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Gardening Australia - Season 37 - Episode 14: Autumn: Planting an Orchard & Landscape Help
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00:00Ha-ha!
00:05Hey! Hi!
00:11Whoa!
00:17Hey!
00:19Hey, buddy.
00:21Hey!
00:33Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia, your home of horticulture, heart and a whole lot of plant love.
00:41Now, it doesn't matter if you're into gorgeous Australian native plants, garden design or getting your hands dirty.
00:50We've got something for everyone. Take a look.
00:56I never wanted to turn down a swim to check out some amazing marine life.
01:00So, join me while I check out some underwater gardening to help restore southern Australia's golden kelp forests.
01:07I'm taking you to a landscape supply yard to show you the literal foundations of your next garden project.
01:15I'm going to show you how to design and plant an orchard from scratch.
01:19And I'm exploring a naturalistic garden that's been inspired by the Australian bush.
01:25It's been six decades in the making, and you're going to want to join me.
01:35What's your favourite colour in the garden?
01:38A pop of pink, a splash of red, a sea of blue.
01:42But what about the greens?
01:44They're the backbone of any good planting.
01:48But they're often undervalued.
01:51Well, Clarence is here to change all that.
01:59At my local nursery, there's no shortage of beautiful Australian native flowers.
02:05But it's foliage I've got my eyes on today,
02:07and the combinations of shapes, textures and colours.
02:12Let's start with green.
02:14From cushion bush lime green, to deep green foliage of waratahs.
02:18And then there's your delicious leafy greens.
02:21Native mint green, and all shades between.
02:27Human sight has evolved to be able to perceive more shades of green than any other colour.
02:33And we can discern differences between greens very accurately.
02:39Studies have proven that just looking at the colour green supports our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.
02:51Lumandra longifolia cultivars have become some of the most used plants in the Australian landscape.
02:57With their fresh green foliage gracing roundabouts and shopping centre car parks.
03:02There's no doubt that their strappy, happy foliage offers weary city dwellers a little hit of what we all need.
03:10Green.
03:12Species with darker foliage provide the perfect foil for other plants.
03:17As darker colours will recede visually, pushing others forward.
03:21Rich burgundy and purple foliage are great to use as a backdrop.
03:25Like this dark leaf cultivar of Leptospermum starry night.
03:29A fast growing graceful shrub with fine foliage.
03:34And then there are the coppery red cultivars.
03:37That look great on their own as a feature or with different plants all around them.
03:42Now this is Melaleuca claret tops.
03:45And the more sunshine it gets, the red are the foliage.
03:53And these are rast ferns.
03:55With brightly coloured tops, it's a clumping fern with shallow roots.
04:00A spreading habit, they make a great ground cover.
04:03It's adapted to both sunny and shaded areas and really good for growing under trees.
04:13Now silver and grey foliage plants can be some of the most handsome plants in the garden.
04:20When we talk about good looking plants, acacia sterling silver.
04:24This is a stunning plant.
04:25You can prune it right back, mound it, shape it, do what you will.
04:30It'll handle windy conditions, dry conditions, any soil type as long as it's well-drained.
04:35And little green buds coming through to turn into this lovely spray of silver.
04:41Absolutely gorgeous.
04:45Species of Aromophila with hairy stems and foliage give the plant a very distinctive silvery appearance.
04:51And the best thing is they're so soft to touch.
04:55Aromophila are best suited to dry climates with well-drained soils.
04:59So good.
05:05Then there's Leucophyta brownii.
05:07Its name, Leucophyta, literally means bright leaf.
05:12In their natural habitat, bright white leaves are adaptations developed to survive in hot, harsh climates.
05:18And the colour of the foliage helps to reflect the heat and protect the plant.
05:25Whilst bright foliage will stand out, subtle repetition of grey-green tones can really bring plantings together.
05:34The grey-green softness of the prostrate woolly bush on the border draws you in and leads the eye through
05:40the garden bed to the smoky grey of the Wastringia cultivar.
05:44You're further drawn to the blue-grey of the Calathemnus.
05:51Woolly bush, Wastringia and Calathemnus all love a sunny position and they don't like having wet feet.
05:57So make sure they're in well-drained soils, and in this case, a raised bed.
06:11Foliage in your garden can be understated or bold.
06:15And with the diversity of foliage in Australian native plants to choose from, you can grow your space into a
06:21beautiful place to relax in and enjoy.
06:23You might even find it's pretty easy being green.
06:35While we're together, we need to settle which type of parsley is best, curled or flat-leaved?
06:42Do you have a position?
06:43I do. I do. I have a very strong view.
06:45And it's based on the fact that I don't just grow parsley for food.
06:50I'm interested in the insects that it brings into the garden.
06:54And I have to say that with the flat-leaved parsley, I got bored counting the number of bees and
06:59other beneficial insects that visited the flat-leaved parsley.
07:03So I only grow the flat-leaved.
07:05Oh, well, I only grow the flat-leaved as well, but just because I like the taste better.
07:09But now I can say it's also a better pollinator attractor.
07:13So I would play one in the camp of flavour.
07:16I appreciate the flat-leaved parsley. It's a beautiful plant, seeds everywhere, easy to grow.
07:21But I really love curly parsley. It's harder to grow, but also it's just got that incredibly intense flavour.
07:28And if you want to make a really good tabbouleh, you've got to go absolute ample amounts of curled.
07:34And apparently parsley is one of the most nutritious plants that we can eat in our vegetable garden.
07:39So I think, you know, we might prefer different ones, but as long as you grow it, you're winning.
07:44Well, we've almost solved that one.
07:47How about putting citrus in the compost?
07:51That's a really common question we have to answer.
07:54It's such a crazy myth, and I kind of understand where the myth started.
07:58Like, not great for your worm farm, but anything organic will break down.
08:04Oh, yeah. I work it all in there.
08:05And, you know, if I have a lot of citrus, especially in winter, I just make sure I chop up
08:09those skins,
08:10mix it in with other food scraps, and it breaks down so easily.
08:13There's nothing to worry about.
08:15That's really the key, isn't it? Mixing it all in.
08:18Yeah, easy.
08:19So go for it.
08:25The temperature might be dropping, but that won't stop Hannah from plunging into learning
08:31about one of the most important gardens in southern Australia.
08:49This is a really popular beach in Williamstown in Melbourne's inner southwest.
08:54But what many people don't know is that this shoreline is fringe with a vibrant underwater ecosystem.
09:02These are the forests of the sea, the beautiful golden kelp that's vital to marine ecosystems
09:09along much of southern Australia's coastline.
09:12But in recent decades, golden kelp has been in dire straits
09:17due to water pollution and changing water temperatures.
09:22So today, I'm meeting Prue Francis, Associate Professor in Marine Science at Deakin University,
09:29to learn about the important work that's underway to help revive the golden kelp forest
09:33in Melbourne's Port Phillip.
09:36So Prue, it's pretty windy today, but we're going to get in anyway.
09:39What are we going to see out there?
09:41Well, Hannah, we're going to go out into the water and try and find golden kelp
09:45and find the reproductive tissue of the kelp, and then take it back to the wet.
09:48Oh mate, let's do it. Let's go.
09:50It's pretty windy.
09:55I have a feeling it's got a little bit chilly out there.
09:58I think so.
09:59I'm hoping the gloves help a little bit in the wet suit.
10:02Alright, let's have a crack.
10:03Yep.
10:09The golden kelp in Port Phillip is connected to the Great Southern Reef,
10:14a system of interconnected reef ecosystems that span the entire southern half of mainland Australia
10:20and all of Tasmania.
10:23It's not a complete coverage of kelp, as some people might think it might be when you say kelp forest,
10:30but there's patches and different species of seaweed out there as well.
10:34Alright, Prue, what are we looking at here?
10:36So Hannah, what we've got here is golden kelp,
10:39but very excitingly we've managed to find some reproductive tissue of the kelp.
10:43So here we can see the darker patch and that patch is where all tiny little microstopic zoospores
10:50are in that tissue right now.
10:52And we're going to take that back to the lab and release it.
10:56Yeah.
10:56Oh, and can we do that now?
10:58We can.
10:58We're going to go to the boot and we're going to do some what I call boot signs.
11:01Oh, carpet signs.
11:02Alright, let's do it.
11:12It's good to get some warm clothes back on.
11:14Oh, isn't it?
11:15A bit fresh in there, wasn't it?
11:17Oh yeah.
11:18Alright, so now we've got our golden kelp samples, Hannah.
11:21We're going to release the spores.
11:23Oh, let's do it.
11:26So I think we start with, this is a really good one.
11:29So we can see the dark patch around here.
11:31So we're going to cut around that part.
11:34So now we'll have tweezers and we're going to do like a dipping.
11:39So this is all seawater.
11:41And the first one's just to rinse it off to get any things that might be on the tissue now.
11:47The second beaker has iodine in it and this is a antibacterial wash.
11:52So any little bugs that might be on there or epiphytes of other algae, we can wash them off.
11:57And then the final beaker is just a final seawater rinse.
12:00And at the end, you can pop it on the paper towel and want to try and dry it as
12:05much as you can.
12:07So the drying process is a way to, I guess, stress out the seaweed or the kelp.
12:12And so what we're trying to do is dry it out completely for a couple of hours.
12:16We'll re-immerse it in the seawater and that will help release the spores that we need to grow the
12:21kelp.
12:22Wow.
12:22So it's just like plants, which when they're really stressed, they'll set seed to make sure they can still survive.
12:28Yeah, that's right. Exactly.
12:29Okay. So now we're going to wrap it up into a little...
12:31Yeah, wrap it up like a little present.
12:32Yeah.
12:32A little kelp present.
12:33And then they're going back to the lab, is that right?
12:35Yeah, so we'll put it on ice, keep it nice and cool.
12:38And we'll keep them like this for two hours and then take them back to the lab to release the
12:42spores.
12:43Awesome.
12:50So, Prue, why is this work so important?
12:53Yes, the golden kelp is facing pressures just like anything in our ocean, unfortunately.
12:57So we've got a global problem with climate change.
13:01And along our temperate Australian system, the Great Southern Reef, we're seeing two stresses, which is the warming ocean.
13:07But also here in Victoria, it's a prickly problem, which is the purple sea urchin overgrazing on the kelp.
13:12It is a native species, so we want it to be here.
13:15But what's happened is because of anthropogenic disturbances and changes in the water quality,
13:20they've expanded in numbers and they've got hungries, but unfortunately they've targeted the golden kelp.
13:25I love this one.
13:26Yes. The golden kelp is a foundation species of what we like to say in the marine world.
13:31So that means that if we take it out, there's going to be these knock-on effects.
13:35So it supplies oxygen, habitat and food to so many different organisms in the ocean, but also to us here
13:41on land.
13:42And sometimes we forget that we actually live on an ocean planet.
13:45Yes.
13:45We're such keen gardeners of the soil, a lot of us, but we really need keen ocean gardeners to keep
13:51the planet and us healthy.
13:52Yeah, for sure. And hopefully that's what our work is helping to achieve as well.
13:56Yeah.
13:56Okay.
13:57So Hannah, we've had our samples that we put in tissue and let set for two hours.
14:03We've now unwrapped those samples and put them back into some seawater.
14:06And so it's hard to tell with our eyes.
14:08We need a microscope to verify this.
14:10But if you can see the discolouration in the water.
14:13Yeah, I can see that.
14:13And based on that kind of murky colour that we can see, I'm pretty confident we've got some zoospores in
14:19that seawater.
14:20So that's the first stage of the life cycle of a kelp.
14:23Ah, okay.
14:25Yeah.
14:25And so then we take two weeks in the lab using different conditions.
14:30We manipulate the lights, the temperature, we give them some nutrients.
14:34And they'll actually grow into this next life stage.
14:38Ooh.
14:38And we call this one?
14:39These are gametophytes.
14:40Yes.
14:41So in here we've got both male and females.
14:44The female will develop an egg and the male will release sperm, which fertilises that egg.
14:50So then they transition to the last life stage, which are called sporophytes.
14:54Or we like to call them kelplings in our lab.
14:56And so these are roughly about eight weeks old.
14:59And this is the life stage that we would then out plant into the ocean.
15:03And when you say plant out into the ocean, are you just like throwing them out there and saying good
15:07luck?
15:08No.
15:08It looks like here you'd throw them out.
15:11But no, what we're actually doing at the gametophyte stage here, we would spray them onto different surfaces.
15:17And so we use either rocks or what we call green gravel, or we use cotton twine wrapped around PVC
15:23pipe.
15:23Got it.
15:23The twine is actually biodegradable.
15:25So that would be what we grow in the hatchery for about six weeks.
15:29And then that can grow out into the ocean after that.
15:32But I want to show you what it looks like roughly about six months later.
15:36Yep.
15:36So I've got a sample here.
15:38This is one of our bigger sporophytes of the kelp.
15:41Now seaweed aren't actually plants, are they?
15:45No.
15:45We have what looks like roots here.
15:46A kelp is what we call an algae.
15:49So they're not a true plant.
15:51A true plant would have a root system.
15:53This does look like it is a root system, but it's actually called a holdfast.
15:56Yeah.
15:57And as the name suggests, it holds strongly onto its substrate.
16:00So in this instance, it's a rock.
16:01And that holdfast doesn't provide any nutritional elements to the kelp to grow.
16:07The kelp relies on the sun and also nutrients in the water.
16:11In the water.
16:11Yeah.
16:12But like plants, you know, plants also photosynthesize.
16:15So there's so many beautiful intersections, aren't there?
16:18Yeah, for sure.
16:18I love that.
16:18Yeah.
16:19This seems like a huge task.
16:21Is this realistic that you can rehabilitate this region?
16:24So it has been a collective group of scientists that we have been able to rehabilitate 26 hectares
16:30in two marine sanctuaries here in Port Phillip Bay.
16:33So we've been working collectively with the University of Melbourne,
16:36The Nature Conservancy and Parks Victoria to undertake this work.
16:39And the success that we've been able to show in our local backyard,
16:43there is hope to either repair or restore those areas that where we've lost kelp in,
16:49not just here in Australia, but globally as well.
16:51Yeah.
16:52So how do you feel when you're out there and you see a huge area that you've helped rehabilitate?
16:56Proud, I think it's the first word that comes to mind,
16:58because I guess in a world where we live now where we are seeing these climate pressures
17:02and seeing decline of the kelp, that you can go out to these areas where you have been part of
17:08this bigger group of people
17:09to help rehabilitate this area.
17:11It's just a really nice sense of blue hope, I like to call it.
17:15Blue hope.
17:16Yeah.
17:32Has anyone seen my pile of gravel?
17:35It's got great sedimental value.
17:37It's hard to give a concrete recommendation.
17:40This is a quarried material, so don't take it for granite.
17:43It's sedimentary, dear Watson.
17:46Ah, take it with a grain of basalt.
17:48This gravel is quite cheap.
17:50It must be on shale.
17:55OK, I got it out of my system.
17:57Down to business, ready to rock and roll.
18:06If you haven't spent much time in a landscape supply yard, consider this your invitation, a personal guide to things
18:16like sand, gravel and rock.
18:19But remember, when you come to a place like this, it's busy.
18:23There's forklifts.
18:24There's loaders.
18:25There's trucks.
18:26There's all sorts of activity.
18:28If someone offers you a high-vis vest, throw it on and keep your wits about you.
18:34We may as well start with the smallest of grains, sand.
18:39Sand is made up of tiny rock and mineral particles.
18:43But not all sand is the same.
18:46You can buy sand that has grains of different sizes, uniformity and sharpness.
18:52Those things determine how sand behaves and how you should use it.
18:59This is fine sand.
19:01And it's the kind of sand you want to play in, which is why it's used in things like playgrounds
19:06and sand pits.
19:07Now, when you have a close look at it, you can see that the grains are very small and round.
19:14They're anywhere from 0.05 to 0.25 of a millimetre.
19:19That's perfect if you're doing a paving job because if you spread it out over your paving, let it dry
19:25and then sweep it into the gaps, it goes in perfectly.
19:29You don't want to use this fine sand in your propagation mix because it will hold moisture and that will
19:37smother the roots.
19:43This builder's sand is also fine, but the difference with this is it has a lot more silt in it,
19:50which means it holds together.
19:53And the only reason you're going to use this is if you wanted to mix up some mortar to lay
19:58bricks.
19:59Perfect for that.
20:03This river sand is much more coarse.
20:06Its grains are larger and sharper and can reach up to two millimetres in diameter.
20:13It provides much better drainage than a fine sand and the coarse, irregular grains lock into each other for more
20:21stability.
20:22This has traditionally been used as an ideal bedding underneath pavers or to help improve drainage in heavy clay soils.
20:31Sand's an essential component to life as we know it.
20:34It's used to make glass, concrete and even the silicon that powers technology.
20:40But sand mining can have big environmental impacts, so use it consciously and only order what you need.
20:48It's also worth considering recycled crusher dust, which is a finely crushed mix of construction materials like concrete, brick and
20:58tile fragments.
20:59The size of the particles may vary a little, and because it's made of a mix of materials, it may
21:06compact a bit more.
21:07But it's a great option for paving, driveways, filling in holes or as a base layer for mounds and structures.
21:16Now, we're getting chunkier and into gravel territory.
21:22This is granitic sand and it's made from decomposed granite.
21:26It's great for pathways, driveways, between-raised veggie beds, or to create a visual void to give your plantings more
21:34definition.
21:35It's very permeable, so stormwater can easily drain through it, rather than rushing over it like concrete or asphalt.
21:43If you're wanting it for a hard-wearing area like a driveway, you can mix it with a bit of
21:48cement to give it more stability.
21:51The small round particles are reasonably soft underfoot, so if there's any areas in your garden where you want to
21:58get around barefoot, this is an ideal choice.
22:01Blue metal gravel is a crushed, mineral-rich basalt rock.
22:07Its irregular rough edges make it great for drainage, and it's stable and hard-wearing for driveways.
22:14Keep in mind that this dark colour will really soak up and retain heat, so it's best to choose lighter
22:21options for large areas that can catch that afternoon sun.
22:25Now that blue metal is a quarried product.
22:30This aggregate, on the other hand, is a recycled product.
22:35This used to be bricks, roof tiles, concrete slabs that would otherwise have gone to landfill.
22:44Now they are captured and crushed and then sieved into different sizes.
22:50So this is about a 30 mil or below aggregate.
22:55There's no fines in here, making it a perfectly clean material to be used as a filler if you want
23:03to put it in around a pipe, because moisture will drain through here.
23:07It's really versatile.
23:09It can be used if you need to fill an area to raise it up, and you could even use
23:16it as the topping on a path.
23:18Either way, if you're on a budget, this is a great way to save money and contribute to less quarrying
23:26of raw materials.
23:29Recycled road base is made from the same recycled materials.
23:33But why is it called road base?
23:35The answer's in the name.
23:36It's the base for a road.
23:38So if you've got a road, that's got to have strength, because you don't want it bending and buckling.
23:42The way road base gets its strength is that it's made up of a whole lot of different sized particles,
23:50starting with the really fine and going up to 25, 30 and up to 40 millimetre particles of rock and
23:58concrete.
23:59Now, the key to it is the fine particles that crush a dust because it goes between the gaps and
24:07holds it all together.
24:08And when you add water and compact it, it goes really hard.
24:13So this material is ideal under roads, under driveways, under concrete slabs, or even under a small garden paving project.
24:24As you'd expect, there's an increasing supply of recycled crushed building materials available to buy.
24:33Millie's a big fan of the crushed recycled concrete she used in her garden.
24:38As well as the recycled brick gravel she chose for her side path.
24:45And don't forget, leaving something out can be a design choice too.
24:50Take these Nepean river pebbles.
24:53Is it worth pulling them out of a river bed for your project?
24:59A lot of these materials can be bought in bulk by the metre or cubic tonne.
25:06But if you only have a small project on the go, or need to get access through an apartment or
25:12unit, you can buy most things by the bag as well.
25:15To calculate how much material you need for your project, measure the dimensions of your space.
25:22For a space that's square or rectangular, multiply the length by the width to get your area in square metres.
25:30Then multiply this number by the depth.
25:34A common depth for gravel is 50 millimetres, which is .05 of a metre.
25:40And that is your order in cubic metres, which is the language you need to talk to your landscape supplier
25:48with.
25:48For irregular shapes like in between raised garden beds, divide the area into smaller rectangles, calculate each area and then
25:58add them up.
25:59And look, if you're not confident on a calculator, bring your measurements into the landscape supply yard and they'll help
26:07you figure it out.
26:07Places like this are brimming with the literal foundations of your next gardening project.
26:23I'm here in my new patch in South Australia's Mid-Murray region to show you the position I've selected on
26:29the property to be my future fruit tree orchard.
26:33I've chosen this position because it gets lots of sun, as fruit trees need at least six hours of direct
26:39light per day.
26:40And it's been prepped so it'll be easy to plant out all the trees in the same way, in a
26:45structured layout.
26:47When it comes to spacing, it depends on what's being planted and how much competition you want to deal with.
26:53The closer you plant, the smaller your trees are more likely to be.
26:58Thankfully, the soil here is pretty good compared to elsewhere on the property.
27:01And fruit trees are reasonably tolerant of different soil types as long as they're well drained and you can add
27:07lots of organic matter.
27:09I've already dug a large hole in preparation.
27:12If your soil is extra dry, you can fill it with water and let it drain first before planting.
27:18I'm adding gypsum to improve drainage in the clay.
27:21And as usual, compost is key.
27:24If the soil is really heavy clay, you can also plant in mounds to improve drainage.
27:36Planting deciduous fruit trees in winter when they're bare rooted is the perfect time.
27:40There's less transplant shock putting them in the ground and they're more affordable.
27:46Now while it does get cold here, I don't think I get sufficient chill factor to grow cool season crops.
27:51So I'm going to plant stone fruits and this one's a peach.
27:57Next, inspect the roots for death or damage and snip off any dodgy ones.
28:02Bare rooted plants come packed in sawdust.
28:05Make sure this is all removed before planting.
28:09Position the roots so the soil level is at the same level it would have been originally.
28:13And you can see the different colour on the stem.
28:16Not too high.
28:19And I'm adding a bit more organic matter up the top as well.
28:26You can see how quickly the addition of compost changes the colour of the soil.
28:32Backfill and water well.
28:34As they are dormant, they won't need fertiliser until spring, but I am adding mulch.
28:38Now a hard prune might seem a bit drastic, but it's essential with bare rooted plants.
28:44When they dig them out of the paddock where they were growing, they cut off about 90% of the
28:48root system.
28:49So it's vital that I prune the top by 90% to compensate for that.
28:53And by pruning these side branches back to about here, it's going to cause each of the nodes to become
28:59branches.
29:00And by the end of the year, it'll look fantastic and be bigger than it ever was.
29:07Future pruning will be about creating a strong structure that allows for good ventilation and easy picking.
29:15We can get winds here of up to 70 kilometres an hour.
29:18And that can strip off leaves, disrupt pollination and damage fruit.
29:23So I'm using tree guards whilst they're getting started in the ground.
29:27And I'm also planting out a strategically placed, fast growing saltbush hedge of a variety called Ayres Green, which is
29:35going to grow with and protect the orchard.
29:38While it mightn't look like much yet, all this planning and prep has set the fruit trees up for a
29:43pretty good start in what is otherwise a really harsh environment.
29:47And this is a solid foundation for what will become a productive fruit filled haven.
29:54Still to come on Gardening Australia, Josh re-thinks and re-plants a beautiful little garden.
30:02We meet a scientist whose own garden path celebrates everything from muddy creeks to beautiful botanic gardens.
30:10And we get you working with your jobs for the weekend.
30:22Good design is at the heart of the very best gardens.
30:26And Millie has found an absolute cracker cultivated over years by a legend in landscape design.
30:51How beautiful is this?
30:53Chocolate lilies under a canopy of eucalypts.
30:56It might look like I'm on a bushwalk, but I'm actually walking a very spectacular driveway
31:02on my way to view a very spectacular garden.
31:06I'm about an hour northeast of Melbourne on a four hectare property that backs onto Warrandyte State Park on two
31:12sides.
31:14Most of the blocks protected under a conservation covenant, so it can never be cleared or developed.
31:20A large naturalistic garden wraps right around the house, with mature plantings and clever design,
31:27creating the soft, grounded kind of beauty that only comes with age.
31:34It's a little frog. We've got six, seven different types.
31:39You can hear the bobble wonk in the distance over here.
31:45Bev Hansen designed and built this garden when she was in her twenties, almost 60 years ago.
31:52I guess we wanted to meld in with the natural bush, the natural surroundings.
31:58The backbone, I'd say, is the hard landscaping, the placing of rocks, which I would see most important,
32:06meandering paths, and of course the planting.
32:10Bev tell me, what was the first thing you did when you started this garden?
32:14We had a front end loader, and my husband drove that, and he didn't mind being told by a woman
32:21what to do.
32:24Back in those days, it was a bit different, you know.
32:28And so you went about, I guess, straight away changing the land a little bit from a design perspective,
32:34or from a plant growing perspective. Why did you move that soil around?
32:37As you see over here, there's a mound we wanted, particularly Australian plants,
32:43to grow very well in a mound with good drainage.
32:45And that mound there gave the neighbour next door who was here before us their privacy back,
32:52and gave us something to look out our big windows onto.
32:56But I wanted it also to blend in with the existing lie of the land.
33:03It changes the space very quickly, doesn't it?
33:05If you've got a flat block, and you can plant and plant, but that's going to take time to evolve.
33:10But if you can create a little bit of topography, immediately you've got microclimates to grow plants.
33:15But also, you are changing that outlook, and in this case, creating something to look at.
33:21Yes, particularly where your main windows are.
33:24You know, I'm a great believer in creating a picture out your main family room windows there,
33:32or your entrance, or lounge room, whatever.
33:35Most important to have something to look out on.
33:40Before we go any further, I should tell you a little bit more about Bev's background.
33:45She's a prolific landscape designer.
33:48That's Como Park, and the Yarra River's here.
33:51Bev left school at 16 to study at Burnley Horticultural College, and then went on to work with one of
33:58Australia's garden design greats,
34:01Ellis Stones, who in turn built rock walls for the equally legendary Edna Walling.
34:09How many gardens do you think you've designed over your career?
34:12Oh, goodness me. I know it's over a thousand, but I don't know exactly.
34:18When you look back on a career like that, I mean, you've really helped probably a lot of people fall
34:24in love with their gardens.
34:25I hope so. That's the aim.
34:29Bev was part of a movement that helped shape Australia's naturalistic garden style.
34:34It was a big shift from the formal manicured gardens of the early colonial years towards something much more relaxed,
34:42with rocks changing levels and natural water features that all help the gardens feel like part of the landscape.
34:49Well, you just love making something that's ugly into something beautiful.
34:54And there's this real satisfaction in that. Watching plants grow, there's something special about that.
35:02And hearing the frogs come and the birds come and all of the things that...
35:06Yes, all of that, yes, nature. Yes.
35:13I love the way Bev's included natural ponds around the house. There are five in total, all fed by rainwater
35:20collected from the roof.
35:22Another thing that I can't help admiring is the collection of beautifully crafted nesting boxes that Bev's son has built.
35:30There are boxes shaped for all kinds, and they've been given the stamp of approval by many generations of birds,
35:36Rhett and Fasca Gales, and a family of sugar gliders currently in residence.
35:43Do you have an absolute favourite group of plants that you would always recommend people use?
35:49Well, I always lean to Australian plants. When I was at Burnley, of course, you didn't learn anything about Australian
35:57plants.
35:58No, no, not when I was there. You learn all about exotics.
36:04Well, go to a nursery then, and there were none.
36:08So when you're setting this garden out, you literally couldn't buy Australian plants?
36:13Well, they were coming in then, but once you got specialised nurseries in Australian plants and lots of variety,
36:21that's when they came in, yes.
36:23What has really worked in this garden?
36:25Well, ground covers like that Grevillea over there behind you. I planted that when we first came, so it must
36:33be over 50 years.
36:35Really? That's one plant.
36:37What is it?
36:38Grevillea obtusifolia. You know, that's there for the long haul, which is fantastic.
36:43That is exceptional.
36:45It is. And then there's a ground cover banksia up there, and there's a flower on that. Can you see
36:51it?
36:51Yes. Planting is most important, and once you've got rocks, it's no good spending all that time and money and
37:00everything.
37:01If you hide them behind something, you know, you plant a Grevillea there that's going to just cover the lot.
37:08So you choose very tight ground cover in front of the rocks and some tufty plants and a drift of
37:16something like brachacomb.
37:19Some of those really pretty little Australian plants as a drift.
37:28We're so lucky in Australia to have such a variety.
37:32If you have an eye for beauty and you have an eye for detail, I think Australian plants, there's just
37:38endless plants to love.
37:40Having a garden for as long as you have, what do you think it's given you as a gardener over
37:46that time?
37:46Well, it's peaceful, and I recently was in hospital for two weeks, and I could feel my mental health going
37:56downhill.
37:57I had a window, but it looked out on a wall. So, mental health was in my case anyway.
38:07Yeah, looking back on my career, I'm so lucky that it happened the way it did, yes.
38:13I just loved what I was doing. It's easy to do what you love doing, and you're so lucky.
38:19Your work is what you love doing, and you get paid for it. Wow! It's even better!
38:41All gardens evolve, shaped by their environment, and of course, the people who care for them.
38:47We've watched Josh's garden grow and transform over a decade now, and today, it's ready for an exciting new chapter.
39:03The small extension to our family home is finally complete, including the landscaping, which ties the new building into the
39:12backyard.
39:13To make room for it, we had to reconfigure the existing limestone retaining wall that forms the rockery.
39:19And the plants that have remained, well, they need a bit of TLC.
39:23There's also opportunity for new plants to make the most of this prime garden real estate.
39:32The first task on the to-do list is to give these salvias and prostrate rosemary a prune.
39:39The rosemary gets a light trim, whilst the salvias get a hard prune.
39:46This one is salvia leucanther, which will reshoot from buds at the base of the plant.
39:52And this one is salvia microphylla hot lips, which will reshoot from the woody stems.
39:59The result will be strong new growth and abundant flowering.
40:04You can see this plant has spread out a bit, probably through layering.
40:08And I can actually pull these out, and they can be replanted.
40:13You can also take cuttings from this sort of medium wood to create new plants.
40:23There's a plant that needs removing altogether.
40:26This embattled pomegranate has been plagued by Mediterranean fruit fly for the last few years.
40:32And it's been very difficult to manage in this spot.
40:35Getting out of reach and growing over the fence, making it impossible to control the pest.
40:41So I've made the call to pull it out.
40:47On the upside, there's now room to plant something new and improve the screening along this boundary line.
40:53I've chosen a narrow form of racinocarpus, tuberculatus or wedding bush to do the job.
41:00To screen effectively, I'm planting a staggered row of three.
41:05They'll grow to around 2.5 metres high and 1.5 metres wide,
41:10and will get covered in fragrant white flowers in spring and summer.
41:16A bit like a class photo, layered planting in a garden bed makes sense aesthetically.
41:22And for the plants to get access to light.
41:26With the taller planting sitting along the fence, this Wastringia jarvis gem will form a mid-level.
41:33It will grow to about a metre high with a nice compact form.
41:37And this silver foliage will contrast nicely against the darker green foliage of the wedding bush and the dark grey
41:44fence.
41:46In the front row, an attention grabber.
41:50This is a corrier called Perfect Pollinator Red.
41:54It has a spilling habit, so in time will cascade over the rocks and produce masses of red flowers through
42:01winter.
42:05This is all looking a bit bare right now, but it will soon fill out with plants,
42:09which are all hardy, low-water use native species.
42:14It will look terrific, and I've lined up more native plants for the narrow bed below.
42:21You might be familiar with the striking foliage of this one, Leucophyta browniei.
42:27This variety is silver bullion, which has a compact mounding habit.
42:33The masses of pink flowers on Pamelia magenta mist are an absolute knockout.
42:38They completely cover the plant from spring through to autumn,
42:41and will be a great contrast against the pale limestone behind it.
42:51The narrow strappy leaves of Patersonia occidentalis, or purple flag, will add some striking vertical form,
42:59with the bonus exquisite violet flowers.
43:02And finally, some quick-growing annuals.
43:05Pink and white everlastings to provide some instant colour while the other plants fill out.
43:12A layer of mulch across both tiers of the rockery garden will conserve soil moisture,
43:18keep weeds at bay, and create a neat finish.
43:25Renewal in a garden can take shape in different ways.
43:28Don't be afraid to give something a hard prune,
43:31or remove a plant completely if it's not performing well.
43:34What awaits is an opportunity for new growth.
43:38And that's always exciting.
43:45Have you ever wondered how salt affects plants?
43:48Plants have varying salt tolerances.
43:51In areas where it's naturally salty, native vegetation has found ways to adapt.
43:56But in areas where there's high salinity, other plants can become dehydrated,
44:02and it can affect their absorption of nutrients.
44:05Salty soils can occur naturally.
44:07They're common here in South Australia.
44:09Or, they're caused by disturbances, like clearing vegetation,
44:13changes to stormwater flows, and irrigation.
44:17Basically, changing how water moves and is used in the landscape.
44:22On a home garden scale, if you have salty soil,
44:25you can add organic matter and compost to help absorb it,
44:28and choose salt-tolerant plants where possible.
44:32Tomatoes, beets, and brassicas can do quite well in salty soils.
44:36And if possible, use rainwater over tap or boil water.
44:43If you've got salty clay soils, that can be a whole other issue.
44:46Add organic matter and gypsum, and build raised beds for sensitive plants.
44:52The term dryland salinity is often heard in regional and rural areas
44:57as it refers to non-irrigated land.
45:00It's a natural process, but is also increasingly happening
45:04in areas such as pasture lands, where deeper-rooted vegetation
45:08has been replaced by shallow crops.
45:11When the groundwater builds up and reaches the surface,
45:14the salt it carries can build up in the soil,
45:16and that can affect plant growth.
45:18This is a wide-scale issue that's significant
45:21in the Murray-Darling catchment area.
45:30Our next story follows the path of a botanist,
45:33who's built a career managing large and spectacular gardens,
45:38but also has a passion for the tiny and slimy.
45:56I'm Tim Entwistle.
45:58I'm a professor at University of Melbourne, botanical training.
46:03It's taken me around the world, worked in three botanic gardens.
46:09But I got into it through the study of algae.
46:14When you look at algae growing here in the lake,
46:17it's very slimy, a bit yucky to touch.
46:21Not that exciting, perhaps.
46:23But when I was a student, I collected something in a lake,
46:28in a pond like this.
46:31I got so excited by the fact it had never been found before,
46:37you know, never been recorded.
46:39New to science, needed describing, needed a new name.
46:44That's pretty exciting when you're a scientist.
46:48You put this under the microscope and it's beautiful,
46:51it's spectacular.
46:52This huge diversity, not only that, very long history,
46:58they've been on Earth longer than the flowering plants.
47:02The phytoplankton, these are the tiny algae that float in the sea,
47:06they're sucking up nearly half of the world's carbon dioxide,
47:09so they have a very important role in helping our survival
47:13as a species and as a planet.
47:17I was born in Nil, which is a little country town
47:20in sort of wheat belt country in Victoria,
47:23halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide.
47:26When you're born in Nil, you're always going to be successful
47:30because you come from Nil.
47:32My grandfather used to take us for walks in the bush.
47:36We went off searching for gold.
47:38We never found any gold,
47:39but I was immersed in plants and plant life.
47:43My father died when I was about six,
47:45so he died of asthma complications and my mother remarried.
47:49And my new father was someone who liked growing plants
47:54and he liked gardening.
47:55And I remember helping him sort of grow eucalyptus seeds
47:58and sprinkling them on little pots when I was younger.
48:02I started university as a kind of a maths physics nerd.
48:07Then did this switch and I'd just studied plants.
48:11And I got very intrigued by algae.
48:14And then an opportunity came up at a botanic garden.
48:17That was a job called a flora writer.
48:20Now, a flora writer writes and also edits
48:24the big descriptive volumes that help you identify the plants of an area,
48:28in this case, Victoria.
48:30And so I applied for that and I said,
48:31look, I work on algae, but it's the same kind of thing.
48:34You know, I know how to describe things and how to name things.
48:37I got the job and I never left botanic gardens.
48:41Worked as a director of three botanic gardens,
48:44Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria,
48:45Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney,
48:47and Kew Gardens in London.
48:48So my entire life really has been since then in botanic gardens.
48:58Botanic gardens, I think, are such an important place today.
49:02But when people ask you what is a botanic garden,
49:05it's quite tricky.
49:07In some ways, it's having all the plants labeled, people think,
49:11and it's very neat and they're in order.
49:13The old traditional way used to be to have a rose garden,
49:16a herb garden.
49:17That's not the way you should plant a new botanic garden.
49:22I say it's nature, culture and science.
49:29The science and study of plants,
49:31that's where I sort of came from.
49:33It's about nature.
49:34It's a safe place to start to connect with plants and nature.
49:37And then there's culture.
49:40To not just be musty old heritage places,
49:44the places that are ready to sort of take on modern culture,
49:48places that are willing to be a little bit provocative,
49:51to do things a little bit differently.
49:55Engage more strongly with the cultural life of the city.
50:00So, for example, in a botanic garden,
50:03we often have commemorative trees.
50:05And in Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria,
50:07we had over a hundred trees planted by kings, queens,
50:10governors-general.
50:12And when I was there, I was thinking,
50:14look, we need really to have a different representation
50:16of people in the gardens.
50:18We need something that might attract people here
50:21that don't normally come to botanic gardens.
50:25The obvious person to me was Nick Cave.
50:30An interesting ambassador for a cultural life in Melbourne.
50:34Took a lot of effort.
50:35Took a bit of sort of persuasion to do that.
50:39But in the end, Nick loved it.
50:41Great way to show the botanic gardens are kind of still relevant,
50:44a little bit provocative.
50:51People often ask me,
50:53what's the world's best botanic gardens?
50:55The really great botanic gardens are not only beautiful places,
51:00but these days it's the important work that goes on often behind the scene.
51:05One of the most exciting things I did recently at Melbourne Botanic Gardens,
51:10in Victoria, was to set up a climate change alliance.
51:15And that had 500 botanic gardens signed up
51:19to help adapt botanic gardens to climate change
51:22and to help use botanic gardens to change the way we respond to climate change.
51:29We're already seeing botanic gardens change because of climate change.
51:33You know, some of the big old trees are dying.
51:35We know that.
51:36We're seeing changes in flowering times of some species.
51:39And if pollinators get out of sync at times of plants flowering,
51:44you start to get a problem.
51:50One of the ways we can respond to climate change is to say,
51:53look, what should we grow in our gardens?
51:56So take Melbourne, for example, in 2090,
51:59we expect it's going to be a climate like Dubbo.
52:03So, you know, one way to work out what you're going to grow in a garden
52:06is to get in the car, hop in the car, drive up to Dubbo,
52:09step out, look in the garden.
52:11That's what you should grow in Melbourne.
52:18Botanic gardens have multiple roles really in helping the community deal with climate change.
52:22And one of them is the plants they display.
52:25And you'll see a lot of the new plant landscapes being put in botanic gardens
52:30are responding to drier climate.
52:36We're in the new arid garden of the Australian Botanic Garden.
52:39And here we've got a collection of Australian plants.
52:43What's fascinating to me is included here is a local native orchid,
52:48a purple donkey orchid, a diurus.
52:50And it's a rare plant and not what you expect to find in an arid garden.
52:56That's a great example of what you can do if you push those boundaries a bit
53:00and try and plant new things, test things out, experiment a little bit.
53:03That's what botanic gardens can do.
53:05And look, I'd encourage you to do in your home garden as well.
53:15Botanic gardens are first and foremost a beautiful place.
53:22People sometimes underestimate the importance and value of these big, beautiful vistas.
53:30These are part of our cultural life.
53:33So I think as a botanic garden, we need to be a bit stronger on why we're there.
53:41And it can be conservation.
53:44It can be science.
53:49But also we need to provoke a little bit in botanic gardens because we as places of influence
53:57can change behaviours out there beyond the botanic garden fence.
54:11Autumn is such a great time in the garden to get things done.
54:16You get results.
54:18Now, here's that list that some of you love to hate.
54:21Your jobs for the weekend.
54:28Cool temperate gardeners, why not spend some time exploring your local botanic garden,
54:33appreciating the science, scenery and serenity.
54:37Winter grass is starting to take over turf, so it's time to act.
54:42As soon as you see the bright green leaves, dig the clumps out and feed to the chooks
54:47or make a wee tea for the garden.
54:49Feeling fruity?
54:51Bung in a banana.
54:52Find a sunny, protected corner of your garden or courtyard
54:55and give some of the cold-tolerant varieties like Red Dacca, Dwarf Cavendish and Rajapuri a go.
55:03In warm temperate gardens, it's hydrangea haircut time.
55:07Remove spent flower heads, pruning to the next healthy bud on the stem.
55:11Take off two thirds of the foliage and it'll rocket away in spring.
55:16With winter around the corner, our thoughts turn to snow.
55:20Snow peas, of course.
55:21Sow seeds direct, install a teepee or climbing frame, water well and you'll be harvesting in just 60 days.
55:29Cooler weather means stews and roasts, so it's a great time to sow herbs such as sage, oregano and thyme
55:36into rich, fluffy, well-drained soil in a bright sunny spot.
55:42Subtropical gardeners, it's time for bare root roses.
55:45Head to a nursery and grab your fragrant favourites and plant out as soon as possible, keeping roots moist but
55:52not wet.
55:53Find space under cabbages and kale and have a crack at shade-loving landcress, Barbaria vulgaris.
56:00A cracking companion plant, the leaves are edible, hot, spicy and great in salads.
56:06If you love herbs, it's time to pop in some parsley.
56:10Curly or Italian, parsley is reliable and great in pots or plots, enjoying full sun to part shade.
56:17Harvest regularly for bigger, bushier plants.
56:20In the tropics, it's time to put in a dragon fruit.
56:23These spectacular night-flowering cacti are climbers and grow best on tall, strong supports.
56:30Plus, the fruit is refreshing and delicious.
56:33The silk floss tree, Ciba speciosa, is a large, fast-growing shade tree worth considering.
56:40Related to the BOAP, the spiny trunk and flamingo pink flowers make this one a stunner.
56:47This is the start of the Nidjan Gama, season of heavy dew, for the Gula Morrigan people of the Darwin
56:54region,
56:54when sugar bag honey, dadbingwa, is collected from tree hollows.
57:00Arid gardeners, if you've struggled to grow celery, pop in some parcel.
57:04Unfazed by humidity, heat or full sun, the stems and small leaves of parcel taste like both parsley and celery.
57:12Yum!
57:14Textural, trendy, tough and terrific winter flowers, say hello to an aloe.
57:19Perfect for arid gardens, there's hundreds of these stunning succulent cultivars, perfect for pots and plots.
57:26Why not get involved with the friends group of your local park or botanic garden?
57:30It's a great way to meet like-minded people and do something meaningful in your neighbourhood and community.
57:37Autumn's an amazing time to get stuck into truckloads of jobs in the garden,
57:42so let us know what you get up to this weekend on our Gardening Australia social pages.
57:53Well, that's all we've got time for.
57:56But you know where I'll find you next week.
57:59Right here in the garden.
58:01Of course.
58:02I'll see you then.
58:04I'm visiting this beautiful garden in South Australia's Barossa Valley.
58:09And it goes to show that with some careful planning,
58:12you can create a resilient and delightful garden in a dry region.
58:17I'll be sharing some design tips about some of my favourite plants.
58:23And we meet a devotee of a true Australian icon.
58:28They just become more and more interesting.
58:30And the more you know, the more you realise you don't know.
58:32I'll see you then.
58:34I'll see you then.
58:35Bye.
58:37Bye.
58:38Bye.
58:39Bye.
58:39Bye.
58:39Bye.
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