Coming up

Jerry hunts down critically endangered wild macadamia trees, Jane introduces some stunning yet tough plants for the garden and Sophie shares some mulching tips to help plants through the summer.

Gardening Australia Weekly Quiz

A) Digging a shallow trench around the base of a tree to form a moat for slow watering.    

B) Removing the lower leaves from tree branches to encourage bushy growth.

C) A form of tree pruning where upper branches are removed to restrict the height and keep upper foliage dense.
 

Tune in next week to test your knowledge!

Answer to last week’s question:

Question - What is a double flower?
Answer – a) A flower with many more rows of petals than the standard single row.

30th Birthday year

It’s hard to believe where the year has gone…..but fear not! We have more gardening action coming your way.

If you missed our 30th Birthday Special (or want to see it again!), be sure to watch next Friday at the usual time of 7:30pm (Repeated Sunday, 1:30pm).

And on Friday 20th December, don’t miss the Gardening Australia Christmas Special, filled with enough gardening goodies to keep you busy over the festive season.

Happy gardening everyone!

2020 Magazine Diary and Calendar

Find a full year's inspiration for your garden with the 2020 ABC Gardening Australia Magazine Diary and Calendar.

Available from newsagents, bookshops and online.

What to plant this weekend

Tropical Climate Zone
•    Basil
•    Cabbage
•    Sweet Potato
•    Vietnamese Mint

Subtropical Climate Zone
•    Beetroot
•    Coriander
•    Rocket
•    Zucchini

Arid Climate Zone
•    Capsicum
•    Oregano
•    Squash
•    Tomatoes

Temperate Climate Zone
•    Chives
•    Cucumber
•    Lettuce 
•    Pumpkin

Cool Climate Zone
•    Carrots
•    Mustard greens
•    Onion
•    Radish
 

What to plant this weekend

COOL

• ‘Tis the season to harvest your spuds. Once foliage has lost colour and the potato stems begin to flop, lift the tubers, dry them out and store them somewhere dark.
• Hoe hoe hoe into weeds, especially the domes of the dreaded yellow flowering cape weed. Lift these weeds from the ground and place upside down, roots and all, in the sun to solarise before composting
• Lavender is flowering fantastically at the moment, so take the time to appreciate the colour and delicate fragrance of these old-fashioned faves.

• Brambles and berries are putting on some great growth, so give them a helping hand with a feed. Top dress with lashings of lovely compost or cow manure.
• If you have evergreen shrubs and young trees that need relocating or replanting, this is your last weekend to do it before the weather gets too hot and you risk plant transplant shock.
• Get wet and wild this weekend and give your pond a good spring clean. Remove leaf litter and debris from the bottom, check pumps and filters, and add some barley straw to keep algae at bay.

• Fast growing, tough as nails and delicious in stirfries and salads, kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica) is a perfect green for the subtropics. Grow in rich potting mix or even in water all year round. Yum!
• Brighten up your garden and bring in the bees by planting some amazing Agastache. Heat and drought tolerant, these pretty perennials will bloom right through summer once established
• ‘Ava go at growing an avocado, a ripper fruiting tree for the subtopics. The secret to success is good drainage, so prepare your soil well or keep them in a large pot and you’ll be smashing it!

• Cocky apples (Planchonia careya) are blooming beautifully at the moment. These sweetly scented night flowering natives bare edible fruit and are fantastic small shade trees.
• It’s the perfect time to lift and divide perennials such as taro, arrowroot, cocoyam and even bananas. Replant into cultivated mounds of soil mixed with loads of delicious compost.
• The unmistakeable scent of flowering gardenias is filling the air, so to keep these beauties at their best, give them a all-purpose good feed, keep the water up to them and mulch well.

• Stressed plants are susceptible to scale at this time of year. To treat, remove heavily infested plant parts, squash scale with your fingers or apply horticultural oil in the cool of the day.
• Make the most of every drop of water and put in some low flow irrigation for your most precious plants. Dripline and soaker hoses are great options for gravity fed home systems.
• Zucchinis are starting to put on some fabulous fruit, so to keep them producing and tasting great, harvest regularly when the fruits are around 15 – 20cm.