In Helotes, San Antonio Texas (a mere drive southwest of Austin) is a fire that has been burning since almost Christmas and continues to burn. The cause of this month-long fire - a mulch pile!

Measuring 80 ft high (24m) and 800 ft wide (240m) - the size of five Olympic swimming pools - this mulch monstrosity has been pouring out smoke since Dec 26. Residents have been displaced from their homes and billeted at local accommodation outlets throughout the city.

Even after a specialised firefighting team were brought in to extinguish the fire - costing more than $1.7m - it appears that the fire won't be brought under control for at least another month. That's one very hot mulch pile.

It's tragic that this problem even occurred but it highlights how hot organic matter can become once bacteria begin to do their work. Gardeners are always talking about how hot the centre of the pile needs to be in order to kill any wayward seeds but this story borders on ridiculousness.

Posted by Stuart at 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Is that 'praying' or 'preying'?

Apparently it's 'praying', after the prayer like stance that these beautiful insects take. Their stick like figure, supported by incredibly spindly legs, is usually camouflaged so that they can hide within their environment.

However, this praying mantis was anything but camouflaged in our lavender hedge. It had been attracted by the veritable feast of flies that have been found resting there, preying on them and getting fat - though you could hardly tell!

The giant praying mantis is a beautiful insect that fascinates children and many collect them as pets. They don't bite, aren't slimy and usually won't scare your little sister. However, they may eat each other so it's best to keep only one - that is, if you were planning to keep one.

Praying mantids aren't the most useful predator in the garden as they're indiscriminate in their food sources. They will eat ladybugs just as quickly as they would eat aphids and flies. Also, they are fairly ineffective in trying to rid your garden of unwanted insect populations.

But, they are engaging little critters and when one does happen upon your garden it's always tempting to pick it up and take a look.

Posted by Stuart at 5:20 AM | Permalink

There has been much written on the subject of organic gardening. We're constantly told to tiptoe through this world so that we don't leave our footprint on the environment. And, we've been told that many of our diseases are caused by pesticides, herbacides, insecticides and any other cides that you can classify.

No matter which way you turn someone, somewhere is finding something that's bad for us. Every other day a new discovery becomes the reason for some non-genetic cancer or virus.

And as gardeners, we don't want to find our pastime becoming our past-time.

So how can we traverse through the myriad of negative information and become more organic in our approach to gardening? Well here's a few steps that should at least point you in the right direction;

1. Replace your chemical poisons Many of the chemicals that we keep in our gardening sheds can easily be replaced with organic substitutes. Most times it is merely finding a natural inhibitor of the insect, weed or disease that we are trying to combat and using it to our advantage.


2. Soil is King Past generations have viewed the plant as the overall ruler in the garden and have remedied their failings by prescribing to the plant rather than the soil. If your soil is built up with organic material that drains well, many of your plant problems will fall by the wayside.


3. Use organic liquid fertilisers Apart from dosing the soil up with organic composted manure each year the best fertiliser you can give to your plants is via a liquid form. Plants will readily take up liquid fertilisers far easier than any other feeding pellet.

   The best source of organic fertiliser is either worm castings or a compost tea.



4. Grow complementary plants together Plants require different minerals so grouping them together can offset the negative effects of another which is not only wise but beneficial to your plants and their growing environment.


5. Encourage natural predators Ladybirds enjoy a feast of fresh aphids so rather than spend money on chemical sprays buy some ladybugs instead. Most bugs have a natural predator so it is merely discovering what they are and how to encourage them into your garden.


6. Rotate your crops This is a good practice so that soil-borne diseases won't build up and therefore ruin successive croppings. Use a four-bed rotation system moving every group of plants each season.

This list should at least help you in becoming an organic gardener. It doesn't take much to do but it may require a new way of looking at your garden and solving some of its problems without reaching for the spray.

Posted by Stuart at 4:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Patio's are great during the warmer months but as soon as the temperature gauge begins to dip we head back indoors and the patio becomes an obsolete room.

It doesn't have to be that way though. Patio heaters have come a long way since the first gas powered radiator bars that we precariously suspended over our heads. They are now more likely to be upright and mobile. Plus, they don't have to be reticulated through the gas cables that continue through our house. Most patio heaters have their own gas bottle, making it easier, safer and much more convenient.

The advantage of the Bernzomatic Patio Heater, apart from its delicious good looks, is that it emits heat more evenly than most other patio heaters. Other products have the main heat source located at the top of its spire with a shroud at the top trying to push the heat down. But we all understand science enough to know that heat will always rise so in effect most of these heaters become inefficient.

Bernzomatic's offering, on the other hand, heats from a cylindrical core running the length of the typical spire. Therefore heat is more widely emitted and it does it with greater efficiency.

Just because winter is cold and usually wet, most of us still like to spend time outdoors. The new generation patio heaters are allowing us this luxury and making it easier for us to do so.

As most patio heaters, especially the larger ones like the Bernzomatic, are quite substantial in size and weight most come with attached wheels. So whether you're having an intimate dinner for two or a party for the local football team, you can position your patio heater where it will offer the most amount of warmth.

And when the warmer months come by again, it's just a matter of pushing it to one side or wheeling it into the shed until the mercury plummets again.

Posted by Stuart at 4:00 AM | Permalink

As a parent, ensuring that my gardening tools are all safely kept away from my children should be of paramount importance. Unfortunately, this isn't the case as we've been working on multiple gardening projects and have limited storage space available - yet!

However, my radar senses perked up after reading this horrible account of a two year old boy who was bashed by his 8 year old brother with a garden hoe. As to why this 8 year decided to bash his brother is not mentioned, although an inquiry will most probably happen.

The big question, for those of us who are parents, is how did this boy get hold of a gardening hoe? I know myself that I'm fairly apathetic towards ensuring my tools are put away safely. But, as I considered what I had in my gardening shed, a hoe is the least of my worries...

Here are some of the tools aren't secured;

• Axe
• Chainsaw - although my 11 year old still can't start it
• Lawn Mower
• Spades and shovels
• Fuel for the power tools
• Gardening secateurs
• Pruning saws
• Garden Edger/ Whipper Snipper
• Garden Fork

...too list a few.

Becoming paranoid is not the answer and much of keeping my kids safe in the garden is about helping them see the dangers of these tools.

But even the best parenting will not be there for a spontaneous burst of rage as kids argue over a toy. It's far better to ensure that tools are out of sight and out of reach.

Posted by Stuart at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

For those who weren't aware, yesterday was Australia Day. One of the big highlights of Australia Day is the presentation of Order of Australia medals to worthy community members.

This year, from a list of almost 600 winners, Peter Cundall was presented an Order of Australia - Member (AM) medal;

For service to the environment, particularly the protection of wilderness areas in Tasmania, and to horticulture as a presenter of gardening programs on television and radio.

Of all the gardening presenters on TV these days, Pete is one of those down-to-earth, blood-n-bone, get-your-hands-dirty type celebrities. I watch Gardening Australia religiously because they run such an awesome gardening program.

It was actually this show that first kindled my desire to start gardening.

Kudos Peter Cundall - You deserve it.

Posted by Stuart at 5:11 AM | Permalink

When I wrote about urinating on vegetables in Mexican slums I had no idea that this concept had already taken other directions.

Clark Sorensen handcrafts each of these ceramic urinals, most taking up to 8 months to dry properly. Each one is unique and start from US$6,500 - not everyone's cup of tea!

But, what I find interesting is that the majority of these crafted urinals are in the shape of a flower. Continue the tangent and you're reminded that males are the only ones who use urinals: Men and Fowers. The whole concept seems...a little, well...feminine, doesn't it.

Or maybe Sorensen's going with the whole back to nature thing. Where men enjoy the luxury of taking a pee wherever and whenever they like. It's that whole eco-naturist notion taking shape.

Awesome pieces of artwork though.

Link

Posted by Stuart at 5:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

If you're looking for a cheap way to start your seedlings and you have a bunch of newspaper laying around, try combining them both.

Here's a little how-to tutorial that may help recycle the paper plus be a useful seed starting pot.

These little seed pots could be useful for planting all your vegetable seeds, e.g. beans, cucumbers, beetroots, pumpkins etc, in advance and then plant them into the ground as they being to grow. The newspaper will eventually break down and allow the roots to penetrate the soil, plus you've had a head start on next season's vegetables.

One extra tip: Make sure you place the newspaper pots on a tray as they will begin to break down from the continued moisture. An easy way to plant them straight into the ground would be to use a bulb planter to clasp around the whole pot.

Posted by Stuart at 5:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Like most Australian's who celebrate our special day, we'll probably do the obligatory trek to the beach.

And why not when the mercury's forecast to tip 41C (106F) - it's not like I'm going to be doing a lot of gardening today. I might even take some of my plants down for a swim just to cool off.

It's a weird celebration, really. Weird in the sense that while I guess we should feel patriotic about our nation, culturally we're apathetic and thankful for the extra day off.

Sure, we'll embellish our car with a $2 tacky Aussie flag that was made in China. We'll put away the Stella Artois and reach for a Carlton Crown, and we might even turn on the telly to see the Harbour Bridge ablaze with fireworks.

But despite the government's incessant drive to make Australia Day an art and cultural feast, unless they start doing these things at the beach - we probably won't make it.

Happy Australia Day!

Posted by Stuart at 4:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If you've hung around long enough in cyberspace you will have come across the term Web 2.0.

It's a fluid term that struggles to be pigeon-holed and is demonstrated by how it's used better than how it is structured. There are some great examples in this What is Web 2.0 article.

So, while that's all good for cybergeeks it dawned on me that there has actually been a transition that's occurring in the Gardening world as well. It too is difficult to explain so I thought it would be better just to illustrate the trend shift via some examples;

Gardening 1.0		Gardening 2.0
Share your garden with your neighbour	-->	Share your garden with the world
Plant Boosters	-->	Soil Improvers
El Nino	-->	Global Warming
Grow cuttings for neighbours and friends	-->	Plant by numbers
Local Nurseries	-->	Home Depot
Seed catalogues	-->	Amazon.com
Growing plants in the ground	-->	Growing plants upside down
Mow the lawn on Saturday morning	-->	Jim's Mowing

Gardener's: Fasten your seat belts as we traverse the new frontier.

Posted by Stuart at 5:27 AM | Permalink

The humble gnome is on the edge of a face-lift after 220 of them were handed to Australian (wanna-be) celebrities requesting a complete body makeover.

The project comes after last year's Dunlop Ping Pong Project when 150 table-tennis bats were shaped, painted and remodelled - for art's sake.

And the point of this is...? If you're looking for a raison d'etre you're probably not going to find one but that follows why people would put gnomes in their gardens in the first place - really!

The public can view these gorgeous critters tonight only between 6 - 8pm at the Chalkhorse, Half Dozen's new artist-run gallery in Cooper Street, Surry Hills. All the gnomes are for sale.

Don't miss it...

Source: Trends: Not your garden variety show

Posted by Stuart at 4:55 AM | Permalink

For those who struggle getting their kids to eat vegies - the battle may finally be over.

Vegiforms are a molded plastic product that you slip over your fruit or vegetables. As they grow the vegetable is contorted into the shape of the mold and produces some crazy outcomes.

The range includes 5 basic shapes: the Garden Elf, Pickle Pusses, and Ear of Corn; and the Heart and Diamond, which yield heart and diamond shaped slices when cut.

Angela wrote about her experiment with zucchini's last year and was doubtful of their success based on her friends inability to free them from their plastic prison.

Posted by Stuart at 4:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Susan Teitelbaum, assistant professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, recently completed a study looking at the effects of household pesticides on breast-cancer risk among women on Long Island.

Her research concluded that many pesticides contained DDT (or at least other carcinogens) that increased the risk of woman contracting breast cancer.

Studies had been performed before in occupational settings but it was until this research project that household gardeners were under the microscope for their use of these chemical sprays.

In an article by Christine Dellamore it was reported that there was a direct association between women using pesticides in the home and garden and an increased risk in breast cancer.

The study, published online Dec. 13 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found an association between lifetime residential pesticide use and breast-cancer risk in a sample of 1,508 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1996 and 1997, as compared to 1,556 random controls.

And the biggest culprits were;

In the analysis of the blood samples for organochlorine, it was interesting to find women who reported using pesticides especially for lawn and garden problems did show an increased risk for breast cancer.

It makes searching out organic remedies for pest control a little more tempting, doesn't it?

Posted by Stuart at 4:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Every year more than 700 million new rubber tyres are created replacing a similar amount that ends up getting burnt or discarded in waste sites. In fact, in Australia alone more than 70% of all rubber tyres are still being tossed away annually.

Fortunately gardeners aren't wasteful people and we've used them to stack potatoes, add a rubber swing for the kids and even turned them inside out and planted flowers in them. But there are only so many potato tires, swings and planters that one yard needs.

So the new trend is to apply rubber mulch on your plant beds and why not? Rubber comes in a range of colours, doesn't break down (not in your lifetime anyway) so you shouldn't need to replace it and it's easy to apply. Plus there are no smells that keep your neighbours indoors.

With so many benefits it seems hard to bypass an obvious solution to the rubber recycling problem.

That is until you find out whether it has any detrimental side effects to your garden. And, alas, rubber has a plethora of them. Recycled rubber mulch contains enough zinc, cadmium and other heavy metals to destroy your favourite ornamentals in one foul swoop.

Rubber mulch is often extolled with the virtue of containing nitrogen but it is so minimal that the heavy metals far outweigh any pre-conceived benefit.

This would be okay if it were where the story ended. You could easily decide to steer clear of applying rubber mulch to your beds and planters and resume normal organic mulch applications. But it seems that recycled rubber mulch is becoming more common as a bulk filler for normal organic mulch as well.

This is a little disconcerting for gardeners especially when you can't identify many of the ingredients that go into the mulch you buy from your soils provider.

The solution: It pays to ask. If your mulch retailer can't tell you if recycled rubber is used as a filler then find one that can. At the very least, if you are still in doubt, go back to composting your own natural waste products and applying them as a mulch on your beds.

Posted by Stuart at 4:08 AM | Permalink

Posted by Stuart at 4:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

While a vast majority of the population doesn't live in tropical areas capable of growing your own coffee there are many gardeners who are able to grow their own tea. And I'm not talking just about herbals.

The real thing, coming from camellia sinensis can be grown most gardeners whether the plants are grown in the ground outdoors or protected by a greenhouse.

From your plant, you can make black, green or oolong tea.

Green Tea

* Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
* Blot the leaves dry, and let dry in the shade for a few hours.
* Steam the leaves (like you would vegetables) on your stove for about a minute.
* For a different flavour, try roasting them in a skillet for 2 minutes instead of steaming.
* Spread the leaves on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
* Store the dried tea leaves in an air-tight container

Oolong Tea

* Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
* Spread them out on a towel under the sun and let them wilt for about 45 minutes.
* Bring your leaves inside and let them sit at room temperature for a few hours.
* Make sure to stir the leaves up every hour.
* The edges of the leaves will start to turn red as they begin to dry.
* Spread the leaves on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
* Store the dried tea leaves in an air-tight container.

Black Tea

* Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
* Roll the leaves between your hands, and crush them until the leaves start to darken and turn red.
* Spread them out on a tray, and leave them in a cool location for 2-3 days.
* Dry them in the oven at 250F for about 20 minutes.
* Store in an air-tight container.

Source: Growing Tea at Home

Posted by Stuart at 4:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My apologies for disappearing off the face of the earth last week. I took a bunch of teenagers (in my role as youth pastor at our church) off to Planetshakers which meant 5 days away from the computer and limited time before hand to write many posts.

But...I'm back into my groove and ready to talk gardening. So let's get digging...

Posted by Stuart at 3:50 AM | Permalink

With a brand new year upon us and many garden shows popping up all over the place, which ones do you plan to visit this year?

Were there any that you missed last year and have stapled reminder notes on the calendar? What about the ones you did see - will you be heading back for another dose? Or, will it be a good day to clean the oven?

Share your thoughts and ideas on what are the unmissable garden shows of 2007.

Posted by Stuart at 5:56 AM | Permalink

If you have ever wanted to build your own bird feeder then the boys from MAKE have a novel approach using recycled materials.

But, they don't stop there. As if building your own bird feeder isn't enough they install a webcam to stream live vision onto your home computer.

So not only can you see the birds enjoy the feast you provided for them but you can also note which pesky squirrels or possums are stealing all your bird feed.

Here's the video.

Link

Posted by Stuart at 7:06 AM | Permalink

Posted by Stuart at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Now that we have DSL a whole new world is opening up to us - literally.

I am finally able to scour Google Earth and I thought I might give you a picture of where we live so that you can better understand what I'm talking about in some of my posts.

Here's the key landmarks;

1. Our Home - Less than 2 km (1.24 miles) from Geographe Bay we live about 1m above sea level.

2. Busselton Jetty It is said to be the longest wooden pier in the Southern Hemisphere but these days it's becoming a political bunfight as much needed repairs are going to cost millions.

3. Vasse-Wonnerup Wetlands - These wetlands are now part of Ramsar's Wetlands of International Importance. Teeming with local flora and fauna this wetlands area encompasses more than 1000ha.

4. Bunnings - Maybe the equivalent of the US Home Depot but nowhere near as bad. I'm a self-confessed Bunnings groupie and wear my free t-shirt with pride - when I'm painting.

5. Our favourite nursery This has just been sold and unfortunately the last owners let it run down too much. Most of the plants were potbound and/ or stuggling.

6. Vasse Diversion Drain - Most of Busselton is low lying flood plains so the council built a diversion drain to take most of the runoff back out out to see. However, in 1997 (6 years before we built here) it flooded.

Anyone else want to share their Google Earth map?

Posted by Stuart at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

With Carol asking the very poignant question "What makes a Gardener" and the BBC's HGTV offering a two-part series on "How to be a Gardener" one would think that that people might be queuing up to become part of this international obsession.

Of all the pastimes and hobbies available to people, gardening is quite unique. Like a patchwork you can hang plants on the wall. You can collect and source plants like a philatelist collects stamps - and these collections have value like stamps do. You can even join clubs and hang out with like-minded people in the same way a golfer might become a member of their local organisation.

But what really makes a gardener a "Gardener"?

While many people have gardens (which in most cases should be removed from them like the child of a negligent parent) not many would claim their "Gardener-ship". So how do you become a gardener? Are there any skills you need to have at your disposal? And, as with all hobbies, what jargon needs to be learnt?

Well here's a few rules to help you out in becoming a gardener; - BTW rules always have their irregularities and most are made to be broken.

1. Understand the basics - plants need water, food and light.
2. Plant in spring.
3. Prune when the plant is not it's growing season (key jargon - dormant!)
4. Soil is king - Scott's will tell you otherwise because they can't market mulch well.
5. Propagation (another key jargon word!) isn't hard - its just a matter of finding the method that works the best for your plant.
6. Other local gardeners are your best source of inspiration and help - not TV gardeners.
7. Even the best Master Gardeners have plants that fail
8. Worms are good - do not try to kill them with pesticides
9. Talking to your plants is not a sign of insanity
10. Finally, if every plant you ever put in the ground dies - take up macrame.

That's it - gardening in a nutshell. The rest you will learn along the way. Just enjoy it and have fun as it is supposed to be a hobby!

Posted by Stuart at 7:14 AM | Permalink

If you're a fan of making your own compost - and if you garden you should be - then building your own compost screen is the next step.

Compost screens can perform a few different functions. Firstly, they can have a broad mesh that allows most of the compost through but retains any larger uncomposted items such as chunks of bark or large twigs that found their way into the heap.

They also can be interchanged with a finer mesh that allows even smaller compost particles through to produce a high-quality potting mix or seed-raising mix for you. These screens are easy to use and if produced effectively can be stored away quite easily.

If you're looking for some plans to build your own check out these very practical detailed tips from the Pennsylvanian DEP.

Posted by Stuart at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Ok all you Inconvenient Truth groupies out there answer me this - is this the first time the earth has heated up?

If you take the above Reconstructed Temperature graph as gospel then the answer is undoubtedly yes - (Reconstructed means that the data has come from analysis of tree rings and ice core samples). But if you take another graph of the first 1million years of earth's existence then you will notice that heating and cooling looks quite similar to the ebb and flow of our tides.

So while the USDA Zones have all been changed in accordance with the increased earth temperatures we may see that they actually revert back within the next few decades.

Posted by Stuart at 7:24 AM | Permalink

As children we all enjoyed the artform called "painting by numbers". Even the most creatively-challenged person could achieve a semi decent result provided they stuck to the plan (and kept within the colour boundaries).

And, while everyone knows that you would never see a "paint-by-numbers" hanging in the Louvre they were fun to do and possibly encouraged many budding artists to continue their craft.

So what will happen to gardening once "gardening by numbers" becomes the current trend? Will we see more people become involved with our favourite pastime or will the fad just bore us as home gardens become instant replicas of each other?

Winnie Anderson from From My Tulips shared some interesting thoughts suggesting this;

To be honest, I really don't see this as a bad thing.

Gardening can be an expensive hobby. Adding to that is the huge volume of information available about flowering schedules and plant growth and other details and I think the "garden by numbers" trend is an indication of our being overloaded by information and short for time to invest reading and researching.

I'm intrigued as to how this trend will develop. There doesn't appear to be much information available yet or many products on the shelves. But this is only a matter of time.

I don't really see it as a bad thing either as it will certainly encourage many people to diss their landscape contractor and get into gardening themselves. Provided people begin to experiment rather than just buy the product and use verbatim I think this can benefit our hobby and its growth.

What do you think? Have you heard of products offering this before and (heaven forbid!) ever used one?

Posted by Stuart at 8:30 AM | Permalink

If you thought you had seen everything then this is confirmation that idiots abound.

I found this little video via Mr Brown Thumb. How could anyone treat a cactus like this?

Posted by Stuart at 8:18 AM | Permalink

After a few requests from some readers for more photos of our garden I thought I would add an ongoing series that I would try and keep up to date every Saturday. I will try and show you what plants are doing well, those that aren't and even some of the projects we are currently embarking upon.

Here's the first instalment.

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Read on if you're after the transcript because you can't see the slideshow.

Slide 1: Our Home Garden Weekly Update

Slide 2: What’s Working Our Crepe Myrtle is flowering abundantly and looking the best it ever has.

Slide 3: What’s Working Our Agapanthus are going beserk. Each stem is well over 2m (6.5ft) tall.

Slide 4: What’s Working This fuschia is looking unbelievably gorgeous

Slide 5: What’s Working Our Pink Gaura (Butterfly Bush) is also flowering profusely.

Slide 6: What’s Working Our new addition to our cottage garden, this Penstemon has fitted in beautifully.

Slide 7: What’s Not Our Tahitian Lime is struggling even after a dose of Iron Sulphate. Some Chelated Manganese is the next remedy to try.

Slide 8: What’s Not Our gorgeous Ricinicarpos (Wedding Bush) got flattened in a recent storm. We ended up having to remove it.

Slide 9: Projects on the Go Our shed is finally getting dressed up and looking a little more respectable.

Slide 10: Projects on the Go Our pergola is now being semi-completed. The roof trusses are finished and should be installed next week.

Slide 11: Our Home Garden …Come Back Next Week

Posted by Stuart at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

A great tip from Andrea at Heavy Petal for those who are garden design challenged. Garden Planner looks like some great software to help you set out your garden design.

This site offers a demo online version of the software package they sell for US$19.95. The demo version allows you to play around with some ideas, adding and subtracting different elements so that you can get a feel for the software before buying it.

It doesn't allow you to save your creations so don't spend too much time trying to work out the detail but it does give you a good trial of what the software can do. It looks incredibly user friendly and for the price is certainly within reach of even the most amateur gardener.

Posted by Stuart at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If you live in a cold climate you've probably already written off palms as a plant that won't grow in your garden - and you would be partly right.

Most palms are tropical and can't exist in temperatures less than 15° C (59° F) but there are many cool climate palms that colder areas can grow quite successfully. Dwarf Sugar Palm - can grow at temperatures of less than -6° C (21° F) and reach heights of nearly 5m (15ft). Also the more common, and much larger, Bismarck Palm [pdf] can grow within the same climate while the Chinese Windmill Palm shouldn't be grown at all in warmer climates.

While these are only a few of the cool climate palms available to gardeners, there are more comprehensive lists available, tropical palms have a beauty and majesty all their own.

The fabulous Kentia Palm is one example. The Golden Cane Palm, Parlour Palm and the gorgeous Raphia Palm are some of the many others.

So, while we can all grow grow palms the question we need to ask is do we want to? I've been a major cynic of palms in the garden for quite a few years mainly because they have become the tree of choice here in Australia for landscaping new subdivisions. It seems every second home has littered their garden with fast-growing Bangalow Palms. Why? Very little maintenance is required. They don't drop leaves and they don't take much to keep looking good.

One day a friend inspired me with his plans to create a tropical rainforest garden in Perth, Western Australia. I cynically assumed he was off his rocker but after some investigation found that not only was it possible but I could also create a similar design to my garden in Busselton (250km south of Perth).

Caring for your palm

Palms don't require pruning but the removal of spent fronds will help keep them looking neat and tidy. Some palms send up suckers which will need to be cut out at base level but apart from sustaining them with a moderate weekly watering they don't need much else.

Palms naturally crave iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium so finding a fertiliser that contains higher levels of these nutrients will be helpful.

You can transplant palms and this is best done during their growing season (early spring) and provided that most of the rootball can be kept intact. Transplant your palm into a whole twice the size of the rootball and water copiously for the first month or so. Then resume normal watering and apply some fertiliser.

To keep your palm warm in winter wrap the trunk with bubble-wrap and mulch it well or wrap plastic sheeting over its drip line.

Growing palms from seed

Palms can be grown quite successfully from seed but palm seeds have a long gestation period. Kentia's for example can take between 2-3 years before sending up shoots. To aid their success, remove the fleshy coverings and soak the seed in tepid water for at least 24 hours. Discard any that are still floating after this period and plant the ones that have sunk to the bottom. Plant them in a good seed-raising mix and keep warm in a greenhouse or on a window sill.

Posted by Stuart at 6:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Months and months of trying and countless applications through numerous providers and today I can finally celebrate a turning point in blogging.

It's a small step forward because it means I can now start to visit more blogs. In the past I've been accessing your blogs using dialup and due to its lack of speed have been unable to visit very many. Most of the pics that you want to show take an aeon to download and it hogs all my commenting time waiting for your pages to load.

But now I have no excuse. I'll be on your doorstep more often and enjoying more of your awesome articles.

Posted by Stuart at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm writing this only because I'm really curious. There's no hidden agenda for asking this question I just had a few minutes spare between posts and was considering what reader's responses to this question might be. So here's the question...

Have you ever bought any seeds or plants off Ebay before?

I'm sure many of us have bought tools, books, gloves etc from Ebay and maybe even a multitude of other items. But I'm curious as to who would buy seeds and plants and what success they have had with them.

Just curious...that's all!

Posted by Stuart at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It's 'fess up time.

I was kind of hoping that everyone had forgotten about our sunflower competition. And then Kim had to go and bring it up again.

Unfortunately, the whole thing was a complete shambles. In the end we agreed that E., our eldest daughter, had won as hers (pictured left) was the only one that had a flower on it - albeit disfigured and dead. However, we decided that we wouldn't offer a prize this year - and that had nothing to do with me not winning - because we had all failed pretty dismally.

What happened? Well...while we were fairly optimistic that the pot sizes were large enough to house a single sunflower, we were sadly mistaken. This caused two problems. The first was that the roots consumed most of the space in the container and would then drink any water as soon as it was added and thirsted for more. A few hot days in a row and they were wilting beyond recovery.

The second problem was also related to the pot. The taller they grew, the more top heavy they became and as soon as we were hit with a few strong winds they were pushed over ripping their escaping roots out of the soil beneath the pot.

So, our sunflower competition became a null and void affair.

While we were all a little disappointed we have vowed to attempt our competition again next spring and I will keep you updated.

P.S. My sunflower was one of the first to go down and until the autopsy report comes back I'm not willing to rule out foul play.

Posted by Stuart at 5:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you woke up tomorrow morning to a world without bees would you notice? Those pesky, often down-right irritating, little insects that buzz around our plants and stalk our children's playgrounds can be often wished away. But, do they play much of a part in our environment other than just producing honey?

If there is one comment I hear by garden visitors the most it's a discussion regarding how annoying bees can be. Some gardeners even choose which plants they won't grow in their gardens because they don't want their children stung. Fair enough, if your child has an allergic reaction to bee stings but otherwise we could always try and educate our children to be careful of these important garden labourers.

According to this article in a recent TIME Magazine, the bee population is reducing. In fact, over the last 50 years (in the US) the bee population has halved. It's a sobering thought when you consider that the human population increased 300% over the same period.

TIME's Jeffrey Kluger and Kristina Dell vividly display what we stand to lose should the bee population be wiped out;

Honeybees are responsible for up to 30%* of food in the U.S. diet that relies on pollination--and that includes alfalfa-fed beef
•ORANGES 17.8 billion lbs.
•GRAPES 15.7 billion lbs.
•APPLES 9.9 billion lbs.
•WATERMELONS 3.8 billion lbs.
•CUCUMBERS 2.2 billion lbs.
•ALMONDS 915 million lbs.
•SQUASH 815 million lbs.
•CHERRIES (sweet) 502 million lbs.
•HONEY 175 million lbs.
*2005 production

And if this wasn't enough to highlight their importance, horticultural scientists are understanding their relevance more and more by using them in greenhouse pollination tests. Tomato plants which were once hand-pollinated are now being cultivated successfully by bumblebee pollination to where nearly every tomato grown in Europe has been naturally pollinated.

The same article went on to illustrate some light at the end of the tunnel;

About a quarter of a million colonies are reared artificially every year (1997), and they are used in over thirty different countries on over twenty-five crops. So bumblebees are of great economic importance, and with the increase of glasshouse cultivation, and the spread of the mite, Varroa jacobsoni, causing a decline in honeybee populations, their importance can only increase.

Here are some of the crops they are now employed to pollinate;

•aubergines •peppers •cabbage and carrot for seeds •kiwi fruits •strawberries •courgettes •cranberries •blueberries •and tomatoes for fruit.

So, the next time you squash one underfoot consider the environmental impact you just made to our world. As gardeners we should be promoting plants in our gardens that invite them and allow them to do their job.

Long live the humble bee.

Posted by Stuart at 5:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I found this great pic from a blog I read regularly which has a way of bringing a smile to most viewers faces I'm sure.

Obviously this gardener is a proponent of planting by the moon!

Posted by Stuart at 5:47 AM | Permalink

I've often wondered what happens to ladybirds (ladybugs) in the winter. Do they fly south (north) as migrating birds? Or, do they all die out and wait until the spring before their pre-birthed larvae hatch?

Apparently not. Christa from Calendula and Concrete has pointed us in the direction of this great article by Tom Turpin, Professor of Entymology at Purdue University.

The juice is that they find warm places, such as our homes, to rest their weary souls in preparation for the upcoming aphid-ridding season. Voids in walls and attic spaces are the preferred sleeping quarters where there is warmth and a high level of non-disturbance.

Which got me thinking...where do flies go? If we could find that out I'm sure we could nuke the site and enjoy our barbeques undisturbed forever.

Posted by Stuart at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Probably one of the prettiest bulb-looking flowers (but not grown from a bulb) is Lisianthus. A native to the mid-south region of the US, this half-hardy perennial is commonly grown as an annual. Its more common names are the Texas Bluebell and Tulip Gentian while its botanical name is Eustoma Grandiflora.

Lisianthus is part of the Gentianaceae family which covers 70-80 genera and 900-1200 species.

Lisianthus' light green leaves are reminiscent of a succulent's foliage pointing almost upright as it tries to conserve water use. The flowers, on the other hand, look like tulip flowers as they begin to open. In fact, they more closely resemble the Alyogyne that I have growing in my garden.

I first planted this bunch of lisianthus seedlings in another bed but moved them because they were becoming claustrophobic. Having since moved them to another garden bed they have done much better and produced an awesome show of colour.

Lisianthus are extremely easy to grow as a seedling and can be propagated from tip cuttings after flowering has finished. They can be grown as perennial plants but are more akin to being replaced or at least cut back significantly.

Lisianthus can grow well in containers and do very well as an indoor plant provided they are kept on a window-sill. They don't require too much water but enjoy a moist soil more than a dry one.

Posted by Stuart at 5:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Since recycling began its course as the 'green' alternative there has been a new trend to start re-using rather than just regurgitating waste products into basic resources. The idea is that an item may have another use rather than its original intended purpose.

Here's a classic example of re-using an item in a different way to create a totally new product rather than turn it into recycled matter.

Imagine using your soft drink bottles as self watering planters. Normally wasted, or at least recycled, the humble pop bottle is given a new lease of life.

Linda takes you through a step by step project on how to turn your bottles into planters that can then raise seedlings, cuttings or even contain small plants.

Posted by Stuart at 4:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sponsored posts that are written here on the blog are paid for via the ReviewMe website. Blog owners, retailers and suppliers seek people to write posts that review their sites and they are willing to pay for the privilege.

As they are sponsored posts and are therefore remunerating the content of the article most vendors are seeking a positive review for which I am happy to oblige.

However, I won't review a product, service, blog or website that isn't of benefit to my readers or that I can't honestly find anything positive about it. The money is helpful - no doubt about it - however, it will not compromise the standard of editorial content appearing on this blog.

In a nutshell, if I don't find it useful it won't be reviewed here regardless of whether someone wants to pay for it or whether some other non-monetary favour is given.

If you find that I'm not being diligent in reviewing a specific site, product or service please feel free to email me and share your concerns. I'm always happy to be held to account on what has been written on my blog.

Posted by Stuart at 3:59 AM | Permalink