- 12 hours ago
Gardening Australia - Season 37 - Episode 04
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Ha-ha-ha!
00:05Hey! Hi!
00:15Hey, honey.
00:22Hey!
00:33Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:37This week we are absolutely loaded with ideas, inspiration, insights, analysis, hacks, tips, tricks, techniques and good old fashioned advice.
00:50Anyway, take a look at what we've got lined up. I know, you're going to love it.
00:57Some gardeners have that extra special something and Dolores Milak is one of them.
01:02Wow, you've trained these things into archers.
01:05The garden is a celebration of her Maltese culture, family and friendship.
01:09To believe in a garden is really to believe in tomorrow. It's part of my own feelings, my own nature
01:16I suppose.
01:16When it comes to form, structure, privacy and creating space in gardens,
01:22our gardening minds often turn to thinking about hedging and screening.
01:25I've got some top tips on the perfect natives to use.
01:29Can pools be a safe space for humans and wildlife?
01:34I'll be finding out how to make both things possible.
01:40And we meet a couple turning their inner city location into a real menagerie.
01:46When they're really little, they are actually bottle fed five times a day.
02:01Campbelltown is a thriving city in Sydney's south-west.
02:05And I'm meeting up with well-known local identity,
02:09horticulturist Tim Pickles at the park on the main street.
02:13His passion for trees is next level.
02:16There's some nice established trees in here, Tim.
02:21Absolutely magnificent shade trees in this park.
02:24Custer, I love it.
02:25What have you contributed?
02:27Well, I planted that gerildery red over there, which I absolutely love.
02:30I planted a grafted white jacaranda.
02:33And then in front of the church up there, there's a grafted brachycitan,
02:36which is going to be absolutely huge.
02:38It's going to be like a dinosaur of the forest.
02:41In the past, Tim has been a bit of a gorilla gardener.
02:45Not something we condone.
02:47But these days, his work has the support of the local council.
02:53At his garden centre in the heart of town,
02:56he's sharing a few favourites for your own tree haven at home.
03:00Custer, I've got this amazing tree, Australian native evergreen tree.
03:04It's called a Queensland Firewheel tree.
03:07It gets these incredibly arty, firewheel-like flowers.
03:12It flowers in summer.
03:13The birds absolutely love the nectar in the flower.
03:17The fast-growing tree only grows about six or eight metres high by four metres wide.
03:21So it's the perfect tree for these modern courtyard-sized gardens.
03:25You can prune the lower branches off it.
03:27You'll be able to sit a table and chairs underneath the tree,
03:30and you'll get an extra room in your house,
03:32sitting outside, listening to birds and nature.
03:45This has become one of my favourite trees, Buckinghamia salissima.
03:50I've actually planted one on the other side of the fence,
03:53just outside our nursery here.
03:54It only grows about four to six metres high in Sydney,
03:56and it should be famous.
03:58Everyone in Australia should have one of these in their garden.
04:00Look at the glossy green leaves.
04:02Beautiful glossy green.
04:03Coppery-coloured new growth.
04:05And it gets these flowers, huge ivory-coloured flowers.
04:08They're massive.
04:09They're almost 30 centimetres long.
04:11And it smells.
04:13The fragrance is incredible.
04:18Where did this mission for trees begin?
04:21Well, it happened accidentally.
04:22What happened was both my children were born at Campbelltown Hospital.
04:26And then I was leaving the hospital,
04:27and I noticed that the car park was devoid of trees.
04:30It was seriously like a moonscape.
04:33So to start with, I tried to get local council to plant trees there.
04:36Then one Sunday, I decided,
04:38well, why don't I go and plant some trees there?
04:39And I planted them myself.
04:41And then I had to water them for six months to get them growing.
04:44And they grew beautifully.
04:45And then, of course, the hospital got redeveloped.
04:48And now they've planted trees, which is great.
04:50But you won't believe it.
04:51Two of my trees are still there.
04:53Manchurian pear and a jacaranda tree.
04:54And two of my boys were born in that hospital,
04:56and there's still two trees that I planted.
04:58And recently, I was visiting a friend who was in hospital
05:00who was very sick.
05:01And I looked out of the window of the room,
05:04and there was my jacaranda, covered in flowers,
05:06looking absolutely magnificent.
05:08That made me feel so good.
05:12Tim sure does walk the talk.
05:14His own large garden on the semi-rural outskirts of town is tree-lightful,
05:19growing an eclectic mix of exotic and natives.
05:28What I love about these trees, they're big shade trees.
05:31And you notice yourself,
05:33as soon as you walk underneath the shade of these trees,
05:35the temperature drops dramatically.
05:37All of a sudden, your body feels relaxed and calm,
05:40and your body just goes,
05:43oh, that is so nice.
05:46But the grass is still growing under quite a shade-giving tree.
05:51Yeah, absolutely.
05:51So the trick is, what you've got to do is you've got to under-prune,
05:54you cut all the, they call it uplifting,
05:55you remove all the lower branches that hang down over the grass.
05:59That lets the sun in.
06:00Once the sun comes in underneath the trees,
06:02your grass grows, because grass needs sunshine.
06:06Now, you've got this beautiful hedge here
06:08that I imagine gives you great protection from the wind and privacy.
06:12It does, Goster. It's absolutely fantastic.
06:14It's actually a tree.
06:16It's a waterhousier floribunda or weeping lily-pilly.
06:19And what I've done is I've pruned those trees and turned them into a hedge.
06:23It's an Australian native plant, grows really, really quickly.
06:27That's what I love about it. Makes the perfect hedge.
06:30And then over here, we've got this darker green of the ornamental pear.
06:35Costa, I love green. I love green in my garden.
06:38Seriously, it just relaxes you. It makes you just, it's so soothing.
06:41And this is actually a Manchurian pear tree.
06:44You can see how glossy and green they are.
06:46In spring, they're covered in the most beautiful white spring blossom.
06:50Summer, you get the gorgeous green leaves which give you the shade.
06:52And then in autumn, the autumn foliage is spectacular.
06:56They are great trees and so hardy and fast-growing as well.
07:00Next, Tim's showing me a tasteful addition to his collection of colourful trees.
07:06I love persimmon. One of my favourite fruits of all.
07:10Yeah, I love the tree. I'm not as excited about the fruit.
07:13This is the crunchy one for you.
07:16Well, I have planted the tree because persimmons get the most magnificent autumn foliage.
07:22The most amazing colours.
07:25And I decided that I had to have a persimmon tree just for the foliage.
07:31Nothing to do with the fruit.
07:33I pruned this tree in winter when they lose their leaves.
07:35This is about five years old, this tree.
07:37And you wouldn't believe it.
07:38It only started growing after I pruned it.
07:40You can see here where I chopped the top off it.
07:42Yeah.
07:42And you can see it sent out the branches here, here, here.
07:45All of a sudden it woke up.
07:46It was like this tree needed to be pruned to make it grow.
07:51And then in spring I put some cow manure around and it's just taken off.
07:56Pruning trees is essential.
07:59And Tim's undertaken some strategic snipping of one of his big beauties.
08:04So when did this magnolia go in?
08:07Well, Costa, that got planted about 25 years ago.
08:11And I noticed one side has been hedged.
08:14Well, it has, Costa.
08:15It's a big tree.
08:16And what it was doing, it was leaning right over the pool and it does drop leaves.
08:20But even though it's an evergreen tree, it drops its leaves in spring to be replaced with new leaves.
08:25And those leaves are like cardboard.
08:27They fall in the pool.
08:28What I've done is pruned it on one side, reduced the size of it, so I can still see a
08:33beautiful tree,
08:33but without so much upkeep as in netting the leaves out of the pool.
08:38I've got regrets about how big it's grown, but I've fallen in love with it.
08:42There's no way I could ever remove it.
08:44I should have been a little suspicious with the name Grand Aura.
08:48But it just gets the most amazing white flowers on it.
08:51They have a beautiful lemony fragrance, so they smell delicious.
08:54The bees love them.
08:55And then it gets these fruit, which almost look like an avocado.
08:58And the parrots, the cockatoos especially, love eating them, so I'm feeding nature as well.
09:04Growing in all shapes and sizes, there's a smaller species of magnolia near the house.
09:10This one's called Magnolia denudata.
09:13I've planted this tree in this small space, because this tree fits in here.
09:17You can see it fits beautifully.
09:18You can see it grows about eight metres high and about six metres wide.
09:22Not too big.
09:23This one does lose its leaves in winter.
09:26And then in late winter, it gets covered in the most magnificent white tulip shaped flowers.
09:32Absolutely covered.
09:33It has a perfume as well.
09:35And it's one of those trees that heralds the start of spring.
09:38But you've also got the views out through it, which I like.
09:41And it frames this view out that window.
09:44This house was designed to have no curtains.
09:47Every window you look out, you look out onto trees and gardens.
09:51How nice is that?
09:54And later in the program, Tim and I will be digging into his tips for planting trees.
10:05What's a quick growing vine for your garden?
10:08I'm a big fan of the native Macquarie vine.
10:12This one's less than a year old and it's smothering this archway.
10:15We're training it through some Rio mesh, which is really tough and strong so it can hold it up.
10:21It's an evergreen vine and from late winter all the way through to spring has a beautiful white flower.
10:28Meaning it's gorgeous to look at year round.
10:31Why are my lady beetles yellow?
10:33Well, there are lots of species of lady beetle and many of them are native to Australia.
10:39Behind me, I've got a pumpkin that is at the end of its life.
10:42It's got powdery mildew on it and it's attracting the mildew eating lady beetle.
10:46They're literally there to eat the fungus off the leaves.
10:49First, you see the little juveniles, which look like these fantastic little black and white armadillos.
10:55And then they evolve into that classic beetle, but it's yellow and black, not orange or red.
11:01And I think the big thing to know is whenever you see something you don't know,
11:05don't reach for a spray bottle, reach for a guidebook.
11:08Work out who it is that shares this amazing place that is our garden.
11:12Can you recommend an edible plant to grow in shade?
11:17Turmeric. I've been growing this in shade for 20 years.
11:21It's a frost sensitive perennial, so in a temperate climate,
11:25you plant them in spring and you harvest them in autumn.
11:29In my climate, they can grow outside all year round.
11:33Now you can eat the roots and you can eat the leaves.
11:36The flowers also are edible.
11:39The roots can be dried to make turmeric spice,
11:42colouring and flavouring for curries and other foods,
11:45and the leaves make a beautiful, refreshing green tea.
11:49This is the exotic turmeric,
11:52and this is the Australian native, which is found in the top end.
11:57They're both interchangeable in the kitchen and in the garden.
12:01The only difference between these is this one flowers in summer
12:06and the native one flowers in spring.
12:15They say a life spent in the garden is a life well lived.
12:20And if that garden is a reflection of your culture,
12:25your personal journey, your family,
12:28and the people you've met along the way,
12:31well, all the better.
12:33Tammy's here with a home garden visit
12:36that's about as good as it gets.
12:41Some gardeners have that extra special something
12:43and Dolores Milak is one of them.
12:46Just beautiful, yes.
12:47Wow, you've trained these figs into archers.
12:50Yes, into an arch, yes.
12:51The garden is a celebration of her Maltese culture,
12:53family and friendship.
12:55Yes, heaps and heaps of, yeah.
12:57And here is my Maltese orchard, as I call it.
13:03In larynge, yeah.
13:04Chitru is a gift.
13:07Yeah, oh, there am I.
13:09I'm talking Maltese now.
13:10That's how it is.
13:11You're at home.
13:12I'm at home.
13:12This is my Mediterranean garden.
13:15I've got the olive trees, the fig trees.
13:18Oh, I think I've got about 10 in this tiny little small garden,
13:22but I keep trimming.
13:23Chitru in Maltese, which is citrus.
13:26Lots of herbs I have in this garden.
13:28I've got the carfus, the celery.
13:32As we speak now, I'm allowing it to go into flour
13:35to give me more seeds, but I use that in soup,
13:39which in Maltese we call it brodo.
13:41There is parsley everywhere and mint galore,
13:46and I lay it on the ground, so when I go on my knees,
13:50I say trimming something.
13:51I just smell back home, yeah, it's just beautiful.
13:55And, of course, being here in Australia,
13:59tropical, which, what can I say?
14:01The climate is becoming like that.
14:03I've got the mango trees, guavas, and yeah.
14:07There, as you can see, I have a pink lady apple,
14:11which is full of flowers as well, and again,
14:14you will see that it's, yeah, I created it rounds and rounds.
14:18And so did your mum and dad garden?
14:20Is that where your influence is from?
14:21Actually, mostly it was my father after he retired
14:25from being a soldier.
14:26And then, of course, he had two lovely fields
14:29there in St. Paul's Bay, Malta.
14:31It's just where I grew up as a little young kid.
14:34I used to go more to the fields than go to the beach,
14:38which was just around the corner from where I lived.
14:42How about that?
14:43It shows that if gardening is part of you,
14:47you've kind of been born into it and you can't escape it.
14:53More than 50 years ago, Dolores and her family
14:56put down roots in Greystains, a suburb in Sydney's west.
15:00Every centimetre of soil has been creatively cultivated
15:04into an oasis of fruit and flowers.
15:10Here, Tammy, I have this abutal and I've put it here
15:14so the colour, you know, the yellow colour brights
15:18and, of course, more bees come around.
15:21And it's such a pretty plant, very easily done by cuttings as well.
15:25These lanterns, I call them.
15:27They're very sweet.
15:28They are, they are, yes.
15:29And, Dolores, I can see that you've trained this citrus
15:32into another arch.
15:33Yes, of course.
15:35Anything reaching to the sky, as I call it,
15:38what's the word here?
15:39It's really for the birds, not for us.
15:41So the more lower you put it and the more you lay it down,
15:46the more fruit you will get.
15:48This is a lovely Eureka lemon tree.
15:51It's keep on giving.
15:54So here we've got rooms that I created one after the other
16:00and I call them windows, handmade windows,
16:04so you can see right through them.
16:07And on top of us here, I've got this beautiful tornless rose
16:11which my sister from young gave me a piece 20-odd years back.
16:16And look at it.
16:17I create it into another arch.
16:22In a garden, you just play around, pot around
16:26and see what you can create with your hands, yes.
16:30I mean, look at what you created.
16:33It's... I have no words what you've done.
16:35It's amazing.
16:37And in amongst the foliage, Dolores is squeezed in a veggie patch.
16:42And over here, there is more little plantings that I do
16:46as vegetables, of course.
16:48This one we call the chickpeas in English,
16:52but in Maltese it is chichri.
16:54Oh, that is a lovely even word for it.
16:56I grew up eating chichri from my father's fields.
17:00He used to grow them just for little me, really.
17:03Look how beautiful it is.
17:06It makes it into a little pod.
17:08There's a tiny pea in there, which is the chichri.
17:11And when you eat that, when it's fully, fully more plump,
17:15it has a very salty taste to it.
17:18Ah.
17:18And how do you grow it?
17:20Does it need any special conditions?
17:21Yes, it does.
17:22As a matter of fact, for the chichri,
17:25then in the soil, it has to be very sweet, very limey.
17:29So, of course, you add lime before you plant everything in.
17:33That's preparation, as we say.
17:35The more sweet the soil, the better the chichri will,
17:39the chickpea will grow into.
17:42And then, as you can see, I'm growing now arabali,
17:46which is the zucchini, but the round one.
17:48That's another very, very Maltese.
17:50Before you put in the seeds, you always prepare
17:55and mount up into the fertilizer or manure, whatever you have to put it in.
18:02And, yeah, of course, later on I've got potash,
18:05which is already in pots full of water.
18:09Because when I see they are growing a little bit more
18:12and they're starting the flowers,
18:14then I will start watering from that potash water into them
18:19to make the flowers stronger and the fruit will hold better.
18:23And I also have here, which is again another Maltese,
18:27maybe in other places too, the aborigine or eggplant.
18:31Maltese, what do I call it? Brungil.
18:34It sounds like you're the official ambassador for Malta.
18:37So, yes, I still kept and keep my language Maltese.
18:41I do the garden segments in Maltese talkbacks
18:46and, yeah, with SBS Maltese radio.
18:50And, yeah, it's my own pleasure that I do what I know.
18:55I try to give it to whoever wants to listen, I guess, and learn.
19:01Because, as we always say, the garden is a never-ending story.
19:14Dolores, what made you leave Malta to come to Australia?
19:17Oh, that's a good question.
19:18Well, I got married, of course.
19:20My husband was there.
19:21We found each other and got married and came to Australia.
19:25And what was it like when you got here?
19:26I was young, naive and finding it, like, very hard.
19:32You go to the park, they're empty.
19:34And I say, what on earth?
19:36What am I doing here?
19:37Where is everybody?
19:38And what did you do when you felt isolated?
19:41I started gardening.
19:43I mean, a little patch here or a little patch there.
19:46And gardening was, I call it my salvation, really.
19:49I just started and the mind kind of relaxed and said,
19:54this is it, this is my place.
19:56I started looking for gardening clubs.
19:59And I found Holroyd Garden Club about 30-odd years back.
20:04And these last 17 years, I've been president of Holroyd Garden Club for home gardeners.
20:11We are a teamwork, heaps of members.
20:13And we just talk garden, answer questions, talk about anything involving gardening.
20:20How do you even find the time?
20:24Dolores' contribution to Australian gardening culture has been recognised by the Garden Clubs of Australia.
20:31And in 2024, her front garden won the Sydney Spring Garden Prize.
20:36It's a dazzling display.
20:40So what was the plan for the front garden, Dolores?
20:42Well, colour.
20:44Colour is always in the front for me, for everyone to look at.
20:48Even colour in the foliage, you know.
20:51I mean, a leaf is not always green.
20:54That one there is a crab myrtle, the diamond in the dark.
20:59Further on, I've got the ornamental sweet potato, which is the most beautiful ground cover.
21:05There's so much colour to really draw everyone in.
21:09Well, that is the reason.
21:10Every year I change the colour from season to season.
21:14There's always something going on, especially to make people smile when they pass by.
21:21And even give a cutting.
21:23And yeah, smile.
21:25Smile is all about, yes.
21:26You're spreading joy in the neighbourhood.
21:28Well, I try to very much indeed, yeah.
21:33I love the way Dolores embraces life and gardening.
21:37A radiant reminder to cherish what we have and grow more of it.
21:42To believe in a garden is really to believe in tomorrow.
21:46It's part of my own feelings, my own nature, I suppose.
21:50Being a Maltese Australian person, yes.
22:03I'm often asked about plants for screening.
22:06I mean, we've all got a spot that could be improved with a wall of green.
22:11Well, Clarence is here with some of his top picks for native plants that could fill that space.
22:31As gardeners, we often face quite typical challenges with hedging and screening when it comes to creating space and privacy.
22:38I've some great native plant solutions that do the job, even in the trickiest of locations.
22:45Planting natives really pays off when thinking about large-scale screening and windbreaks.
22:52I like to go for a striking bottle brush, the Callistamon Dawson River Weeper.
22:56Now, it's an iconic Aussie native that withstands a tonne of diverse conditions, including frost, drought and waterlogging.
23:04There's not a lot of plants that can do that.
23:08It flowers twice a year, producing stunning red flowers that attract pollinators.
23:13And whether you prune it for shape or let it naturally flourish, it'll provide the screening you need.
23:20Another alternative is the graceful native blueberry ash, Eleocarpus reticulatus.
23:26It can grow between 5 to 10 metres.
23:29And it dazzles with clusters of fringed, bell-shaped, white or pink flowers in spring and summer,
23:34and creates a truly vibrant and biodiverse plant.
23:40There's a couple of Aussie icons to consider.
23:43Old Man Baxia is a superb landscaping all-rounder.
23:47With its velvety new growth, lovely cones and old man bark, it can be pruned hard to make a formal
23:53hedging.
23:56So, too, Melaleuca stifloides.
23:59We're used to seeing it loom large and beautiful in our landscape, but pruning every few years creates the perfect
24:05screen with its spongy, papery bark and creamy white flowers.
24:12Taking a step down in height from screening trees, there are great native options for the all-important intermediate level
24:18of hedging.
24:19And they can be pruned to your own taste for their look, shape and feel.
24:24One of my favourite natives is Agmina smithii, mini pili, which is a low-maintenance option that fits well with
24:30contemporary native and low-water gardens.
24:33It's a compact shrub with glossy leaves that flush bronze pink when new.
24:38The mini pili blooms small white flowers in spring, followed by edible purple berries that support local wildlife.
24:49The beckia vergata is a wonderfully versatile native known more commonly as the twiggy heath myrtle.
24:55A low-maintenance whiz of a plant that I think is a bit of a show-stopper.
25:00It naturally grows into a neat, lowish-growing spherical form that provides great structure for any garden.
25:08In early summer, it produces a spectacular dusting of tiny white flowers that draw in pollinators.
25:15And versatile too, thriving in either full sun or part shade.
25:23Another hedging native you could try is Kanzia ericoides, snowman, which is perfect for trimming into formal shapes
25:30and thrives in Aussie conditions, providing year-round dark green foliage and texture.
25:37And finally, the Grevillea ladio.
25:39It's a wonderful, quick grower that's in flower 12 months of the year.
25:42Shape it into a hedge or leave it to nature.
25:45It'll be a fabulous addition to any garden.
25:51I hope I've given you some good ideas for screening and shaping your gardens with wonderful and resilient natives
25:56that'll keep you and your local wildlife happy for years to come.
26:07How do I minimise the risk of mosquitoes?
26:10Well, protection starts before you leave the house.
26:13You need to cover up, and any exposed skin, you need to use a mosquito repellent.
26:19Now, the official advice is to use products containing DEET.
26:24Whichever brand you use, you have to repeat every hour.
26:27Maybe more if the weather is really hot and sticky.
26:31The next step is to look for places around your garden where water may have accumulated,
26:37like the base of palm fronds, which you can empty out.
26:40The same thing with saucers and drip trays and buckets.
26:44They're all places where mosquitoes will lay eggs,
26:48and in the space of three to four days, those wrigglers can mature into blood-sucking adults.
26:55So you just empty those out.
26:58And if you have large bromeliads that hold water,
27:01I just go around and hose them out with fresh water and make it a morning routine.
27:06Now, with standing water, such as a permanent feature like a frog pond,
27:11well, you can use things like native fish.
27:14Blue eye are really adaptable, and they don't mind too much whether the water is good or low quality,
27:20but they will eat mosquito wrigglers, and you can use plants.
27:24There's a bladderwort which grows all the way around Australia,
27:28and they can be planted in ponds, and they trap and kill mosquito larvae.
27:34Still to come on Gardening Australia, I'm getting top tips on planting trees.
27:41Is anyone anywhere safe from you and your tree-planting mission?
27:47Uh, Costrip, I see a tree-planting opportunity.
27:50I like to take it, mate.
27:53Hannah stretches out her basil,
27:56and we visit a creative couple with some wild inspiration.
28:07Perth is a hot place, and that means any water you can incorporate into your garden
28:14is a real bonus for local wildlife.
28:18But what if you took it to the next level?
28:21Josh is visiting a garden that will have you ready to take the plunge at your place.
28:32If you take an aerial view of the suburbs in our cities, particularly the warmer ones like Brisbane and here
28:39in Perth,
28:39you'll see a patchwork of roofs, lawns, tree canopy and shimmering swimming pools.
28:47Pools don't always fit into a landscape, but sometimes they do.
28:54In the hills overlooking Perth,
28:57Kashia and Nathan's pool isn't a stand-alone feature in the backyard just for the family to swim in.
29:03It's a fully functional, integrated part of the garden.
29:08Kashia, what attracted you to a natural pool?
29:10I love the feel of the water as I swim through it.
29:15I wanted an ecosystem that attracts all the different birds and insects to the garden.
29:22We just wanted to stay away from the quarrying for our kids' sake, for their health.
29:26Nathan wanted a nice space to look out from his office onto the pool.
29:34When we first purchased the property, we engaged some landscape designers.
29:38We asked them to incorporate rock, rock walls, stone steps and, you know,
29:43a meandering garden where you didn't know where you were going to go.
29:47You know, take a turn about the garden.
29:49Am I going to go this way today or go that way?
29:51We thought, what better place to end up at the end of your little meander than a beautiful swimming pond.
30:01This stunning natural pool is the creation of landscaper Tony Green.
30:06A natural pool for me is not only the natural system of filtration,
30:11but also the natural-looking environment.
30:13The habitat for me is one of the most important parts of the natural swimming pond.
30:18The rocks, the gravel, the engagement with the fish and the tadpoles.
30:21Oh my goodness, and the hornets chasing each other.
30:24The water's held in the landscape.
30:25It's a rubber liner and it's stretchy, so it's got a lot of values that make it really good to
30:30use
30:30in this kind of environment, because we place all these heavy boulders on it.
30:34It has the capacity to absorb impacts and even deal with, like, pointy parts of rocks
30:39and be able to stretch around those and not easily tear or easily pierce.
30:45We draw the water through a skimmer, much the same as you would in a conventional swimming pool,
30:49and the pumps then pump the water up to a wetland filter.
30:52Now, the wetland filter we build is an upflow wetland filter,
30:55so we pump water into the bottom of the filter.
30:58It goes in at high velocity, then it slows right down,
31:01and it's the slowing right down and then going up through the filtration media
31:04that does the heavy lifting of cleaning the water in the system.
31:08So in those different layers of gravel, we have different types of microorganisms
31:12and bacteria that grow and thrive and clean the water,
31:16and then the water flows out through the top of that,
31:18and typically we have an elevation change
31:20and have a waterfall returning from that back to the pool.
31:23The plants in these systems are typically just polishing the water.
31:27They're just drawing up the last of the soluble nutrient and cleaning it up
31:31and providing really nice aesthetic too.
31:34What we found though is that we don't use a lot of native reeds and rushes.
31:38My hypothesis of the reason for that is that they don't work hard enough
31:43in such a clean environment.
31:45Because of how much work the wetland filter is doing cleaning the water,
31:48there isn't actually a great deal of waterborne nutrient for them to survive on,
31:52so we often have to use species that would be from more tropical areas
31:56that are much harder working plants,
31:58and they're the ones that we find that perform the best.
32:00We'd like to plant water lilies just for their flowering
32:03and the joy of seeing them come out.
32:05We love the hibiscus.
32:07We had frogs appearing in the pool before we'd even built the whole thing.
32:11We have lots of insects appear really, really early on,
32:14and then birds discover it and they appear.
32:16Are mosquitoes a problem?
32:17No, not at all.
32:18The water moves a lot.
32:19There's a lot of circulation in the system.
32:21We've got bubblers, we've got circulation jets,
32:24so any mosquito larva that was on the surface would draw to the skimmer,
32:27and we've also got fish obviously in there,
32:29and they eat the mosquito larva too.
32:31We don't typically add fish to them ourselves
32:33because every owner of a pond wants different things for their pond.
32:41It's just a pleasure to maintain.
32:43There's no chemicals, there's no gloves, there's no masks or anything like that.
32:47It's just a really lovely way to maintain a pool.
32:50Three, two, one, Bonnie!
32:54It's almost like a form of gardening.
32:56Trimming the water plants is not actually that hard.
32:59The level of maintenance is actually quite low.
33:01For us, it's more than just a place to swim.
33:04It's a place that we can sit by, we get wading birds come,
33:09and we've got a resident monitor lizard underneath a rock over there,
33:13and we have frogs.
33:14It's a place where we can have fun,
33:16but it's also quite a contemplative place as well.
33:19During the summertime, the kids love to come,
33:22and there's a big bomby rock up the end there, the deep end.
33:25During wintertime, we like to do, like, a cold plunge,
33:28when Casher's generally not keen on wintertime.
33:31More of a summertime activity.
33:33Yeah, so we get to use it all year round.
33:39In a neighbouring suburb,
33:41experienced pool owners Emily and Craig
33:43are relishing the switch from a conventional pool
33:46to one of Tony's designs.
33:53Originally, there was an above-ground pool located here,
33:56and that was a lot of effort to maintain and look after
33:59and lots of chemicals and stuff to keep it balanced all the time,
34:02so that was a lot of hard work.
34:03So we ripped that out,
34:04and we put it in the natural pool in the same location,
34:07and it cleans itself with the filtration systems now,
34:09so it is literally just cleaning out the skimmer boxes
34:12and scooping out some leaves.
34:17You really need to jump in the pool
34:19and do some big bombies in there
34:20to help move the materials around as well,
34:22which is a lot of fun.
34:24Have you been happy with the quality of the water?
34:26I absolutely love it.
34:28Like, I don't have to put any chemicals in there to balance it.
34:30We talk about almost every time we're in the water
34:33is how soft the water feels,
34:35and it just has the most ambient temperature.
34:37I think with the rocks and the thermal properties,
34:40the water is incredibly soft and beautiful.
34:43Have you noticed having this amount of water in the landscape
34:46has attracted wildlife from across the area?
34:48Yeah, look, it's become its own little ecosystem.
34:51We have an array of birds that come in
34:53and love to drink from the water
34:55and just be in the cool of the trees.
35:01The location that we've put the pool in
35:03is obviously surrounded by some well-established trees,
35:06so we get a lot of shade and also some open-up areas
35:08for the sun to put some warmth in the pool too.
35:11With the large beach area, the kids and ourselves as well,
35:13I must admit, you know, we put a chair in the water
35:15and actually sit in the water just in the afternoons,
35:18especially on a weekend.
35:19It's really nice, really nice and relaxing.
35:21It's beautiful, the rocks,
35:22and when the sun sets across the water,
35:24it's just a really lovely place to be.
35:30Tony, what's your favourite feature of this pond?
35:32Oh, this pond, it's got to be the beach.
35:34It's a big, long, shallow space.
35:36It's fantastic for young kids to look at the tadpoles
35:39and the small fish swimming around in there.
35:41People around our age in particular
35:43spend a lot of time growing up with creeks to go and play in
35:46and bushland to play in,
35:47and we've lost a lot of that now,
35:48and people are focused a lot on devices
35:50rather than connecting with nature,
35:52and I feel this is a really nice way to bring that back
35:55and for people to interact, to swim with the fish,
35:58to see the tadpoles, to follow the schools of small fish around,
36:02to watch the insects coming and going and breeding
36:04and birds coming and going.
36:06It's a really nice way to connect back with nature.
36:17I'm with horticulturist Tim Pickles,
36:20whose enthusiasm for trees branches out beyond his own backyard,
36:25and is sharing his expert tips for planting.
36:30Is anyone anywhere safe from you and your tree-planting mission?
36:36Cos if I see a tree-planting opportunity,
36:39I like to take it, mate.
36:41My friend Charlie's just built this beautiful house next door,
36:44and he definitely needs a shade tree,
36:47so we're going to go and plant him a shade tree.
36:49So why have you chosen this tree?
36:51I love crepe myrtles.
36:52This variety called natchez, it's a white flowering one.
36:54It actually grows eight metres high and six metres wide.
36:58When you buy a tree from a nursery,
37:00just check to make sure it hasn't got any of these tyres on it.
37:02The wire gets embedded in the trunk of the tree,
37:05and in the strong winds the tree just snaps off.
37:08Next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to remove these lower branches,
37:12just to clean the base of that.
37:16So it removes that.
37:17Now we've got a nice clean trunk,
37:18and that's going to become a beautiful under-pruned tree ready to go.
37:25We're going to do a circle.
37:26One metre, we're going to take the grass out.
37:27If we dig a hole in the grass and plant this tree,
37:30what will happen is the grass will take all the water,
37:33and more than likely the tree will be unsuccessful
37:36cos it'll dry out, it won't get enough water.
37:42If we soften the soil all the way around,
37:45the tree's roots are going to be able to grow into this soil
37:48to find water and to find nutrients.
37:50Oh, yeah.
37:51It's like a nice cake mix.
37:53When we get those little bits of grass out,
37:55otherwise they'll start to reshoot, they'll start to grow as well.
37:58So what we're going to do now, Costa,
37:59is we're going to dig a bag of premium potting mix into this soil.
38:03The premium potting mix has a fertiliser that lasts for three months.
38:06We're going to turn it over.
38:08We want to mix it with the existing soil.
38:10Right, so now we've made our garden bed to plant the tree.
38:13Now we're going to dig a hole for the tree.
38:16Now, Costa, a lot of people, when they plant a tree,
38:18they plant it in the hole,
38:19and then they water it with a bucket of water.
38:21We're going to do it a little bit differently.
38:23Potting mixes are made from recycled green waste.
38:26They're actually made from wood chip as well.
38:28And what happens with those products is when they get dry,
38:30they actually repel the water.
38:32And once they do get dry, it's very hard to get them wet again
38:36because they become hydrophobic.
38:38So what we need to do is we need to dunk the pot in a bucket full of water.
38:42And what we're going to do is we're going to replace the air in the soil.
38:49There's the air escaping.
38:51That's the air that kills your plants because it dries out the roots.
38:56Once the roots dry out, they die.
38:58What we've done now is we've replaced that air with water.
39:02So now we can take it out.
39:05We're going to take that pot off the soil.
39:08Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to tease those roots.
39:10I'm going to let this plant know that it's been taken out of the pot.
39:15Now those roots will grow into the soil.
39:17Putting it in the centre of the hole, we're getting the tree nice and straight.
39:20We're putting the soil back in.
39:22We're going to make a well so that when we water it,
39:25the water actually goes through there and not runs over the soil.
39:28And also when we water over the next few weeks to keep this tree going,
39:31we want the water to go into the root zone.
39:34The tree's getting all the water and that's why it's going to grow so beautifully.
39:38In this exposed windy location, we're securing the tree with stakes
39:43and a soft tie that won't harm its development.
39:46The stakes can come off in about three months' time.
39:50A good layer of mulch on top and for the first few months,
39:55if you're planting in summer, water every day.
39:58If it's winter, a couple of times a week.
40:01And once established, water every few weeks.
40:05Why will you keep on planting trees?
40:08Custer, you must have felt that yourself.
40:11When we were planting that tree, it gave you a great feeling.
40:14You're taking it out of that pot, basically you're setting it free.
40:18How beautiful is that?
40:19I love Tim's attitude.
40:21More trees please.
40:23Look after your trees and in return,
40:26they'll look after you with abundant shade and beauty.
40:37We're having a bumper basil season this year and we're loving life because of it.
40:42We're very interested to see how long we can extend our basil harvest for.
40:46There's two ways we do this.
40:49First of all, we come along the very top and have a look around to see if there's any flower
40:53or seed heads
40:54and we just pick them off and compost them.
40:56We want to delay that reproduction process as long as we can.
41:02Also, when we're harvesting leaf to eat, we come along and look for the freshest, newest growth on top.
41:08That's what we want to harvest.
41:09First of all, we come down to look at the stem to the next node, the second layer of leaf
41:15that's popping out
41:15and we harvest just above that.
41:18We eat that bit and this bit is kept and it will bush out and become really full and leafy
41:24instead of growing tall and leggy.
41:36Whoa, a powerful owl right here in the heart of the city.
41:41For us gardeners, connection to nature is vital.
41:44It's a passion we share with wildlife carers who step in when our furry and feathered friends need some help.
41:53In our next story, we meet a couple in inner city Melbourne who not only care for wildlife,
42:00but they've turned those experiences into creative inspiration.
42:28We are visual artists and wildlife carers.
42:31We've been collaborating for 25 years as artists.
42:35But in the last 12 months, we have officially been a government-licensed wildlife shelter here in our little home.
42:45I'm Gratia Havey and this is Louise Jennison.
42:49And we're here in North Fitzroy in inner Melbourne and visitors on Wurundjeri country.
42:55And that's where we look after native Australian wildlife with the view of release.
43:00So getting them back out into the wild, returning them to where they should be.
43:04We called our shelter Tiny But Wild because we are literally a tiny space and everything here is wild.
43:15Our back garden is a space completely for wildlife.
43:18It's basically three enclosures.
43:21One large one for our flying foxes and two for our ring-tailed possums.
43:25And then a little bit of space that we can shimmy around in to get to them.
43:31Good stretch, mate. That's beautiful.
43:36Because the flying foxes are in care at the moment, we've freed them our fruit and then also add a
43:43high protein supplement so that they're looked after.
43:46And when they're really little, they are actually bottle fed five times a day.
43:54Good boys. Good boys.
43:58To handle any bats, microbats or megabats, you need to be qualified and vaccinated and wear protective gloves and sleeves.
44:07Umi and his friends here are grey-headed flying foxes.
44:11These guys are megabat and they're endemic to Australia and they're also unfortunately a threatened species.
44:19They're our long distance pollinators.
44:21So these guys co-evolved with eucalypts and they pollinate all the way up the East Coast.
44:28So all our forests are completely reliant on these beautiful pollinators.
44:35So the eucalypts will often flower at night and open up and they're beautiful yellow and white and bright pink
44:42flowers like this phycifolia.
44:44And then the flying foxes slam into it, get the nectar all over themselves and then fly to the next
44:49one and the next one.
44:51And they're also at the same time eating the fruit and they'll be then doing their poos and dropping that.
44:58But they can fly like 50 kilometres a night, which is extraordinary, these little guys.
45:03So you can just imagine how many seeds they can distribute every single night and how far they can distribute
45:09those.
45:09And no other animal can do it except our beautiful flying foxes.
45:14Like all our native wildlife, these guys are facing lots of different issues.
45:20But for the flying foxes in particular, it's deforestation.
45:24They're losing habitat.
45:26They're losing space and also the climate emergency.
45:31So those extreme hot weather events are a direct threat.
45:35But then we're also having floods.
45:37It's becoming more and more difficult.
45:39So we need to all step up and look after them because if we lose these guys,
45:44we lose our forest pollinators and then we're in a terrible mess.
45:49Even if you've only got a tiny space like our little urban oasis,
45:54we can all plant for wildlife and we can all share our space with wildlife.
45:59So make sure you've got canopy and understory.
46:02Make sure you've got water out for the birds and for the insects.
46:06And nesting boxes are fantastic to put up to encourage others to come and live with you.
46:13And if you're netting fruit trees in your garden, make sure that you use wildlife friendly netting.
46:18Because if you don't, it can be catastrophic for our flying foxes and also the birds.
46:24They can get terribly entangled in them, injured awfully.
46:28And then they need specialised care from vets like at Melbourne Zoo or Wildlife Victoria.
46:34And then end up in care at a place like Tiny But Wild for weeks and weeks and weeks before
46:41they can get back into the wild,
46:42if indeed they can at all.
46:45So this is our outdoor possum enclosure.
46:48These are three ring-tailed joeys.
46:50Typically we'll have them in care for roughly six months.
46:53So that's when they come in as tiny little joeys who've been orphaned.
46:57So they'll be about 70 grams.
46:58Whereas now these guys are 400 grams.
47:01So they're getting really ready for release.
47:04So in here we've got the Robert Gordon Grevillea.
47:07We've also got a beautiful new growth on their Manigum.
47:12Calistamon, which they love.
47:14There's Melaleuca, both in flower and the leaves.
47:17And we've also got a spray of Coastal Tea Tree.
47:21So little ring-tailed possums are also called Pepper Shakers
47:24because all of the leaf that they're eating now, they chew that, they digest that
47:30and they create super little power pellets that fertilise your garden.
47:33So in that sense, they can be a fabulous ally in your garden,
47:38taking all of the nutrients from the tree straight down into the soil,
47:42which is quicker than it would take for a leaf to decompose
47:45and break up into the soil.
47:47Ring-tailed possums often get a bad rap for demolishing gardens.
47:52But a lot of the times there are other culprits.
47:54It might be rats.
47:56Yeah, we encourage people to learn to live with their local wildlife.
48:04Well, as well as out the back, the front room is also our designated wildlife room.
48:08It is also our studio.
48:10And here we have Hans Holbein younger.
48:13He's a little microbat, a gulls-bottled bat.
48:16And he was rescued recently in the city.
48:18He's a sub-adult, so he can't fly yet.
48:20So he must have had a misadventure.
48:22He was found on the pavement and now he is here eating mealworms provided by Louise.
48:28So microbats are different to our megabats are our beautiful pollinators.
48:33Microbats eat all our insects.
48:35So they look after the insect populations in our gardens.
48:38So if you've got a little group of microbats near you, you're very lucky.
48:45One of the joys of looking after wildlife is that you get to see the world through the eyes of
48:50another species,
48:51which is just something so glorious.
48:55It's got this little arboral connection from this tree back into the garden.
48:59When we go for a walk, just looking around at what food trees are available for possums,
49:04what they would eat, how big gardens are.
49:06I mean, typically a lot of gardens are getting smaller.
49:09I mean, there are people who are planting a lot of native vegetation and things,
49:13which is fabulous for the possums.
49:15So every day we need to go and get fresh food, which we call browse for our possums.
49:21It's a big part of every day.
49:23It's a lot of work because we have to find different things in flower.
49:27We have to check with neighbours if it's okay that we can grab a little cutting here and there.
49:33It's critical to give them the right thing.
49:35And something like the grevillea would be a special treat for the joeys.
49:42Grace and I met at art school in the 90s and we were friends and started exhibiting together
49:47and then we became partners.
49:49And then we started to collaborate on some artist books
49:52and then it sort of organically grew into a collaboration that's been going on 25 years later.
49:58We make artist books, which is effectively an artwork in book form.
50:03Animals feature heavily in all of our artwork.
50:05They're all completely hand bound.
50:08They're digital collage sometimes.
50:11We also make large scale installations.
50:14And one example is a recent commission from the National Gallery of Victoria for Melbourne Now,
50:20in which we made an entire room which was collaged from 100 pieces in the NGV collection
50:25that was a forest for the grey-headed flying fox.
50:30Working with wildlife and working with our artwork, reciprocating, it's what gives us hope.
50:37Because hope's an active thing.
50:40Hope is actively choosing kindness.
50:46So this is beautiful Walt and Mr. Velvetini.
50:49They came into care as adults and they had urban misadventions.
50:55Mr. Velvetini got caught in a light well and Walt had a bad concussion.
51:04But it's a really big day today.
51:06They've both got the green light.
51:07Everything's good to go.
51:08They've been vet checked and they're ready to go back into the wild.
51:14We're headed to the grey-headed flying fox colony.
51:17And it's about 5km, a few minutes from where we are at Tiny But Wild.
51:22On the banks of the Birrarung, beautiful Yarra River.
51:25Here on a tiny bit of restored habitat beside the freeway, nestled in around our urban nest.
51:31Excitingly, Walt and Mr. Velvetini are going to shake off their human-given names
51:35and now they will probably be called...
51:38Walt might be called...
51:41And I think Mr. Velvetini would probably be like...
51:44Yes.
51:57For us, this is like a really glorious moment when we get to return them to where they should be.
52:04And it's a beautiful part where it's not about us and what we might feel.
52:07And it's just all about them and seeing them go fly back and going from being Walt in a basket
52:14to one of many.
52:16And it's just their beautiful embodiment of how it takes so much time to get them to this point.
52:22And it takes a village of people to get them ready.
52:26And it's the non-human and the human coming together.
52:28And it's just...it's a really wonderful feeling.
52:45Guess what?
52:46It's time to get your wheels rolling with your jobs for the weekend.
52:56Cool temperate gardeners bung in some biochar to improve soils.
53:00A combo of wood waste, manures and weeds, slowly burned with restricted oxygen,
53:06biochar is brilliant for prepping beds before planting.
53:10Got a spot in your garden that's sunny in winter and shady in summer?
53:14Then how about a hellebore?
53:16These ornamental perennials are fantastic in flower over winter and can be planted now.
53:23Pak choy, bok choy, choy, sum and tat soy.
53:25Your favourite Asian greens are ready to grow now.
53:29These fast growers will produce a heavy, hearty harvest before the cool winter weather kicks in.
53:36It's time to start ordering bare root trees in warm temperate areas for winter planting.
53:41Whether they be fruity or ornamental, compact or colossal,
53:45bare root trees are better for planting and the budget.
53:48It's a busy time in the garden this month and preparation is key.
53:53Clear out compost produce over summer to improve garden beds
53:57and replace with autumn prunings from perennials.
54:00Flowering now are belladonna lilies.
54:02While their pink flowers and bare red stems may be attractive,
54:06they're often environmental weeds and efforts should be made to safely remove them.
54:13In subtropical gardens, take your salad from garden to gourmet and plant some corn salad.
54:19A lovely lettuce substitute, this quick growing green has a mild nutty flavour.
54:25Flowering bulbs aren't just for cooler climates.
54:28Add some awesome autumn colour to your patches and pots with blood lilies,
54:33autumn crocus and narines from your local nursery.
54:36Weeds are jumping out of the ground right now, threatening to take over.
54:41Spend 20 minutes a day in the garden removing weeds and re-mulching.
54:45It's great for you and your garden's wellbeing.
54:49Time to start prepping for the dry season in the tropics.
54:53So get capsicums, chillies and eggplants into the ground,
54:56followed with a layer of straw mulch to minimise weeds and water loss.
55:01If you've been craving more protein, why not plant some tropical legumes this weekend?
55:06Mung beans, soy beans and snake beans are good to go and can be ready to harvest in just 40
55:12days.
55:14March can be an active one for cyclone activity in the tropics.
55:18So spend a bit of time in your garden making sure outdoor furniture, sheds, shade structures and the like are
55:24secure.
55:25In arid zones, loads of plants are about to put on an autumn growth spurt.
55:30So now's the perfect time to prune.
55:33Remove dead or diseased wood and tip prune to improve shape.
55:37If fungus gnats are causing you grief, it's time to treat your indoor plants.
55:42Drench the soil of affected pots with diluted neem oil.
55:46Repeat weekly for three weeks, then mulch with gravel.
55:50Jerusalem artichokes are delightful, delicious and dead easy to grow.
55:55Pop some tubers in the ground this weekend, leaving about 30 centimetres between each
56:00and feed with a whack of wood ash.
56:03Welcome to Autumn Gardeners.
56:05If you haven't already, head to our website and sign up for our regular Gardening Australia newsletter.
56:18Well, the coach has dragged me from the field, kicking and screaming and dropped me on the bench until next
56:25week.
56:26But we have got a game plan for you.
56:29Have a look at what's in store.
56:33I explore a romantic cool climate garden in the New South Wales Southern Highlands.
56:39Brought back to life by one of my pop music heroes and their partner.
56:43It makes me feel like dancing.
56:47I've converted my goat yard into a temporary productive venture garden while my goats are on holiday.
56:52And we'd like to welcome our newest guest presenter to the GA family.
56:57Well, kumquats are rebels, right? All other citrus.
57:00Are you a rebel too, Kosta?
57:02The fabulous fruit nerd.
57:04To share one of his favourite fruits that you may not be familiar with.
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