.
53:49I know.
53:51Look at the liquid amber.
53:53Liquid amber.
53:54So I'm very fortunate to be the custodian, even if it's only for a few years.
54:14Roll up the sleeves and grab the hoe.
54:18Your jobs for the weekend are here.
54:25Cool temperate gardeners, it's time to prepare for bare rooting.
54:29Add some well-rotted manures and compost to your patch, dig over,
54:33and in a month or two you'll be prepped for planting bare root fruit trees.
54:38Keep your compost cosy in the cooler weather and chuck in some comfrey,
54:42a cracker for adding heat to your heap.
54:45A sprinkle or two of some blood and bone will also work wonders.
54:49If sawfly larvae are clustering and attacking the foliage of your young native plants,
54:54carefully cut off the small branchlets that harbour colonies and bung them in the bin.
55:00In warm temperate gardens, it's time to harvest persimmon fruits.
55:05Non-astringent varieties can be eaten straight away,
55:08but let astringent fruits go soft and squishy before tucking in.
55:12I love them!
55:14It's a ripper time to transplant evergreen trees.
55:17The milder conditions mean they're less likely to suffer stress
55:21and will re-establish readily, rocketing away once the weather warms.
55:26The cooler, wetter weather sees snails and slugs up and about.
55:31Protect young seedlings and vulnerable plants with a beer trap.
55:35In the subtropics, if you haven't planted onions yet, don't cry.
55:39You can still get them in.
55:41Go for early varieties that thrive in warmer climates,
55:44like gladiline brown or barletta for pickling.
55:48Have a grow of quazontal.
55:50The leaves are an Aztec delicacy and spinach substitute,
55:54and the buds can be deep fried for a crispy treat.
55:57So now, they'll be ready to harvest in seven weeks.
56:02Prune your pandaria.
56:03They'll respond really well to a hard haircut,
56:06and if you remove seed pods and spent flowers,
56:09this colourful climber will bounce back beautifully.
56:13In tropical gardens, have a go at some unusual heat-loving perennial greens
56:18like Okinawa spinach, Brazilian spinach and sambung.
56:21Easy to grow and good for you.
56:24Keep an eye out for Japanese honeysuckle
56:26and give it the chop before it sets seed.
56:29It's now a serious invader of native bushland,
56:32so do your bit and bin your prunings.
56:35Did you know that Australia has a native gardenia?
56:38This tall shrub to small tree has fragrant flowers in the spring
56:42and delicious fruits in the winter.
56:44Find a spot in your garden for this stunner.
56:48Ornamental, tough, fast-growing, local and lemony.
56:53What's not to love about native lemongrass?
56:55Perfect for arid gardens, plant one out at your place
56:58where you can enjoy the fragrant foliage.
57:01It's time to give your strawberries a sweet start
57:04and sow some seed into propagation mix.
57:06Keep them under cover or indoors in a seed tray
57:10and you'll be ready to transplant in four weeks.
57:14Leshenaltia are blooming now
57:15and come in a range of full-on colours.
57:18These tough natives are hot in hanging baskets or pots
57:22and will reward you with masses of flowers for months.
57:26Get out there and have a great weekend in the garden.
57:29And if you're craving more content,
57:31head over to our Gardening Australia YouTube channel.
57:41Well, that's everything we've got in the seed packet for this week.
57:45But there's plenty more coming next time.
57:48Let's take a sneak peek.
57:53I am getting down and dirty and learning everything there is to know
57:57about growing one of the world's most popular vegetables.
58:03I'm checking out some more unusual native plants
58:06that you may not be familiar with, but they're all perfect
58:09for creating a beautiful layered urban garden.
58:13And we meet a gardener killing the competition.
58:19Everyone say yes!
58:22Yes!
58:23We are very much here for them!
58:26It's like, you know, this is a little bit more you can't see.
58:27You can't see a little bit more of them.
58:27You can see the Beebill on the garden at the bottom.
58:27You can see the Red-Hits WordPress podcast on the garden.
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