Well, the short answer is that it is never too late and sometimes doing it right now is better than leaving the job until later, as branches can become woodier and thicker making the job significantly harder. In general, with citrus, pruning them a little bit over the entire year, except when full of fruit, is best. If there are branches you want to remove that have fruit on them, wait until you have harvested the fruit before cutting off the branch. Lightly prune areas that have become a little full and congested or where there has been a spurt of growth upward, as too much energy in that dir ..read more

Saving seeds is the cornerstone of an environmentally friendly and sustainable garden. Saving your own seeds helps to ensure a wide variety of plants endure, genetic diversity is maintained, and gives you the ability to grow plants suited to the local environment. It also means you do not need to buy (another cost) hybrid or genetically engineered seeds. If you save hybrid seeds they are unlikely to grow into exactly the same plant they came from, so it is best to save seeds from heirlooms, and old fashioned varieties. The other benefit is that you will get thousands of seeds from one plant, s ..read more

Although we had a pretty wet summer, which meant a lot more mowing than is normal for that time of the year, Autumn looks as if it is going to be dry. Because it is not as hot, many forget that the plants still need to be hydrated to function at their peak. So now is a very important time to keep an eye on the garden to see if the plants need any assistance, as a dehydrated plant is a stressed plant that will struggle to photosynthesize properly, and take in the nutrients it needs to provide you with a healthy, prolific crop. If the plant is wilting, or the leaves are curling and drying out, i ..read more

If you have a tree or shrub that has been in a pot a long time, you may see that the leaves are starting to yellow and fall off. This may be due to overwatering, which can 1) wash all the nutrients out of the soil and 2) leave the roots sitting in water so they can’t breathe. To check out the status of your potted tree, carefully tilt the pot back. If that is hard to do, it could be because the roots have gone through the base and suckered to the ground. The issue here is that those roots will have clogged the drainage hole in the centre of the base of the pot. If possible, lie the pot on its ..read more

I can't believe we are already in March, heralding the beginning of Autumn. I can certainly tell that from the colour on some of the Maple leaves, but not by the weather, we appear to be experiencing the first full week of Summer so far this year. By all accounts this season, whatever we want to call it, is going to be hot and dry, so the garden will need plenty of care and attention. Keeping the above in mind, please see below a list of somethings you can consider planting at this time. But be prepared to succeed where you have normally failed and fail where you normally succeed! I also ..read more

I have been wandering around the garden over the last few months wondering how it can be that I have so much unprotected fruit available. I have never seen so many strawberries, I am picking them for breakfast and lunch every day, whereas normally the Blackbirds get them well before I can. And the unnetted trees are full of apples, nashi pears and plums. How can that be? I had noticed that the birds had not been around, but did not take much notice of that, until suddenly it all fell into place.  I was sitting out the back watching some pensive Currawongs, thinking how nice it was to see ..read more

I have recently harvested the cucumbers and peas from one of my raised beds and now have space to undertake some new planting. But before I do, I need to prepare the bed because even though the soil is full of life, it has broken down and sunk quite a lot and needs a top-up for the new season's autumn planting.   The main things to keep in mind when topping up the bed are to -    Layer, layer, layer. -    Water each layer as you build it up until the water penetrates, not just pools-up on the top.   Other than that, it is just a simple matter of layering in this o ..read more

I know that they appear to be different somehow, and in many ways they are, but just like other fruit trees, Cirtus trees needs pruning also.   The best approach I have found with citrus is NOT to undertake infrequent heavy pruning, as that can lead to aggressive upright growth. If you take a lot off, the tree will try to replace the lost foliage.   To avoid this, it is better to undertake regular small amounts of pruning, taking off less than 1 quarter of the overall tree, which helps it avoid shock, and reduces the risk of it regrowing heavily. Prune them all year round to get rid ..read more

This carries on from my earlier piece about how many gardeners stop due to the lack of success. Here are some more reasons why you should not be put off and persist.   Fresh - Tick the freshness you prefer. A – Have an individual looking piece of fruit or veg with its own size, colour and characteristics. B – Have a uniform looking piece of fruit or veg, where one is exactly the same as the other and the other and the next. A - Strong unique flavour. B - Watery identical flavours. A - Thousands of varieties to choose from. B - 3 or 4 verities to choose. A - What you put in the soil and on ..read more

Well, I guess we should be getting use to that which is upside down being the right way up! It is cold here today and drizzly, but yesterday it was hot and humid, no wonder the trees, veggies and flowers are battling fungal problems. I know how they feel! In these conditions you will need to be alert and Prune, trim and thin out you plants as soon as you see any discolouration, (that is not caused by the wind or weather) to let lots of air, sunshine and airflow get to the plants. Destroy any infected leaves – don’t put them in the compost and clean your tools afterwards. Feed your plants well ..read more