Dogs must love Spring! - Sep 04, 2015

Dear Gardening Friends,

I have noticed people out walking their dogs all over Macarthur. something some Dogs have not done in a while, not to mention their owners. Dogs must love spring! This beautiful spring weather just makes you want to go outside.
You will probably find yourself out in the garden pulling out weeds that have been there for months and you never noticed them.

I was doing a delivery in Mt Annan yesterday and I fell in love with African daisy’s. They are in almost every garden along Welling Drive and they are covered in flowers now.
These easy to grow plants can become weeds but plant breeders have bred new varieties that don’t self seed. These also stay more compact than the original varieties. They have had a name change recently so they are now called Osteospermum. Look for a pink flowering variety called “Serenity Pink”. It will out perform the common old variety and it flowers even more.

Pig Face has burst into bloom. The retro orange flowering variety is always the first colour to bloom then the others soon follow. We have most of the colours here in small pots. They are great value at just 4 for $20.00. These amazing succulents thrive in those hot dry spots in your garden. The sunnier the position the happier they seem to be. Of course they will grow even better if you improve the soil with some Planting Compost.

You will start to see Clivias flowering in shady gardens in the next couple of weeks. Look for the Belgium hybrid Clivias. I have these growing in my garden at home and they have broader leaves and much bigger flowers that are bright, bright orange. They look great mass planted and they will even grow under trees. New houses are so close together you are often left with a shady garden down the side of your house. Plant Clivias and they will thrive. They multiply over time and you can split them up and get more plants for free. We have some beauties down here for $17.99. Clivias will take morning sun up to say 11am but they hate the afternoon sun. They look great in big pots too.

Linda Ross is coming to our nursery tomorrow to talk to Garden Clinic Members. It’s a paid event so if you want to come contact the Garden Clinic for more details. Linda is a Landscape Designer, writer and broadcaster on 2GBs Garden Clinic and she is lots of fun.

A friend of mine who lives in St Helens Park has just sold his house for almost twice as much as he paid for it! He only owned the house for 4 years. When Reagan bought the house it was a blank canvas. He planted hedges to help define the boundaries and highlight the specimen trees. It was so neat and tidy and you could see why he sold the house so quickly and why got so much money. He told me when he first moved in he was on a budget and he planted most of the plants from tubes which he bought from Tim’s. He used hedges instead of fences wherever possible and this just made the house and garden look bigger. A great result!

All our spring seedlings have now arrived and the quality is amazing. We keep our seedling outside in the cold so they will transplant successfully into your garden. Last year I had great success with Lebanese Cucumbers. These ground covering plants produced fresh sweet tasting cucumbers all summer long. We ate them in salads and the kids took them to school. They ate them like apples! They are so healthy to eat and seem to grow bug free! Plant them now. They often sit and sulk for a few weeks before they decide to take off! Dig Planting Compost into your soil for best results.

Pig decided to give the milkcrate a make over for spring. Your milkcrate might need a make over too. Come and see us if you need some help choosing the right plants. We can save you money by choosing plants that will grow.

Happy Spring Gardening
Tim