Avoid the Bindii Ballet! - Aug 10, 2018
Do you love your dog?
Dear gardening friends
Most people love their dogs but they still forget to spray their lawn to control Bindii.
If you don’t spray now, before it sets seed, then your poor dog will be doing the “Bindii Ballet” all summer long.
We have the best spray. It’s called Richgro Bindii and Weedkiller and it’s suitable for all lawns including Soft Leaf Buffalo.
Simply mix 30ml in a 5 litre sprayer and use that over 50m2 of lawn. Add a squirt of dish washing liquid in the mix to make it stick to the weeds even better. Spray again in 7 days time to control tougher weeds like Clover.
Best results are always achieved when the weeds are actively growing so it’s a good idea to water your lawn several times before spraying.
Don’t mow your lawn for 7 days before or after spraying. Keep your dog off the lawn until it dries. This usually takes about 30 minutes.
I’m not a big fan of the premixed hose on bottles. These are way to close to your face and the spray seems to go everywhere.
Never spray on a windy day or spray drift can damage trees and shrubs.
I like to spray in the morning when the dew has dried. Spray back and forth until all the spray is used up. Remember if you spray the 5 litres over 100m2 then you have used it at half strength, so it won’t work.
Measure your lawn first.
One big step is a metre. Times the length by the width to get square metres.
They say that dogs look like their owners. I do have a few wrinkles.
Angie Thomas works for Yates.
She’s their Horticultural Consultant.
Angie actually worked for Tim’s about 15 years ago. She is married now with children and she lives on 5 Acres on the way to Picton. She preaches gardening all day then goes home and gardens all weekend.
Angie has a 200m2 vegetable garden.
That’s huge!
She grows all their vegetables.
Both her boys have a garden too.
One boy grows Peas because he loves eating them raw and her other son grows flowers. He has lots of girl friends at school apparently. He’s 8.
Angie responded to our call for help this week. She donated two Yates Mini Glasshouses so we could plant our Arthur’s Big Greek Tomato seeds. They are planted now and we hope to have seedlings to sell in about 5 weeks.
This year we are thinking about donating the $5.00 from every plant sold to the farmers. They are doing it tough this year.
We will go back to AAF next year.
We are drawing the winner of our Vintage Pot Collection this Sunday at 2pm.
Hayden planted these pots up and they look sensational. Tickets cost just $2.00.
All money raised goes to The African AIDS Foundation in Camden.
Frank Muscat is a character. He lives in Bow Bowing.
Frank has a huge Pecan Nut tree in his garden, and for years now he’s been trying to protect his nuts from the Cockatoos.
He’s tried everything!
I got him wound up this week , and he rattled off just a few of his failings.
“The rubber snakes were useless” announces Frank.
“I’ve done the CD’s hanging from fishing line. I’ve tried the silver inserts from wine casks.
I’ve tried the reflective tape, that made it look like a bloody Christmas tree. I’ve tried the giant hawk suspended in the air, I’ve tried the plastic Owl with the swivelling head, the Owl with the opening wings, I’ve tried speakers in the tree with loud music, that upset the neighbours, I’ve tried bird netting and onion bags.
I had a dog that barked every time they landed in the tree. It would even come and bark at me, to tell me the Cockatoos were back. I tried the empty cans that rattled when I pulled the string. I got that off the ad on telly with the Greek guy.
That worked, but you had to stay home all day!
I don’t want to kill them. I hate them, but I love them.”
Do you get any nuts?
Well yes, the Cockies usually leave me the nuts that hang below 2 metres from the ground.
So you still do get nuts?
“Well yes, I usually get about 6-7 buckets, but this year, because it’s been so dry, the Cockies are hungry so they have only left me, less than a bucket.
They have even started to eat my broad beans. I’m Maltese. My wife and I love broad beans.
How do you eat them?
We eat the beans raw on a sandwich with butter and cheddar cheese.
What does it taste like?
“It tastes delicious. If I knew a word that was better than delicious, then I would use that.
We also soak the dry beans in water, and then mash them up.
It’s called Bigilla. It’s lovely on biscuits.
There was silence for a moment.
“You’re sick of me now, aren’t you?”
I was just thinking about writing a story about you. “Can you please check your spelling, I don’t want to say anything, but it’s terrible”
Are you a good speller?
“Well yes.”
You can be my spell checker Frank.
Spring starts in a couple of weeks.
Come down and stretch your legs.
You don’t want to pull a hammie.
Happy gardening
Tim