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00:05Hey!
00:06Hey! Hi!
00:11Whoa!
00:17Hey!
00:19Hi, mate.
00:21Hey!
00:33Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:36We have got just what you want this week.
00:40Some inspiration.
00:42Some expert tips.
00:43And a little bit of garden DIY.
00:47Hmm. I think I'll take the lot.
00:51Here's what's coming up.
00:55I'm playing with a technique that is literally
00:57as old as the hills, but
00:59it can be contained enough to fit on a balcony.
01:02I've had
01:03a lifelong love for begonias
01:05and the reason is obvious.
01:07They're drop-deck gorgeous and
01:09they're easy to propagate.
01:11I'm hoping to infect you
01:13with a similar love for these
01:15wonderful plants.
01:17I'm joining a volunteer crew
01:19to help harvest tons of fruit
01:21from orchards and gardens that would otherwise
01:23go to waste.
01:24And all this fresh produce is going directly
01:27to people in need.
01:29And we visit the home garden
01:31of a restoration ecologist.
01:34I absolutely love grasses.
01:35They provide different shapes
01:38and forms and texture and movement.
01:50It's a typical morning
01:52in a quiet backwater
01:53of Sydney's inner west.
01:58I'm in Balmain.
02:00Wongle country.
02:02Gotta love it.
02:03It feels like I'm miles from the city centre.
02:06But Balmain
02:07is a bit unusual.
02:09The way that Sydney wraps around
02:11the harbour, the city is actually
02:13just over there.
02:14I could reach out and touch it.
02:20Balmain has always been a desirable location,
02:24and not just now,
02:25since the early colonial times.
02:28And one of the last remaining mansions
02:31from that period,
02:33well, it has a garden that needs to be seen.
02:42I've been invited to Ewenton,
02:46the home of Sue and John Yannickas.
02:50And these extraordinary gardens
02:52are maintained by expert landscaper,
02:55Emile Van Eweck.
02:58Ah, here you are.
02:59Hi, Yasu.
03:00How are you?
03:01Hi.
03:02Good to see you.
03:04Emile.
03:04Yeah.
03:05How are you doing?
03:06Walking up from the waterfront.
03:07It's just spectacular.
03:09How old is the house?
03:11About 1850s.
03:13And have you been here since then?
03:15Feels like it.
03:16Feels like it.
03:17Spiritually.
03:18No.
03:18Well, we came 35 years ago.
03:23Actually, I trespassed to get in here.
03:25It was a derelict home.
03:26It hadn't been lived in for half a century.
03:29Then there was the fire.
03:31It's fair to say Sue and John saved Ewenton and brought it back to its best.
03:38So how big is the entire site?
03:41It's over 2,200 square metres.
03:44Ooh.
03:45That's plenty of space for garden.
03:47How much of the site is taken up by garden?
03:50About two thirds.
03:51Yeah.
03:52It's quite large.
03:54What do you love about it?
03:56Everything.
03:57Yeah.
03:58It's a foliage garden.
03:59So, yeah.
04:01We can take you through it.
04:02I'd love to have a look.
04:03Do you mind if I go for it?
04:05No, no, no.
04:05You go off.
04:06We'll catch up later.
04:07Good to see you.
04:09The gardens at Ewenton wrap right around the house.
04:13This formal garden and lawn face east, in front of what is actually the rear of the house.
04:20Gardens run up both the north and south sides.
04:24Then, from the west, the Grand Coachway Drive sweeps past silhouettes of every kind
04:31to arrive at the front of the house in a blaze of colour, pattern and Victorian-era symmetry.
04:41But this garden is not for the faint-hearted.
04:46Take a few steps through Ewenton.
04:48Oh, the light has changed here.
04:51Yeah, it's fantastic.
04:52And you're in a different microclimate.
04:55I mean, the feel here is, like, lush and really tropical.
05:00Yeah, it's a really good mix between subtropic and perennials.
05:04For a garden like this, what sort of hours are you putting in to maintain it?
05:10We're here about once a fortnight for a full day and there's three of us.
05:16So, it is quite labour intensive.
05:19How long have you been working here on the garden?
05:22I've been here about 13 years.
05:25Yeah.
05:26What's some of the biggest challenges in this specific garden?
05:30I would say the ones that were standing under.
05:35Canthor laurels.
05:36Yeah.
05:38Generally, they're deemed to be a weed.
05:41Yes.
05:41Have they faced removal or what's the story with them?
05:45No, they're actually heritage listed along with the house.
05:49And they are the structural piece of the garden.
05:52But they cut off the light and they poison the ground.
05:57The leaves of the camphor laurel tree are what's called allelopathic.
06:01When they fall on the ground, they release compounds
06:04which prevent other plants from growing.
06:07So, our tricks are we actually remove the leaves and dispose of them,
06:12and then we bring in compost.
06:13So, we bring in about this garden alone, just for these two,
06:18about 12 ton each year.
06:20That keeps the soil rich enough to feed all the other plants.
06:24Yes, yes.
06:26If you're growing anything under a camphor laurel, you're doing well.
06:30Yet these beds are thriving at every level.
06:36Oh, look at this space here.
06:38Most people would feel intimidated when it comes to trying to grow in shade on a slope,
06:45let alone under a camphor.
06:48Because with a big tree, you end up with this high ceiling and nothing in between.
06:56How have you created this scale to bring it down and make it feel more cosy?
07:01Well, we've layered it through palms.
07:04So, we have the Washingtonias, we have the Shamiodora,
07:08we have the Robolenniais, and we have the tree fern as well.
07:11So, we've kind of layered that in all different sections through the garden.
07:15And then we've got the Spathyphylums with the Drostricta, the Clivia,
07:20and basically it all just kind of blends into like a bouquet of foliage.
07:24With your feature, ginger's really like popping its head through.
07:30Where did you begin to select the pallet of plants that you've succeeded with?
07:36Trial and error, really.
07:37What works in one part of the garden can work in another part of the garden.
07:42So, if you see something working in one part of the garden,
07:44and you go, hey, why don't I experiment on that end of the garden?
07:48And that's how we got these guys.
07:51They actually come from the other side of the house, and they loved it.
07:55As soon as we put it in, look at them, look at them now.
07:59So, what's the key to their success?
08:02Well, the key is really, to be honest, it's water.
08:05The soil's really bad.
08:07We have problems with its drainage and what have you not,
08:10but with the persistence of water and a persistence of monitoring that soil,
08:16we can really make them thrive.
08:18And it's really comforting for John and Sue.
08:23Taming this monster garden is a superhuman effort.
08:26But everywhere you look, the garden is going gangbusters.
08:30Beautiful.
08:31Insta, here you come.
08:37Eventually, we've come full circle.
08:40What an outlook from up here.
08:42Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?
08:44What's the background to this area?
08:46This is a designed area by Myles Boss, Myles Baldwin.
08:51So many different feature plants, like the fig there is spectacular.
08:57Yeah, that's a big one for John.
08:59He's a big fig lover.
09:00It's his Greek blood, he can't help that.
09:03But then the fact that you've got all of these different shades of green,
09:07you've cloud pruned them a little, has that evolved a lot over the time?
09:11The shapes have gotten bigger, but the general structure of it and the ethos of where it was going has
09:18stayed the same.
09:19Is there a particular part of the garden that's closer to your heart?
09:25Yeah.
09:26I do have a favourite section of the garden, yeah.
09:29Do you want to have a look?
09:30Of course.
09:31Alright, let's go. Go on.
09:35The gardens that frame the front stairs take the prize.
09:39For a meal and also for soup.
09:41What is it that's made it such a special spot?
09:46The struggle.
09:48The struggle of this section, yeah.
09:50Yeah.
09:51Because sculpturally it works now, but it didn't in the past.
09:57Of course the house is so structural, the garden had to reflect that, you couldn't have an itsy-bitsy garden.
10:02These clip box really look good and just the simple addition of the ivy at the side is enough to
10:08soften it, but give it form and structure.
10:15We throw in ideas to Emil, he tells me sometimes quite bluntly whether they're good or bad ideas.
10:22And what will work and what won't work.
10:24Yeah.
10:24Sometimes he's very polite, sometimes not so polite, you know.
10:28But on the whole, everyone's working towards creating something really special in the garden.
10:34So it works out quite well.
10:35It works out really good.
10:36Like, this garden wouldn't be what it is without John and Sue.
10:39I just listen to Sue most of the time and then John, like, 25%.
10:50This garden has been successful because of the collaboration, the communication, the challenges that have been turned into opportunities.
10:58Which is exactly what you can do at your place.
11:14Should I break up the roots of nursery plants before planting them out?
11:19Well, ultimately, it depends how established the roots are and whether they've outgrown the pot.
11:24For small tubes or seedlings, often they've only just got a young root system.
11:30And if anything, the soil will fall away when we try and get them out of the pot.
11:35So you need to be very gentle not to cause any root disturbance.
11:39For a more mature plant, you need to check out the root system.
11:43For something like this, I would just do a gentle tickle of the outer roots.
11:48That will encourage them to get out into their new environment, but don't do a major root disturbance.
11:57Now, for something that's been in a pot for a while, it's probably a bit root bound, like this here.
12:03And what I'd basically do is get stuck into it.
12:07You could break away the bottom bit of roots.
12:09I can tease this one out by hand, but for a bigger plant with bigger roots that are circling, you
12:16might need a tool like an old saw or a bread knife to actually cut into the roots that are
12:22circling.
12:23How can I make my flowers more vibrant?
12:27You may have noticed that some gardens just seem to pop with colour.
12:31In fact, there's a clever secret at work in this garden.
12:35Want to know? Have a look at the colours.
12:39Lots of shades of blue.
12:41And purple.
12:43And violet.
12:45And what pops out?
12:48All of these tones of peach.
12:52Here's what's going on.
12:54The blues and the purples, these colours work together because they're very similar.
12:59They're called complementary colours.
13:01Colours can be complementary, or they can be contrasting.
13:06Colours closer to one another harmonise more.
13:09And colours further away contrast more.
13:11And our eyes are tuned for maximum contrast.
13:15And because peach is pretty much the opposite of blue, purple, violet, these peach tones really pop.
13:24It takes discipline to nail your garden colours to the mast.
13:27But the right combinations will pass with flying colours.
13:30What is a hybrid seed?
13:33Well, a hybrid is created from two parents of the same species, but with different characteristics.
13:39Now we take super sweet corn for granted.
13:43This is Max.
13:44And this is a hybrid.
13:46So, for example, one parent may contribute vigour, and the other parent may contribute sweetness.
13:53Put them together and you get a vigorous sweet corn.
13:57But you can't save this seed and expect the next generation to come true to type.
14:02They won't resemble this plant at all.
14:05In fact, the more you save the seed and sow it, the more the variety will deteriorate.
14:11So hybrids are recreated every single year.
14:15And that's why their seed is more expensive than the average seed.
14:25What I really love about exploring big gardens is that you can take away ideas and little details and bits
14:35and pieces of how things are put together and recreate your own version of it.
14:41Millie is thinking the same way, and she's getting ready to rock it at her place.
14:52A little while ago, I visited Heronswood, a beautiful coastal public garden on the Mornington Peninsula.
14:58I helped the head gardener, Billy, extend their already established crevice garden using repeated layers of recycled concrete to create
15:06a mounded architectural garden bed.
15:08I think crevice gardens rock.
15:11So today I'm taking that concept and shrinking it down.
15:15Because even if you only have space for one pot, you can create an entire ecosystem.
15:23While the crevice garden is quite a modern trend, it actually comes from that great tradition of rock gardening.
15:30And that came from people's need or want to grow lots of species that were hard to cultivate.
15:35Often things like alpine species that come from really exposed places, but they also have great access to moisture on
15:44those mountain tops.
15:45And that's really the conditions that we're trying to create in a potted garden like this.
15:49When it comes to containers, you really can use anything that you've got, but wider is better than taller because
15:55you want enough space to create a really beautiful little landscape.
15:58A lot of people use insulated pots. They make them themselves because it helps to keep those root systems nice
16:05and cool.
16:05This is just a bit of faux stone picked up on the side of the road, but I think it's
16:09going to do a perfect job.
16:11Importantly, it's got a really good drainage hole.
16:14You want that water to head away, but I am going to put a little bit of fly screen over
16:18the top to make sure the soil doesn't wash away too quickly.
16:34This base is actually just decomposed granite.
16:38It's really freely drained and there's no nutrients really in it, but I am going to add sort of one
16:44part to about four of a bit of really good quality propagating mix.
16:49The reason I'm using this is it's really free draining because with a pot like this, you don't want high
16:56nutrient soil that's going to cause explosive growth.
16:58You actually want to restrain those plants a little bit.
17:01So I'm just going to mix this into the sand to create a little bit of moisture holding capacity in
17:06the lower part of this pot.
17:08Then I'm going to pile on more granitic sand and we can get to the stone.
17:24Now it's time to start making this little landscape.
17:27Now I've got this amazing old slate that came off a roof and the pot is really full to try
17:32and kind of enhance that landscape quality.
17:36I don't want it to be one flat plane.
17:38I'm just going to sort of start to nestle them in.
17:41I'm going to put this first piece a little bit towards the back.
17:45I don't want to put it right in the middle of the pot.
17:47And then that's going to be my high peak that I'm going to work off and layer from.
17:53Just going to use a gentle tap to firm it in and make sure that it's nice and secure.
17:58But about a third of that stone is held firmly in that gritty sandy soil and that'll keep it really
18:05stable.
18:05And from here, this is my anchor point.
18:08I need to have a bit of a play.
18:10Put in as many stones as I like, leaving some little gaps, two centimetre gaps to get some plants put
18:14in and create a beautiful creative landscape.
18:23While this is fairly traditional stone, you really can use anything that you've got to make a crevice garden.
18:30Old tiles, broken concrete, leftover paving or even broken terracotta pots.
18:47The plants that you can use for crevice gardens really are endless.
18:51And you can choose things that are going to suit the conditions the pot is going to be in.
18:56If you've got a shady, moist little courtyard, you could use woodland species.
18:59But for me, I'm using things that are really adapted to extreme conditions.
19:05So things like bulbs that store their energy underground, they work really well in these sorts of contexts.
19:12Succulents, of course, they're going to survive anything you throw at them.
19:15But also things like this Australian yam daisy.
19:19It has a beautiful tuberous root, which of course was eaten traditionally.
19:23But it is also an adaptation to difficult conditions.
19:26They grow on mountains and in dry forests.
19:29And I reckon that makes them a really good contender to try in a container crevice garden.
19:38You can see I've used mostly Australian plants, mostly indigenous species in Victoria,
19:44because I really want to see how they go in this context.
19:47And they also are really beautiful.
19:49But I have snuck in a few succulents for colour and contrast.
19:53Now this is ready for a big drink in its final resting spot.
19:57And I'm also going to put on a little bit of gravel mulch.
20:08It's no secret that I absolutely love plants.
20:12But more so I love giving myself the freedom to be creative and play around with different ways to grow
20:20them.
20:20I think this little crevice garden is absolutely beautiful.
20:24And over time it'll develop into something really special.
20:27And the beauty of it is that you can bring the majestic mountains right down to a little pot in
20:34your garden.
20:43Every gardener has their favourite plants.
20:45You know, the ones they love to bang on about for hours and hours.
20:49Like this.
20:50Come and have a look.
20:51Citrus.
20:51I love citrus.
20:53Like this specimen in the ground.
20:55Or it could be in a pot.
20:56Or you might have it espaliered against a wall.
21:00For Gerry it's begonias.
21:02Let's take a look.
21:13Begonias have to be one of the most gorgeous groups of plants anyone can cultivate anywhere.
21:20If you've got a frost free climate, then you can grow them outdoors.
21:25If you live in a frosty climate, they make one of the best house plants imaginable.
21:31If you like stunning colour or fabulous foliage, there is a begonia for you.
21:37It's one of the most diverse groups on Earth.
21:40There's over 1,800 species and hybrids available.
21:45And in the last 20 years, they've discovered 800 new species.
21:50So what are you waiting for?
21:57To introduce you to begonias, I've brought a few of my friends along.
22:01Begonias are warm climate perennials.
22:04That means they don't like frost, but they can live for a very long time.
22:09In the world of plants, the begonia leaf is rather unusual.
22:13It's completely asymmetric.
22:17They flower.
22:18All of them produce blooms.
22:20And this one is a good example of how weird they can be.
22:25Each of these spikes of flowers are different genders.
22:29There's male and female on the same plant.
22:31Some will be happy to live in full all-day sunshine,
22:37whereas most begonias prefer filtered sunlight.
22:41Because begonias like moisture, they're generally grown in plastic pots.
22:46But if you've got a really big begonia, then terracotta is handy
22:50because it'll stop the pots from blowing over.
23:01These three here are cane begonias.
23:03They get that name because they have these long, wand-like stems
23:07which are produced mostly at the base.
23:11Cane begonias are brilliant in containers.
23:13They look good on a veranda or a patio
23:16and they can grow in perennial borders in the garden.
23:21They have showy foliage.
23:23Often it's patterned.
23:24But this one here is one of my favourites, Arabian sunset.
23:28Just a knockout.
23:29They also have stunning flower colours.
23:33So these are really tall, vibrant plants.
23:44Next come the rhizomatous begonias.
23:47And these have a rhizome which is a thick storage organ full of nutrients.
23:52And it crawls along near the ground.
23:54Now this isn't a very good specimen,
23:56but I just had to bring it along to show you
23:58how gorgeous the hairs can actually be on these plants.
24:02So apart from colour, they have texture as well.
24:06The Rex begonias, and there's three here,
24:09they're classic rhizomatous begonias.
24:12And Queensland is one of the world centres for breeding these plants.
24:17They have a weakness.
24:19They don't like being watered over the foliage
24:22or where the soil meets the neck of the plant.
24:24The way to get the best out of these
24:27is to grow them indoors as house plants.
24:30I prefer to water them by standing them in a saucer of seaweed solution.
24:37After half an hour, you can drain them
24:39and then put them out on display.
24:41In terms of sunlight, filtered light is best.
24:45But if you can position them so the sun streams through the leaves,
24:50they look like stained glass windows
24:52and they can be absolutely magnificent.
24:55Now, I'm going to ruin my reputation with the begonia society,
24:59but I just have to show you this.
25:01This is a very poor example of the megawatt series of these begonias.
25:07They're a new introduction.
25:09They grow about knee-high, so they're much bigger,
25:13and you can grow them to form flowering hedges.
25:18This one has been flowering non-stop for over a year,
25:21and I really need to take these off as cuttings
25:25and rejuvenate the plant from the base,
25:27but they are absolutely stunning.
25:30They can all be grown in full sunshine outdoors,
25:34and to get the real best results,
25:36give them a slow-release fertiliser
25:38and they'll respond to that.
25:47Tuberous begonias have the brightest
25:50and the widest range of flower colours of all the begonias.
25:55They are favourites as summer bedding plants
25:58in cool, temperate climates, because they like gentle warmth.
26:03They have a perennial tuber,
26:05and at the end of the growing season,
26:08you can dry the plants out, clean off the tubers,
26:11store them over winter,
26:12and then plant them outside the following year.
26:15In terms of displays, they can go in the ground,
26:19or they can be grown in pots,
26:21and there are certain types of tuberous begonias
26:24which have a beautiful pendulous habit
26:27and they look fabulous in hanging baskets.
26:30They are sumptuous plants.
26:33People think you can't grow them in Queensland.
26:36The difference is you grow them in summer down south,
26:39but up here in Queensland,
26:41they're a perfect pot plant or border plant for winter.
26:52The last major group are the shrub-like begonias,
26:55and you can see they do have shrub-like appearances.
26:59They are very varied.
27:02Some have beautiful foliage.
27:03Others have great flowers.
27:05Some have both.
27:07This one here is Begonia listarda.
27:10It's a classic old-fashioned garden plant,
27:13and it has a very lax growth habit.
27:16So if it's grown in a green wall,
27:19it can actually make something quite spectacular as it flows down.
27:24They can grow quite tall, my height or taller,
27:29so they can make really good landscape specimens in the garden.
27:32They will need filtered sunlight and drainage is very important,
27:37so plant them on a mound so water drains away from the base of the plant.
27:42And because begonias are an incredibly diverse genus,
27:46they're a climbing species.
27:49This one here, Begonia thelmy, is a trailing species.
27:53There's even edible species like that one down there.
27:57But one thing that unites all begonias
28:00is they're dead easy to propagate,
28:03and a little later I'm going to show you how.
28:12Still to come on Gardening Australia,
28:15Josh shares how to effectively prune dwarf fruit trees.
28:21Jerry shows us how to multiply those beautiful begonias.
28:26And we meet a restoration ecologist
28:29with a passion for her home garden.
28:38I'm going to say it, and I know I'm among friends,
28:41but gardeners are just the nicest people.
28:45They identify potential issues
28:47and then turn them into opportunities.
28:50Over to you, Sophie.
29:02I'm here in this half-abandoned apple orchard
29:05in a small town called Forest Range in the Adelaide Hills.
29:09There's a huge crop of Granny Smiths here,
29:11but in recent years,
29:12much of the fruit has been left to rot on the ground,
29:15but not anymore.
29:17Yeah, so can you come and picture these rows here?
29:22Brett Dunstone has started a volunteer group,
29:25Fruit Share Adelaide,
29:26to stop fresh produce from going to waste
29:28and get it onto people's plates.
29:35So what's going on here, Brett?
29:37We're here to pick these Granny Smith apples today
29:39from this old orchard.
29:40So we've got lots of different organisations
29:43registered with us, food relief groups, food banks.
29:47So we've got a couple of bins that are going to be dropped off
29:49that we'll fill up today,
29:50and we've got all sorts of other charities
29:51that we can drop them off to.
29:54So this was obviously once a commercial orchard.
29:58Do you only harvest from orchards or home gardens too?
30:01No, we pick from any backyards or orchards.
30:05You know, wherever there's fruit,
30:06we'll basically come and pick it.
30:07So stuff that would have been wasted
30:09is getting repurposed and helping people in need.
30:12Yeah, exactly.
30:28Brett, can I give you a hand?
30:29Yeah, sure.
30:30We can do with all the help we can get.
30:32Absolutely.
30:32Now, there's so many apples here,
30:34you couldn't possibly pick them all, could you?
30:37No, no.
30:38It's hard to leave some behind,
30:39but we pick as much as we can.
30:42And choosing the ones that are good size and not damaged?
30:45Yeah, we try to get the biggest and the best conditioned ones,
30:48leaving any that are damaged that might spoil the rest of the batch.
30:58So why are you doing this?
31:00I saw so much fruit going to waste in backyards and orchards and the like,
31:03that I thought there must be a better way of making use of this resource we've got out there.
31:07And what was your inspiration?
31:09I read about a group in Ballarat called the Hidden Orchard that basically have been doing something like this for
31:14over five years.
31:15And let's see if we can do something similar to that here in Adelaide and put it out there and,
31:19you know, it's grown from there.
31:21How big is the food waste issue in Australia?
31:24Oh, it's massive.
31:26It's hard to quantify, but around a quarter of produce on farms goes to waste before it even leaves the
31:31farm gate.
31:32And similar in backyards where there's just so much produce that's going to waste.
31:36And, you know, you couple that with the massive food insecurity issue where there's, you know, probably a third of
31:40households that are food insecure.
31:42We just see this as a massive way to bridge the gap between the food waste and the food insecurity.
31:49So who calls you?
31:51Well, we get all sorts calling us, like, you know, elderly, people that are too busy,
31:55all sorts of people that see they've got fruit trees in their backyard that, you know, basically they can't make
32:00use of it too much for them to eat themselves.
32:02Or sometimes they don't like the fruit but want to see it go to better use than it is at
32:06the moment.
32:11Volunteers of all ages are pitching in to harvest the fruit.
32:15The volunteers can keep some for themselves, but the vast majority is distributed to charities.
32:22I'm picking apples for fruit share so then they can get donated to charities so then they can make food
32:28for people that don't have enough money to buy food.
32:30Yeah, I am enjoying it.
32:38This is my first Granny Smith picking.
32:41So it's good fun here.
32:42A bit of workout for me as well, which is great.
32:48We can convert some of our free time to do what is helpful to the others.
32:54So that's the main thing.
32:55And also, you know, a bit of socialising here and then back to the nature here.
33:02Most of these apples are going to food bank, but several boxes are staying local.
33:08They're going to a community centre in nearby Aldgate.
33:13Hello.
33:15Oh, wow.
33:16Fabulous.
33:17They look amazing.
33:19They're great.
33:21Beautiful.
33:21They're freshly picked.
33:23It's fabulous.
33:24Bernadette Redding from the Hutt Community Centre welcomes any fresh food donations, which all help to feed locals in the
33:32Adelaide Hills who are doing it tough.
33:36So who do these Granny Smith go to?
33:38So we have a food pantry here on a Tuesday and a Thursday.
33:41We have lots of members that are in financial hardship and come along to get free fresh fruit and veg
33:48from us.
33:49So is it worse at the moment because of the cost of living crisis?
33:53Yeah, definitely.
33:53We have lots of new members coming along each week.
33:57Lots of young families, young people, homelessness, housing costs as well.
34:02The increase in bills and also too, you know, healthy food is a lot more expensive.
34:06Now we've obviously got a lot more than just apples.
34:09Where does this other produce come from?
34:11So we don't get any funding for our food pantry.
34:14So we do rely solely on community donations.
34:16All of the produce here comes from either Oz Harvest or Food Bank, local bakeries and other organisations, as well
34:24as people's gardens.
34:26We've got apples and lots of other stuff for you today.
34:29Everything is lovely and fresh today.
34:31So help yourself to what you need.
34:32Get some potatoes.
34:34It'll be good to feed the kids.
34:37Now, this is not only meeting people's needs, but it's also preventing food waste.
34:42It is, absolutely.
34:43So we have a good alignment with Fruit Share Adelaide.
34:46One of our values is to reduce food waste.
34:48And if we can provide good quality fruit and veg for people in need as well, there's a huge benefit.
34:58Next stop, Cumberland Park in Adelaide's inner south to harvest kumquats.
35:04I'm catching a ride with Brett.
35:11There's a lot going on, Brett.
35:13This could almost be a full-time job.
35:15Yeah, it's a full-time job doing all the logistics and whatnot.
35:18And this is a volunteer.
35:20You know, you're doing this as well as a job.
35:21Ah, yeah.
35:22No, no.
35:22It's not my normal day job.
35:25I'm an engineer by day, but it definitely keeps me busy.
35:29And how many volunteers have you got to help with all the harvesting?
35:32We've got hundreds of volunteers registered.
35:35We've probably had over 100 come out to help them harvest themselves.
35:38But, yeah, we've been very lucky.
35:40That's amazing.
35:47Wow, they've already started.
35:50The property owner isn't home, but she's called in Brett and his team because she's keen for
35:55her kumquats to be put to good use by people who'll appreciate them.
36:02It's pretty amazing how much fruit you get off one tree.
36:05Sure is.
36:06And these are a little bit of a different fruit, so I'm planning to make some marmalades that
36:09we can give to some of the charities that we support.
36:11Good on you.
36:19In its first year, Fruit Share Adelaide harvested 11 and a half tonnes of food.
36:25And that's expected to grow as call-outs increase.
36:31So while this isn't that common in Australia, overseas a lot more people do it, don't they?
36:37A number of countries like the United States and England and the like, it's massive that
36:42I think across the US, for example, there's hundreds of groups that are making use of
36:47produce and orchards and backyards.
36:49So that's one of my big goals is to try and make this more widespread around Australia
36:53to make better use of the produce we've got just sitting there really and help feed people out there in
36:59need.
37:08Dwarf fruit trees, like this pear, are a great way to squeeze more varieties into your garden.
37:14They also require less pruning, but they're not completely maintenance-free.
37:19Over time, the branches can become congested.
37:23Thinning these out will lead to a healthier canopy, stronger flowering and bigger fruit.
37:30Any dead, diseased or crossing branches should come out first.
37:36From there, I'm further reducing the congestion by pruning out smaller branches towards the centre, opening up the structure.
37:45The larger branches stay. They're the main framework of the tree.
37:50Positioning your cuts just above the lowest buds will encourage more fruiting.
37:55At soil level, clearing these ground covers will reduce competition.
38:00Add some fertiliser, compost and a layer of mulch, and your dwarf fruit trees will be well prepared to fire
38:09up when the growing season kicks in.
38:17Back to Gerry and his begonias.
38:19Now, you better get ready to grow your begonia collection big time.
38:25Big begonia time.
38:27Well, maybe a bit bigger than these ones, but...
38:32Gerry, tell us more.
38:39I've had a lifelong love for begonias, and they're easy to propagate.
38:47There are three ways to propagate begonias, and I'm going to show you two.
38:52Stem cuttings and by seed.
38:57This is begonia cubensis.
39:00It's a small, shrub-like begonia, and I've been growing it for 25 years.
39:05You see, it doesn't always look like this.
39:09When they get to a year or more older, they tend to lose their form.
39:14They become a little bit straggly, but pruning them will rejuvenate the plant.
39:19And at the same time, you get loads and loads of cuttings.
39:23And you don't need to waste any of them.
39:27Now, to make a stem cutting, you really only need a piece, say, finger length.
39:32So that's about the length of my finger.
39:34Cut these off.
39:37Now you've got these little cuttings.
39:40See there?
39:41That's a perfect little cutting.
39:43You need somewhere to put them.
39:45This is a decorative pot plant.
39:47It's Anchomanis delzelii.
39:49But it will die down in winter, and all I've got to look at is a dead pot.
39:53So rather than that, I'm going to use these cuttings to create a decorative pot filler.
39:59And so I'm using a little bamboo cane here.
40:01You just break off these little cuttings and poke these in.
40:05They go in about two or three centimetres deep.
40:09And over the next few weeks, they will root into completely new plants.
40:14And I'll have something which looks decorative all year round.
40:18So you get the idea of how easy it is and how quick it is to take cuttings from begonias.
40:44Begonias are easy to grow from seed, and it's really rewarding.
40:49It's a way to grow many, many different plants in a short period of time.
40:53Now, while this begonia is shameful, it does happen to have three little begonia seed pods.
41:00And even though they're tiny, inside there could be anything up to 2,000 different seed.
41:06One of the key things with sowing begonias is you do it on a calm day.
41:12One sneeze and you could lose the lot.
41:14There's probably 1,000 seed inside here ready to go.
41:22The most important thing when it comes to sowing begonia seed is never buy a commercial seed-raising mix that
41:31contains fertiliser.
41:32I've learnt this because the conditions that begonia seed need to germinate are exactly the same that algae will germinate
41:43in.
41:44And algae loves fertiliser.
41:47In no time, it will outgrow your begonia seedlings and smother them if there's fertiliser in the mix.
41:53So I make my own, and I use one part of perlite, one part of horticultural sand and one part
42:01of coir mix.
42:03And you put them all in together, mix them up thoroughly.
42:10You've actually got a mix which you can use quite easily for cuttings and also for potting begonias.
42:18So now we've made the propagating mix, so you can fill up a pot.
42:25And now we need to transfer the seed into a piece of paper.
42:31The reason I do this is because it's easier to get a controlled release of seed into a pot.
42:41So I can hold this over the pot, and by tapping, the seed will slowly move in, and that way
42:47they'll arrive all the way around the pot, rather than one heap.
42:52Now the seed is sown, you don't cover them.
42:55They need to see the light.
42:57They need to be kept moist, and you might want to use a little hand atomiser to keep them damp.
43:03Place them into a propagating tray.
43:06This one is lined with moist coir fibre, and that boosts the humidity around the germinating seed.
43:14The lid has little ventilators there, which are left open, so the air moves in and out freely.
43:21And then I'm using this, which is basically frost protection, as some protection.
43:28It allows filtered light through.
43:31This should be put somewhere east-facing, where it gets morning sunlight only.
43:37And every single day, you should make sure that the begonia seed are kept damp with that mister.
43:45Over a period of weeks, they will germinate in large clumps.
43:50And when you're able to, you remove those clumps and put them into individual pots.
43:55And when they're big enough to separate as individual plants, you put them into individual pots.
44:02And that way, a single pod of a begonia could produce anything up to a couple of thousand plants.
44:09Now, it may take a couple of seasons to go from seed to a fully mature, blooming begonia,
44:16but that transformation from tiny seed to an entire garden full of blooms
44:22is exactly what hooked me into growing begonias in the first place.
44:26And I hope it'll hook you in too.
44:50There's so much important work being done to study and protect our precious natural environments.
44:58But what do the experts doing this work get up to in their own garden?
45:03Well, our next story is with a restoration ecologist.
45:07And you know what? She loves to bring her work home with her.
45:24I have a great passion for changing landscapes and gardens that have been neglected or degraded over time.
45:33I'm Dr. Tanya Bailey. I'm a restoration ecologist and a very keen home gardener.
45:39I'm a trained horticulturalist and a science educator.
45:47So my work out here in the Midlands, as well as in my own backyard,
45:51is all really about improving biodiversity, improving the environment to provide habitat for animals and for people,
45:58and for really leaving the place in a better state than when I first found it.
46:07We're here on a mixed farm on the northern Midlands,
46:11which runs either side of the Midlands Highway, which is the main road between Hobart and Launceston.
46:16It's one of a number of trial sites that I've worked at across Tasmania.
46:20One of the key issues around revegetation in these very changed environments is where to collect your seed from.
46:28And by collecting seed from a whole lot of different populations and putting it into these, what we call a
46:33common garden environment,
46:34we can actually tell how the different populations have been affected by all the different conditions that they need to
46:41deal with in these very difficult sites.
46:45We have embedded a whole lot of research on one species in particular, Eucalyptus viminalis,
46:50which is the same species that I have growing in my backyard.
46:55So I was very pleased to see when I bought this block that there was a beautiful big remnant Eucalyptus
47:00viminalis in my backyard,
47:02and that it actually regenerated into my backyard as well.
47:06And it was actually one of the reasons why I was really attracted to this block in the first place.
47:10It's a really important species for providing habitat for threatened species.
47:15In Tasmania, the 40-spotted partilote has a very strong association with Eucalyptus viminalis,
47:20and on the mainland it provides food for koalas.
47:23But it's really struggling quite badly across its whole distribution now.
47:27So it's one of those species that is of concern and we really would like to know more about it.
47:33And so that's one of the reasons why we've added into our genetics trials.
47:45My husband and I and our two small children moved to Tasmania 25 years ago.
47:51Sight unseen, we'd never been to Tasmania before.
47:54Our current garden is in Launceston in northern Tasmania.
47:57Our previous garden was seven acres, so we've downsized to our current garden,
48:02which is actually 3,000 square metres, which is actually quite a large garden for a suburban garden.
48:07It's a perfect size for us at this stage of our lives.
48:11We bought this property when it was very neglected and hadn't been lived in for three to four years.
48:17It was really quite wild.
48:19A lot of woody weeds, a lot of blackberry and onion weed,
48:24which is another horrible weed that takes quite a lot of effort.
48:26It was really quite a mess.
48:28It was actually run as a little farm with animals and lots of gates and fences.
48:33We removed a lot of that and turned it into an immersive garden.
48:39I have a whole mix of native plants, productive plants.
48:45I'm also very interested in ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials.
48:50So the more naturalistic planting, there's elements of that here as well.
48:55One of the key drivers is to really introduce plants that will bring birds and insects into the garden.
49:10So I'm quite interested in the different flower shapes and forms of plants.
49:16I think it also really encourages diversity of pollinators as well.
49:19So different pollinators come in for different flower shapes.
49:23Birds love the native corriers with the tube shapes.
49:26Native bees and honeybees love the big plate-shaped, umble-shaped flowers.
49:32And repeating those throughout the garden gives a sense of continuity as well.
49:41So in my front yard, I've actually focused mainly on natives and some grasses in there as well.
49:47It's actually a little sanctuary out the front there.
49:49It's a terrace garden that I just wanted to keep fairly simple in the colour palette.
49:55It's a big fenced area, so softening some of the fences with things like the kangaroo paws
50:00and the Callimogrostis, which is quite an upright grass.
50:03They sort of soften the edge of that space and then the native ground covers and things
50:08help cover the soil as well so that it all just is a whole mass of texture and colour.
50:17I'd call myself a plant maximalist.
50:19I love lots and lots of different plants, but I also have an eye for how to actually put them
50:24together.
50:25So they look beautiful as well, but I absolutely love grasses.
50:29They provide different shapes and forms and texture and movement.
50:34In this garden, I have tens of different varieties of ornamental grasses and native grasses.
50:44I love the way that the light comes through their flowers.
50:48I love the way that they move in the wind.
50:51They just provide a bit of naturalistic feel to the garden as well.
51:06This is a beautiful plant.
51:09Miscanthus transmoriensis.
51:11It's a semi-evergreen ornamental grass and it's quite a substantial grass.
51:15It really fills out an area in the border.
51:18It really adds to the dynamic nature of a naturalistic planting.
51:29It's a really immersive garden, but I also wanted to make it productive.
51:34We eat really well out of this garden.
51:36We have a lot of vegetable elements, a lot of fruit elements.
51:45So this amazing plant is an amaranthus.
51:47It's an edible ornamental.
51:50You can eat the seeds and also the leaves, but I also grow it because it's just a sensational plant.
51:58I get such joy when I look out over this garden and look at all the textures and colours and
52:03the way that it's transformed.
52:05It's a real place of solace for me as well when the world goes a bit crazy.
52:09I love just getting out into the garden.
52:12As a child in Sydney, I grew up in a place that ran down to a creek and bush.
52:17And my dad used to go down on weekends and take out weeds along the creek lines of privet and
52:23lantana and all the major sort of environmental weeds.
52:26I didn't really think at the time was making an influence, but now I sort of think back and think
52:30that that was probably part of that enjoyment of being in nature and caring for the place that you're in
52:37as well.
52:51My work in the Midlands as well as in my backyard is really super important to me because I really
52:56want to support biodiversity, all the birds, the animals, the insects, all those different parts of an ecosystem and bring
53:03them together.
53:03So these areas that were once degraded or distressed are now in a much better state than they were when
53:10I first came to them.
53:12We're waiting for the trees to mature and set seed and flower, but we will soon enough find out which
53:17populations are going to be surviving best in this quite sort of harsh landscape.
53:35OK, it's time to cross a few things off that gardening to-do list. Your jobs for the weekend are
53:42here.
53:48In cold climates, it's time to think about frost protection for your more tender plants. Wrap hessian around a frame
53:55of stakes to keep the chill at bay.
53:58Beautiful and bird-attracting, native corriers are flowering now, making it a perfect time to pop into a nursery and
54:06pick out a favourite.
54:08Plant out some cauliflower seedlings in a sunny position, protected from winds, and about 40 centimetres apart.
54:17In warm temperate gardens, it's time to grab the tulip bulbs out of the fridge and whack them into the
54:23ground.
54:23Plant them 15 centimetres deep, pointy side up, and feed with blood and bone.
54:29Add cool season colour to the garden with Ipacris impressa, common heath.
54:34Bearing masses of flowers from autumn to spring, these native shrubs are perfect for pots in a sunny spot.
54:41Please pollinators and bring in the bees by popping in some perennial favourites like lavender, rosemary, salvias and thyme.
54:50Always check local weed lists before planting anything at your place.
54:54In the subtropics, bird-of-paradise have finished flowering, so it's time for a tidy up.
55:00Remove spent flower heads, dry stems and brown foliage by cutting off at ground level.
55:05Mother of herbs, Plectranthus ambionicus is a tough, tidy ground cover.
55:10Propagates easily, tastes like oregano and marjoram, loves humidity and deserves to be planted at your place.
55:18Pretty up your porch with a hanging pot of hoya.
55:21These tough trailing plants love a well-lit position, protected from the harsh afternoon sun,
55:27and perform best when they're pot-bound.
55:30In tropical gardens, minimise mozzies breeding in bromeliads by flushing out rosettes and mosquito larvae when watering.
55:38Replace lost nutrients with a six-monthly liquid feed.
55:42Petunias are perfect at this time of the year.
55:45In a sunny spot, fill pots, baskets or beds with these awesome annuals.
55:50The kaleidoscope of colours is guaranteed to spread joy.
55:55Hanging baskets aren't just for ornamental plants.
55:58They can look incredible crammed with edibles like strawberries, sweet potato, thyme, ruby basil and French marigolds for colour.
56:07Arid gardeners have a grow of Ethiopian cabbage, Brassica carinata.
56:12The foliage is edible, the young flowers taste like broccoli and the seeds are a mustard substitute, a cracking cabbage.
56:20Hard prune mulberries to keep these fast-growing faves in check.
56:24Cut the main trunk to around head height, retain eight to ten strong side shoots and prune branches to an
56:31open vase shape.
56:33Get involved in a local citizen science project.
56:37With studies from biodiversity to bees, birds, bats, butterflies, mammals and more, there's heaps of ways to get involved.
56:45We hope this weekend is a sweet one in the garden and that you buzz to get amongst it.
56:51Be sure to head to our social pages and share your stories, successes, questions and queries with the Gardening Australia
56:58hive mind.
57:05Well, believe it or not, that's all we have time for.
57:09Have a great weekend in the garden, whatever the weather.
57:13Now, let's check the menu and see what's coming up next week.
57:21I'm going to show you how to design and plant an orchard from scratch.
57:26I'm taking you to a landscape supply yard to show you the literal foundations of your next garden project.
57:34And I'm exploring a naturalistic garden that's been inspired by the Australian bush.
57:40It's been six decades in the making and you're going to want to join me.
57:44I'm out.
57:47It's been five years.
57:50I can put that in there.
57:50I have to go to there and the skin and make sure that our producers fuck.
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