- 7 hours ago
Gardening Australia S37E13
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00:05Hey!
00:33Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:36We have got just what you want this week.
00:40Some inspiration, some expert tips and a little bit of garden DIY.
00:49I think I'll take the lot.
00:52Here's what's coming up.
00:55I'm playing with a technique that is literally as old as the hills
00:59but it can be contained enough to fit on a balcony.
01:02I've had a lifelong love for begonias
01:06and the reason is obvious.
01:07They're drop-deck gorgeous and they're easy to propagate.
01:11I'm hoping to infect you with a similar love for these wonderful plants.
01:17I'm joining a volunteer crew to help harvest tonnes of fruit
01:21from orchards and gardens that would otherwise go to waste
01:24and all this fresh produce is going directly to people in need.
01:29And we visit the home garden of a restoration ecologist.
01:34I absolutely love grasses.
01:36They provide different shapes and forms and texture and movement.
01:50It's a typical morning in a quiet backwater of Sydney's inner west.
01:59I'm in Balmain, Wongal country.
02:02Got to love it.
02:03It feels like I'm miles from the city centre.
02:06But Balmain is a bit unusual.
02:09The way that Sydney wraps around the harbour,
02:12the city is actually just over there.
02:15I could reach out and touch it.
02:21Balmain has always been a desirable location,
02:24and not just now, since the early colonial times.
02:29And one of the last remaining mansions from that period,
02:33well, it has a garden that needs to be seen.
02:43I've been invited to Ewenton,
02:46the home of Sue and John Yannickas.
02:50And these extraordinary gardens
02:52are maintained by expert landscaper Emile Van Eweck.
02:58Ah, here you are.
02:59Hi, Yasu.
03:00Hi, Sue.
03:01How are you?
03:01Hi, Koshna.
03:02Hi, Sue.
03:03How are you?
03:03Good to see you.
03:04Emile.
03:04How are you doing?
03:06Walking up from the waterfront.
03:07It's just spectacular.
03:10How old is the house?
03:12About 1850s.
03:13And have you been here since then?
03:15Feels like it.
03:16Feels like it.
03:17Spiritually.
03:18No, well, we came 35 years ago.
03:23Actually, I trespassed to get in here.
03:26It was a derelict home.
03:27It hadn't been lived in for half a century.
03:30Then 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.
03:45That's plenty of space for garden.
03:47How much of the site is taken up by garden?
03:50About two thirds.
03:52Yeah.
03:53It's quite large.
03:55What do you love about it?
03:56Everything.
03:57Yeah, it's a foliage garden.
04:00So, yeah.
04:01Well, we can take you through it.
04:03I'd love to have a look.
04:04Do you mind if I go for the most evening?
04:05No, no, no.
04:05You go off.
04:06We'll catch up later.
04:07Good to see you.
04:08The 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 to arrive at the front of
04:33the 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.
04:49Oh, the light has changed here.
04:51Yeah, it's fantastic.
04:52And you're in a different microclimate.
04:55I mean, the field here is, like, lush and really tropical.
05:00Yeah, it's a really good mix between subtropic and perennials.
05:05For 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?
05:22Uh, I've been here about 13 years.
05:25Yeah.
05:25Now, what's some of the biggest challenges in this specific garden?
05:30I would say the ones that were standing under.
05:35Canthor laurels.
05:35Canthor laurels.
05:36Canthor 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 which prevent other plants from growing.
06:06So our tricks are we actually remove the leaves and dispose of them, and then we bring in compost.
06:14So we bring in about this garden alone, just for these two, about 12 tonne 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.
06:39Most 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, we have the Robolenni eyes, and we have the tree fern
07:11as well.
07:11So we've kind of layered that in all different sections through the garden.
07:15And then we've got the Spathiphylums with the Drostricta, the Clivia.
07:20And basically it all just kind of blends into like a bouquet of foliage.
07:24With your feature, gingers really like popping its head through.
07:30Where did you begin to select the palette 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, and you go,
07:45hey, why don't I experiment on that end of the garden?
07:49And that's how we got these guys.
07:51They actually come from the other side of the house, and they loved it.
07:56As 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.
08:06The soil's really bad.
08:07We have problems with drainage and what have you not, but with the persistence of water
08:13and a persistence of monitoring that soil, we can really make them thrive.
08:19And it's really comforting for John and Sue.
08:23Taming this monster garden is a superhuman effort.
08:27But everywhere you look, the garden is going gangbusters.
08:31Beautiful.
08:31Insta, here you come.
08:33Come on.
08:34That's lovely.
08:36Got it.
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?
08:47This is a designed area by Myles Boss.
08:50Myles Baldwin.
08:51So many different feature plants, like the fig there.
08:55Yeah.
08:55Is spectacular.
08:57Yeah, that's a big one for John.
08:59He's a big fig lover.
09:00It's his Greek blood.
09:02He can't help that.
09:02But then the fact that you've got all of these different shades of green, you've cloud pruned
09:09them a little.
09:09Has that evolved a lot over the time?
09:12The shapes have gotten bigger, but the general structure of it and the ethos of where it was
09:18going has stayed the same.
09:20Is there a particular part of the garden that's closer to your heart?
09:25Yeah, I do have a favourite section of the garden.
09:29Yeah.
09:29Do you want to have a look?
09:30Of course.
09:31All right, let's go.
09:31Go on.
09:35The gardens that frame the front stairs take the prize, for a meal and also for soup.
09:42What is it that's made it such a special spot?
09:46The struggle.
09:48The struggle of this section.
09:50Yeah, because sculpturally it works now, but it didn't in the past.
09:57Of course the house is so structural.
09:59The garden had to reflect that.
10:00You couldn't have an itsy-bitsy garden.
10:03These clip box really look good.
10:05And just the simple addition of the ivy at the side is enough to soften it, but give it
10:10form and structure.
10:15We throw in ideas to a meal.
10:18He tells me sometimes quite bluntly whether they're good or bad ideas and what will work
10:23and what won't work.
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.
10:35Yeah, it works out really good.
10:37Like, 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
10:56that have been turned into opportunities, which is exactly what you can do at your place.
11:15Should 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
11:24pot.
11:25For small tubes or seedlings, often they've only just got a young root system.
11:31And 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.
11:40For 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.
11:51But don't do a major root disturbance.
11:58Now, for something that's been in a pot for a while, it's probably a bit root bound, like
12:02this here.
12:03And what I'd basically do is get stuck into it.
12:07You could break away the bottom bit of roots.
12:10I can tease this one out by hand.
12:12But for a bigger plant with bigger roots that are circling, you might need a tool like an
12:18old saw or a bread knife to actually cut into the roots that are circling.
12:24How can I make my flowers more vibrant?
12:27You may have noticed that some gardens just seem to pop with colour.
12:32In fact, there's a clever secret at work in this garden.
12:35Want to know?
12:36Have a look at the colours.
12:39There's lots of shades of blue, and purple, and violet.
12:46And what pops out?
12:48All 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.
13:02Colours can be complementary, or they can be contrasting.
13:05Colours closer to one another harmonise more, and colours further away contrast more.
13:12And our eyes are tuned for maximum contrast.
13:16And 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, this is max, and 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.
14:03They 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
14:34and bits and pieces of how things are put together and recreate your own version of it.
14:42Millie 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,
15:03using repeated layers of recycled concrete to create a mounded architectural garden bed.
15:08I think crevice gardens rock.
15:11So today, I'm taking that concept and shrinking it down.
15:14Because 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.
15:36Often things like alpine species that come from really exposed places, but they also have great access to moisture on
15:44those mountaintops.
15:45And that's really the conditions that we're trying to create in a potted garden like this.
15:50When it comes to containers, you really can use anything that you've got.
15:53But wider is better than taller because you want enough space to create a really beautiful little landscape.
15:59A lot of people use insulated pots.
16:01They make them themselves because it helps to keep those root systems nice and cool.
16:06This is just a bit of faux stone picked up on the side of the road.
16:09But I think it's going to do a perfect job.
16:11Importantly, it's got a really good drainage hole.
16:14You want that water to head away.
16:16But I am going to put a little bit of fly screen over the top to make sure the soil
16:20doesn'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.
16:42But I am going to add sort of one part to about four of a bit of really good quality
16:48propagating mix.
16:49The reason I'm using this is it's really free draining because with a pot like this,
16:55you don't want high nutrient soil that's going to cause explosive growth.
16:59You 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
17:06holding capacity in the 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.
17:30And the pot is really full to try and kind of enhance that landscape quality.
17:36I don't want it to be one flat plane.
17:39I'm just going to sort of start to nestle them in.
17:42I'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.
18:04And that'll keep it really stable.
18:06And from here, this is my anchor point.
18:08I need to have a bit of a play, put in as many stones as I like,
18:12leaving some little gaps, two centimetre gaps to get some plants put in
18:15and create a beautiful creative landscape.
18:23While this is fairly traditional stone, you really can use anything that you've got to
18:29make 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.
19:09They 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,
19:22but 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.
19:39You 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.
20:09It'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.
20:44Every gardener has their favourite plants.
20:46You know, the ones they love to bang on about for hours and hours.
20:49Like this. Come and have a look.
20:51Citrus. I love citrus.
20:53Like this specimen in the ground.
20:55Or it could be in a pot.
20:57Or 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.
21:21If 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.
21:32If 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 1800 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.
22:02Begonias are warm climate perennials.
22:04That means they don't like frost, but they can live for a very long time.
22:10In the world of plants, the begonia leaf is rather unusual.
22:14It'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.
22:32Some will be happy to live in full all-day sunshine.
22:37There's a lot of rain, whereas 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.
23:00These three here are cane begonias.
23:04They get that name because they have these long, wand-like stems,
23:08which are produced mostly at the base.
23:11Cane begonias are brilliant in containers.
23:14They look good on a veranda or a patio.
23:17And 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.
23:30They 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, but I just had to bring it along to show you
23:58how gorgeous the hairs can actually be on these plants.
24:03So apart from colour, they have texture as well.
24:07The Rex begonias, and there's three here, they'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.
24:25The way to get the best out of these is to grow them indoors as house plants.
24:31I prefer to water them by standing them in a saucer of seaweed solution.
24:37After half an hour, you can drain them and then put them out on display.
24:42In 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 and they can be absolutely magnificent.
24:56Now, I'm going to ruin my reputation with the begonia society, but 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 and you can grow them to form flowering hedges.
25:18This one has been flowering non-stop for over a year and I really need to take these off
25:24as cuttings and rejuvenate the plant from the base, but they're absolutely stunning.
25:30They can all be grown in full sunshine outdoors and to get the real best results,
25:36give them a slow release fertilizer and they'll respond to that.
25:47Tuporous begonias have the brightest and the widest range of flower colors of all the begonias.
25:55They are favorites as summer bedding plants in cool temperate climates because they like gentle warmth.
26:03They have a perennial tuber and at the end of the growing season,
26:08you can dry the plants out, clean off the tubers, store them over winter and then plant them outside
26:14the following year. In terms of displays, they can go in the ground or they can be grown in pots
26:21and there are certain types of tuberous begonias which have a beautiful pendulous habit and they
26:28look fabulous in hanging baskets. They are sumptuous plants. People think you can't grow them in Queensland.
26:36The difference is you grow them in summer down south, but 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 and you can see they do have shrub-like appearances.
26:59They are very varied. Some have beautiful foliage, others have great flowers, some have both.
27:07This one here is Begonia listarda. It's a classic old-fashioned garden plant and it has a very lax
27:15growth habit. So if it's grown in a green wall, it can actually make something quite spectacular as it flows
27:24down.
27:24They can grow quite tall, my height or taller, so they can make really good landscape specimens in the garden.
27:33They will need filtered sunlight and drainage is very important, so plant them on a mound so water drains
27:40away from the base of the plant. And because begonias are an incredibly diverse genus,
27:47they're a climbing species. This one here, Begonia thelmy, is a trailing species. There's even edible
27:55species like that one down there. But one thing that unites all begonias is 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, Josh 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 with a passion for her home garden.
28:38I'm going to say it, and I know I'm among friends, but gardeners are just the nicest people.
28:45They identify potential issues and then turn them into opportunities. Over to you, Sophie.
29:02I'm here in this half-abandoned apple orchard in a small town called Forest Range in the Adelaide Hills.
29:09There's a huge crop of Granny Smiths here, but in recent years,
29:12much of the fruit has been left to rot on the ground, but not anymore.
29:22Brett Dunstone has started a volunteer group, Fruit Share Adelaide, to stop fresh produce
29:28from going to waste and 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 from this old orchard.
29:41So we've got lots of different organisations registered with us, food relief groups, food bank.
29:47So we've got a couple of bins that are going to be dropped off that we'll fill up today,
29:50and we've got all sorts of other charities that we can drop them off to.
29:55So 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, you know, wherever there's fruit, we'll basically come and pick it.
30:08So stuff that would have been wasted is getting repurposed and helping people in need.
30:13Yeah, exactly.
30:28Brett, can I give you a hand?
30:29Yeah, sure. We can do with all the help we can get.
30:32Absolutely. Now there's so many apples here, you couldn't possibly pick them all, could you?
30:37No, no. It's hard to leave some behind, but we pick as much as we can.
30:42And choosing the ones that are good size and not damaged?
30:46Yeah, we try to get the biggest and the best conditioned ones,
30:49leaving any that are damaged that might spoil the rest of the batch.
30:59So why are you doing this?
31:00I saw so much fruit going to waste in backyards and orchards and the like that I thought there
31:04must be a better way of making use of this resource we've got out there.
31:08And what was your inspiration?
31:09I read about a group in Ballarat called the Hidden Orchard that basically have been doing
31:13something like this for over five years. And let's see if we can do something similar
31:17for that here in Adelaide and put it out there and, you know, it's grown from there.
31:22How big is the food waste issue in Australia?
31:24Oh, it's massive. It's hard to quantify, but around a quarter of produce on farms
31:29goes to waste before it even leaves the farm gate. And similar in backyards where there's
31:34just so much produce that's going to waste. And, you know, you couple that with the massive
31:38food insecurity issue where there's, you know, probably a third of households 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,
31:59basically they can't make use of it too much for them to eat themselves. Or sometimes they don't
32:03like the fruit but want to see it go to better use than it is at the moment.
32:11Volunteers of all ages are pitching in to harvest the fruit. The volunteers can keep
32:17some for themselves, but the vast majority is distributed to charities.
32:22I'm picking apples for free chess so then they can get donated to charities so then they can
32:28make food for people that don't have enough money to buy food. Yeah, I am enjoying it.
32:38This is my first granny smith picking, so it's good fun here, a bit of workout for me as well,
32:45which is great.
32:48We can convert some of our free time to do what is helpful to the others, so that's the main
32:55thing.
32:55And also, you know, a bit of socialising here and then back to the nature here.
33:03Most 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.
33:14Hello.
33:14Oh wow, fabulous. They look amazing. They're great. Beautiful.
33:24Bernadette Redding from the Hutt Community Centre welcomes any fresh food donations,
33:30which all help to feed locals in the Adelaide Hills who are doing it tough.
33:36So who do these granny smith go to? So we have a food pantry here on a Tuesday and a
33:41Thursday.
33:42We have lots of members that are in financial hardship and come along to get free fresh fruit
33:48and veg from us. So is it worse at the moment because of the cost of living crisis?
33:53Yeah, definitely. We have lots of new members coming along each week. Lots of young families,
33:58young people, homelessness, housing costs as well, the increase in bills and also too, you know,
34:04healthy food is a lot more expensive. Now we've obviously got a lot more than just apples.
34:09Where does this other produce come from? So we don't get any funding for our food pantry,
34:14so we do rely solely on community donations. All of the produce here comes from either Oz Harvest or
34:20Food Bank, local bakeries and other organisations, as well as people's gardens.
34:26We've got apples and lots of other stuff for you today. Everything is lovely and fresh today,
34:31so help yourself to what you need. Some potatoes. It'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. So we have a good alignment with Fruit Share Adelaide. One of our values is to reduce
34:48food waste and if we can provide good quality fruit and veg for people in need as well, there's a
34:53huge benefit.
34:58Next stop, Cumberland Park in Adelaide's inner south to harvest kumquats. I'm catching a ride with Brett.
35:11There's a lot going on, Brett. This could almost be a full-time job. Yeah, it's a full-time job
35:17doing all the logistics and whatnot.
35:18And this is a volunteer. You know, you're doing this as well as a job.
35:22Ah, yeah. No, no. It's not my normal day job. I'm an engineer by day, but it definitely keeps me
35:27busy.
35:29And how many volunteers have you got to help with all the harvesting?
35:32We've got hundreds of volunteers registered. We've probably had over 100 come out to help
35:37them harvest themselves, but yeah, we've been very lucky. That'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 her
35:56kumquats 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. And 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.
36:20In 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. I think
36:43across the US, for example, there's hundreds of groups that are making use of produce and orchards
36:48and backyards. So that's one of my big goals is to try and make this more widespread around Australia,
36:54to make better use of the produce we've got just sitting there really, and help feed people out there
36:59in need.
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. Over time,
37:21the branches can become congested. Thinning these out will lead to a healthier canopy, stronger flowering,
37:28and bigger fruit.
37:31Any dead, diseased or crossing branches should come out first.
37:37From there, I'm further reducing the congestion by pruning out smaller branches towards the centre,
37:43opening up the structure. The larger branches stay. They are 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. Add some fertiliser,
38:03compost, and a layer of mulch, and your dwarf fruit trees will be well prepared to fire up when the
38:09growing season kicks in. Back to Gerry and his begonias. Now, you better get ready to grow your
38:22begonia collection big time. Big begonia time. Well, 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. Stem cuttings and by seed.
38:57This is Begonia cubensis. It's a small shrub-like begonia and I've been growing it for 25 years.
39:06You see, it doesn't always look like this. When they get to a year or more older,
39:12they tend to lose their form. They become a little bit straggly, but pruning them will rejuvenate the
39:19plant and at the same time you get loads and loads of cuttings and you don't need to waste any
39:25of them.
39:27Now, to make a stem cutting, you really only need a piece, say, finger length. So that's about the length
39:33of my finger. Cut these off. Now you've got these little cuttings. See there? That's a perfect little
39:42cutting. You need somewhere to put them. This is a decorative pot plant. It's Anciomani's Delzelii,
39:49but it will die down in winter and all I've got to look at is a dead pot. So rather
39:54than that,
39:55I'm going to use these cuttings to create a decorative pot filler. And so I'm using a little
40:00bamboo cane here. You just break off these little cuttings and poke these in. They go in about two
40:07or three centimetres deep and 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. It's a way to grow many,
40:51many different plants in a short period of time. Now, while this begonia is shameful,
40:56it does happen to have three little begonia seed pods. And even though they're tiny,
41:02inside there could be anything up to two thousand different seed. One of the key things with sowing
41:09begonias is you do it on a calm day. One sneeze and you could lose a lot. There's probably a
41:16thousand
41:16seed inside here ready to go. The most important thing when it comes to sowing begonia seed is never
41:28buy a commercial seed raising mix that contains fertilizer. I've learned this because the conditions
41:37that begonia seed need to germinate are exactly the same that algae will germinate in and algae loves
41:46fertilizer. In no time it will outgrow your begonia seedlings and smother them if there's fertilizer
41:52in the mix. So I make my own and I use one part of perlite, one part of horticultural sand
42:00and one part of
42:02coir mix. And you put them all in together, mix them up thoroughly. You've actually got a mix which you
42:12can
42:12use quite easily for cuttings and also for potting begonias. So now we've made the propagating mix, so you can
42:22fill up a pot.
42:26And now we need to transfer the seed into a piece of paper. The reason I do this is because
42:34it's easier
42:36to get a controlled release of seed into a pot. I can hold this over the pot and by tapping
42:44the seed
42:45will slowly move in and that way they'll arrive all the way around the pot rather than one heap.
42:52Now the seed is sown, you don't cover them, they need to see the light. They need to be kept
42:59moist
42:59and you might want to use a little hand atomizer to keep them damp. Place them into a propagating
43:06tray. This one is lined with moist coir fibre and that boosts the humidity around the germinating seed.
43:13The 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 sun protection. It allows filtered
43:29light through. This should be put somewhere east facing where it gets morning sunlight only and
43:38every 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 and when you're able to,
43:51you remove those clumps and put them into individual pots and when they're big enough to separate as
43:58individual plants, you put them into individual pots. And that way a single pod of a begonia could produce
44:06anything up to a couple of thousand plants. Now it may take a couple of seasons to go from seed
44:13to a fully mature blooming begonia. But that transformation from tiny seed to an entire garden
44:21full of blooms is exactly what hooked me into growing begonias in the first place. And I hope it'll hook
44:28you in too.
44:51There'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? Well our next story is
45:05with
45:05a restoration ecologist. And 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.
45:34I'm Dr Tanya Bailey. I'm a restoration ecologist and a very keen home gardener. I'm a trained
45:40horticulturalist and a science educator.
45:47So my work out here in the Midlands as well as in my own backyard is all really about improving
45:53biodiversity, 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.
46:08We're here on a mixed farm on the northern Midlands, which runs either side of the Midlands Highway,
46:13which is the main road between Hobart and Launceston. It's one of a number of trial sites that I've worked
46:19at across Tasmania. One of the key issues around revegetation in these very changed environments
46:25plants is where to collect your seed from. And by collecting seed from a whole lot of different
46:30populations and putting it into these what we call a common garden environment, we can actually tell
46:35how the different populations have been affected by all the different conditions that they need to deal
46:41with in these very difficult sites. We have embedded a whole lot of research on one species in particular,
46:49Eucalyptus viminalis, which 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,
47:00Eucalyptus viminalis, in my backyard and 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.
47:11It's a really important species for providing habitat for threatened species. In Tasmania,
47:16the 40-spotted pardalote has a very strong association with Eucalyptus viminalis and on
47:21the mainland it provides food for koalas. But it's really struggling quite badly across its whole
47:27distribution now. So it's one of those species that is of concern and we really would like to know
47:32more about it. And 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. Sight unseen,
47:52we'd never been to Tasmania before. Our current garden is in Launceston in northern Tasmania. Our
47:58previous garden was seven acres, so we've downsized to our current garden which is actually 3,000 square
48:03metres, which is actually quite a large garden for a suburban garden. It's a perfect size for us at this
48:09stage of our lives. We bought this property when it was very neglected and hadn't been lived in for
48:16three to four years. It was really quite wild. A lot of woody weeds, a lot of blackberry and onion
48:23weed,
48:24which is another horrible weed that takes quite a lot of effort. It was really quite a mess. It was
48:29actually run as a little farm with animals and lots of gates and fences. We removed a lot of that
48:34and
48:35turned it into an immersive garden. I have a whole mix of native plants, productive plants. I'm also very
48:47interested in ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials. So the more naturalistic planting,
48:52there's elements of that here as well. One of the key drivers is to really introduce plants that will
48:59bring birds and insects into the garden. So I'm quite interested in the different flower shapes and
49:14forms of plants. I think it also really encourages diversity of pollinators as well. So different
49:20pollinators come in for different flower shapes. Birds love the native corriers with the tube shapes.
49:26native bees and honeybees love the big plate shaped umble shaped flowers and repeating those throughout
49:33the garden gives a sense of continuity as well. So in my front yard I've actually focused mainly
49:44on natives and some grasses in there as well. It's actually a little sanctuary out the front there.
49:50It'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 and the
50:01callum agrostis which is quite an upright grass. They sort of soften the edge of that space and then
50:06the native ground colours and things help cover the soil as well so that it all just is a whole
50:12mass of
50:12texture and colour.
50:17I'd call myself a plant maximalist. I love lots and lots of different plants but I also have an eye
50:23for
50:24how to actually put them together so they look beautiful as well. But I absolutely love grasses.
50:29They provide different shapes and forms and texture and movement. In this garden I have tens of different
50:36varieties 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.
51:07This is a beautiful plant, Miscanthus transmoriensis. It's a semi-evergreen ornamental grass and it's
51:14quite a substantial grass. It really fills out an area in the border. It really adds to the dynamic
51:20nature of a naturalistic planting.
51:30It's a really immersive garden but I also wanted to make it productive. We eat really
51:35well out of this garden. We have a lot of vegetable elements, a lot of fruit elements.
51:45So this amazing plant is an amaranthus. It's an edible ornamental. You can eat the seeds and also
51:52the 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
52:03that it's transformed. It'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.
52:13As a child in Sydney, I grew up in a place that ran down to a creek and bush and
52:18my dad used to go
52:19down on weekends and take out weeds along the creek lines of privet and lantana and all the major sort
52:25of environmental weeds. I didn't really think at the time was making an influence but now I sort of
52:30think back and think that that was probably part of that enjoyment of being in nature and caring for
52:36the place that you're in as well.
52:51My work in the Midlands as well as in my backyard is really super important to me because I really
52:56want
52:56to support biodiversity, all the birds, the animals, the insects, all those different parts of an
53:01ecosystem and bring them together so these areas that were once degraded or distressed are now in
53:08a much better state than they were when I first came to them. We're waiting for the trees to mature
53:14and set seed and flower but we will soon enough find out which populations are going to be surviving best
53:20in this quite sort of harsh landscape.
53:36Okay, 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
53:54hessian around a frame of stakes to keep the chill at bay. Beautiful and bird attracting, native
54:01corriers are flowering now, making it a perfect time to pop into a nursery and pick out a favourite.
54:08Plant out some cauliflower seedlings in a sunny position, protected from winds and about 40 centimetres
54:15apart. In warm temperate gardens it's time to grab the tulip bulbs out of the fridge and whack them
54:22into the ground. Plant them 15 centimetres deep, pointy side up and feed with blood and bone. Add cool
54:30season colour to the garden with Ipacris impressa, common heath. Bearing masses of flowers from autumn to
54:37spring, these native shrubs are perfect for pots in a sunny spot. Please pollinators and bring in the
54:43bees by popping in some perennial favourites like lavender, rosemary, salvias and thyme. Always check
54:50local weed lists before planting anything at your place. In the subtropics bird of paradise have finished
54:58flowering so it's time for a tidy up. Remove spent flower heads, dry stems and brown foliage by cutting off
55:04at
55:04ground level. Mother of herbs, Plectranthus ambionicus is a tough, tidy ground cover, propagates easily,
55:12tastes 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. These tough trailing plants love a well-lit
55:24position protected from the harsh afternoon sun and perform best when they're pot bound.
55:30In tropical gardens, minimise mozzies breeding in bromeliads by flushing out rosettes and mosquito
55:37larvae when watering. Replace lost nutrients with a six-monthly liquid feed. Petunias are perfect at
55:44this time of the year. In a sunny spot, fill pots, baskets or beds with these awesome annuals. The
55:51kaleidoscope of colours is guaranteed to spread joy. Hanging baskets aren't just for ornamental plants,
55:58they can look incredible crammed with edibles like strawberries, sweet potato, thyme, ruby basil and
56:05French marigolds for colour. Arid gardeners have a grow of Ethiopian cabbage, brassica carinata. The
56:13foliage is edible, the young flowers taste like broccoli and the seeds are a mustard substitute,
56:18a cracking cabbage. Hard prune mulberries to keep these fast-growing faves in check. Cut the main
56:25trunk to around head height, retain eight to ten strong side shoots and prune branches to an open
56:32vase shape. Get involved in a local citizen science project. With studies from biodiversity to bees,
56:40birds, bats, butterflies, mammals and more, there's heaps of ways to get involved. We hope this weekend is a
56:48sweet one in the garden and that you buzz to get amongst it. Be sure to head to our social
56:53pages and
56:53share your stories, successes, questions and queries with the Gardening Australia hive mind.
57:05Well, believe it or not, that's all we have time for. Have a great weekend in the garden,
57:11whatever the weather. Now, 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.
57:35And 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.
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