Gardens

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs It may be no fairy story, but it could mean a few garden dreams can come true. There are so many times, especially at this time of bountiful blooms, that you may wish you could find space for yet another flowering tree such as the spectacular snow white flowering cherry, pictured here. Or, perhaps one of the many acacias, rhododendrons, camellias or even a free- flowering magnolia. But you can’t really find the space for yet another large tree.

KYNETON resident, and founder and CEO of Sweet Justice, Claire Moore, has received the inaugural Rotary Melbourne Environmental Sustainability Award in recognition of her work to support and protect the honey bee population.

WORK is under way on the next Central Highlands Water Urban Water Strategy.

SPRING persists, even if it’s only vacillating between icy rain and those fleeting wind-cooled sunny spells.

Let's celebrate the return of Wattle Day Glenlyon has revisited and revitalised the celebration of Wattle Day, once an annual one-day salute to our national floral emblem, the wattle, but this year it is embraced in a week long feast of poetry and art commencing on August 8.

The good, the bad & the hungry!

Shoo fly - Part 2 (As promised last time - dealing with the loathsome fruit fly…)

Shoo fly!

BEGONIAS have captured the imagination of flower lovers for hundreds of years with their almost quirky and often flamboyant offerings.

It's all about the birds and the bees

Then the rains came down…

Making the most of a fruit harvest - Take 2

Making the most of a fruit harvest If you are among the lucky ones with a good home crop or access to lots of stone fruit this season, there are more ways than making jam to preserve them for long-term use.

2020 - Groundhog Day revisited

"Oh, Christmas tree - Oh, Christmas tree."

Not so welcome guests This recent burst of warm Spring weather, alternating with days of heavy rain storms has brought about great bursts of strong growth and crowds of colourful flowers in gardens everywhere. But, like all good stories, there has to be a downside - in this case also armies of aphids, snails and other plant-chewing or sucking pests.

Underground networks There’s a lot more going on under the mulch than you probably realise, and not all of it necessarily good.

The answer's a lemon! Well, not really, it’s about citrus trees in general…Springtime is an important clean-up and feeding time for citrus - the time to remove weak, spindly growth and dead wood. If your lemon tree is looking as yellow and hang-dog as mine at present, it can’t be a minute too soon.

Going to pot Gazing at the glorious specimen of aucuba japonica (Japanese laurel) you would hardly believe it was once the pathetic decapitated specimen in the other photo.

MARCH 18, 2020. This date is stamped into many people’s memories as the day everything shut. Among them is Lauren Richardson, grower of edible flowers in Glenlyon.

Treasures from the past Pondering over the photograph of my friend’s recently restored Tasmanian colonial house and garden (Issue 202) made me reflect on our own home.

CRESWICK’S Park Lake Botanical Reserve turns 160 this year, but celebrations are on hold until April 18, 2021.

A LONG road for a pair of former journalists runs from country Queensland to a nursery at Tylden.

The Local 200 issues old?

Horti-culture shock

AS THE days become warmer, snakes are starting to emerge from their winter hibernation to bask in the sun and search for food and a mate. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Senior Wildlife Management officer Belinda Cant said sunny weather also meant it was more likely people would encounter a snake.

“The spring is sprung, the grass is riz. I wonder where the boidies is. They say the boidie’s on the wing. But that’s absoid. The wing is on the bird.”

The Good Earth

Going to pot. Last week I left a cryptic message re saving the cardboard centres of your toilet roll and paper towel for this week…Here’s the answer!

Spring plantings - Following on from last week’s column about raising vegetables from seed.

Everything old is new again - Digging in to our heritage!

Divide and prosper

What a wonderful year for our gardens, with bounteous Autumn and Winter rains and a promise of more to come. It may be a little early for any planting but it's certainly right to plan ahead and prepare the beds, especially if you’re thinking of enriching the soil with organic fertiliser or compost.

This centuries-old practice of miniaturising trees and shrubs can be a fascinating hobby the whole family can enjoy. But first let’s get one important fact straight - it’s the creation of the appearance of age and wear that is important, not their actual age in years.

Epihpytes are those plants whose roots are literally "up in the air".

It was once considered that growing the prized gem of the tropical forests, the orchid, was only for the very wealthy.

It’s funny how the sight of something familiar can bring memories of a long- distant past, flooding back.

Sometimes trees and shrubs may need to be moved to another part of the garden, or perhaps even to another garden.

I should have known I would start something when I made mention of building a “bug hotel”...

To my great delight, my birdbath’s daily clientele has recently been boosted by “foreigners”

We could be faced with the double-edged benefits of that long-awaited wet Winter.

Last week, I espoused the benefits of the absolute need for us to find ways to protect our gardens from pests and diseases.

In your desire to protect your plants from the many pest attacks, it's easy to overlook the many other inhabitants of your garden.

Last issue I gave you some clues for putting this current free time into enhancing your garden.

The prospect of long-term solitary confinement for however long it takes for the accursed COVID-19 to leave our shores is daunting.

Oak & Monkey Puzzle, Ballan-Daylesford Road, Spargo Creek.

THIS summer has seen a spectacular flowering of sweet bursaria.

On the cusp time of Summer's almost over but Autumn isn’t quite here yet.

Will our garden shield our homes or turn against us in times of bushfires?