Dead body in the Garden - Feb 12, 2015
Dear Gardening Friends,
Have you noticed how spectacular the Purple Fountain Grass looks outside the Campbelltown Council?
This fast growing ornamental grass looks spectacular mass planted like this.
I love how the feathery flowers sway in the wind every time a car whooshes past.The council’s gardeners have done a fantastic job with the plant selection in this garden.
The purple foliage of the grass goes beautifully with the coppery coloured new growth of the Lillpilly hedges nearby.
If you are planting Purple Fountain Grass in your garden make sure you give it plenty of room. Each plant can grow at least one metre wide by 1.5 metres high
For best results cut your Purple Fountain Grass off at ground level at the start of September. This encourages it to grow fresh new purple growth in spring with heaps more flowers in summer and autumn.
There is a smaller growing variety that is more suited to tiny gardens and pots called “Ruby Magic”.
This little cutie only grows 450mms high by 450mms wide.
The flowers are not as spectacular as the large growing variety.
Purple foliage and flowers is very in fashion at the moment. We have a new purple flowering small shrub called Little BIBI.
This compact little hardy shrub flowers nearly all year round. It’s perfect for pots or small gardens. We have them in big and small pots to suit your budget.
This plant could be used to make a small hedge across the front of your property. It loves the hot sun and seems to be very easy to grow.
A new ground cover Grevillea has caught my eye this week. You should know by now that Simon our nursery manager is a mad Grevillea collector.
He has over 80 growing in his garden in Ruse. Almost every week a new Grevillea seems to appear in our nursery to feed Simons addiction.
This week we have a new ground cover Grevillea called “Bluemountain Rambler”. This plant is not new in the sense that somebody bred it. This one was discovered growing in the higher parts of The Blue Mountains.
I love the coppery coloured foliage and the red tooth brush like red flowers. It’s non prickly to touch and it stays flat. It can cover up to 3 metres. Simply prune it when it covers your garden.
We only have a few plants but I am sure Simon can get more. Plants cost $15.99.
I often hear Graham and Linda Ross talking about Epiphyllums on The Garden Clinic. These climbing Cacti have the most amazing flowers that can be from 7cms to 30cms across.
Traditionally these have been hard to find in nurseries so you had to join a secret society to get your hands on them.
People who join these clubs often have missing teeth so if you have teeth these clubs can be disturbing places. Luckily we have discovered a grower in Victoria who is growing these amazing plants for us in small pots for just $12.99.
He has imported these new varieties from a grower in New Zealand. Nobody has teeth over there. Come and check them out. Sorry if you are from N.Z.
While we are talking about Collectors plants, the same grower from Victoria is also growing Hoyas!
I have never seen so many different colours! These almost death proof climbing plants can be grown inside in bright rooms as indoor plants but they also grow outside in shady areas.
They are perfect under covered patios that get morning sun. They actually flower best when they are pot bound so they are the perfect plant for the lazy gardener.
We have heaps of colours not seen in nurseries since Allan Searle was alive. Plants cost $13.99.
Talking about dead bodies, I got a bit of a fright this week when I noticed somebody had buried someone in our front garden.
It wasn’t until a few days later when Karyn planted seedling above the body that I realized Karyn had just prepared the flower bed for planting.
She is so neat and tidy. Karyn digs Planting Compost and Fast Food into the garden then covers this with Sugar Cane.
She waters this well and leaves it to settle prior to planting. She simply pokes a hole thru the mulch to plant new season seedlings.
She uses Baysol snail pellets because we don’t have a dog. You better use Multiguard Snail pellets if you do.
If you have pot plants around your house you will notice that when you water them it just runs out the bottom. Now is the time to topdress around the top of your pots with Tims Planting Compost.
We use it here all the time. Just 2cms of Planting Compost will be enough to invigorate your plants. The finer particles wash down and fill up the cracks. This prevents the water from just running out the bottom.
It contains a wetting agent and a slow release fertiliser. You will be amazed by the results. Your plants will turn greener within days and they will sprout fresh new growth in a couple of weeks.
One of our customers was amazed to discover her potted Gardenia plant started to grow bigger leaves. One bag of Tims Planting Compost will treat at least 10 pots. 2 bags cost $26.00. If you love your plants do it now.
If you have Azaleas growing in your garden then you will probably notice that the leaves are turning silver. They are being attacked by an insect called Lace Bug.
This sap sucking insect sits under the leaves so it is difficult to kill using contact sprays. We have found that Confidor is the best product to control this insect.
Spray your plants at night so you don’t kill any bees.
Confidor tablets are also available at Tims. These are a better solution because one tablet placed under each plant can control Lace Bug for several months.
Lace Bugs also attack Viburnums.
Poor pig suffered almost industrial deafness when he ran a pig poll to see if Tony Abbot should go.
Pig is non political but he is a rascal.
Tony got to stay but he has been in contact with pig who suggested Tony might talk less and listen more in the future
Happy Gardening
Tim