Be brave, be kind - Jul 16, 2021
Happy ending for doomed tree.
Dear gardening friends
Janiece Kalmar is "the tree lady" from Elderslie. She's one of our biggest supporters. In normal times, she visits us at least once a week.
You might remember we gave away Illawarra Flame Tree seeds here in March. Janiece couldn't help herself, she took seeds home.
They all grew of course, Janiece has green fingers and green toes.
During a visit to her garden she gave me the seedlings and said "could you plant these somewhere?"
We potted them on into bigger pots, they have been here for a couple of months.
We planted them in a park this week in
Ingleburn. We planted 3 together, in a triangle shape, 12 metres apart.
They are planted near Jacaranda Trees which flower at the same time.
This park is going to pop every November with the red bell like flowers, from these native trees, and the mauve flowers on the Jacarandas.
It's amazing what a difference shade trees make to a park. They attract people.
Plant trees, and the people will come.
Thanks Janiece for growing those beautiful trees. There's nothing more magical than growing a tree from a seed.
As you drive into Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, you will see this spectacular shrub flowering near the carpark.
It's called a native Hibiscus or Alyogyne huegelii "West Coast". This amazing native shrub flowers almost all year round.
The purple flowers are spectacular.
And they contrast beautifully with the dark green foliage.
It comes from Western Australia so it thrives in hot sunny positions. It can grow around 2 metres high, but it can be pruned to any size.
There is a garden in Camden near the hospital where this plant has been used to make a hedge for privacy.
It looks spectacular.
We have plants in the nursery today.
Ring us, if you'd like one put aside.
46267022. Nice bushy plants are $18.99.
Pay over the phone.
Some times people make mistakes.
They decide to chop a tree down judged on a trees, worst week of the year.
It might be dropping leaves or dropping fruit. We curse the tree while we're cleaning up the mess, and a bad decision could be made to get the tree lopper out.
We forget that same tree brings beauty to our lives for the rest of the year.
We forget that green canopy helps to protect our house from the western sun. We forget that it helps shield traffic noise from a busy road.
Just before lockdown this tree was booked in for removal, but the owner started to have second thoughts, was she doing the right thing?
She asked me for help.
I called in to have a look.
The driveway led me in and around the tree. The tree made the house, it made the garden, it was magnificent.
The asphalt was starting to crack.
Removing the tree wasn't going to fix the cracks. The asphalt was so thin, it was never going to last.
We came up with a solution.
Remove the asphalt and replace it with crushed granite. This lets the water into the soil so the trees get water. It helps to stop them sending out roots in search of H2O.
It turns out, this wasn't even the tree that was cracking the driveway.
It had a happy ending.
The magnificent Lillypilly will remain.
It would have taken 50 plus years, to replace this tree.
If you own Peach or Nectarine trees you need to spray them right now with Lime Sulfur to control Peach Leaf Curl.
This product prevents Peach Leaf Curl but you have to spray it at bud swell.
Once the flowers have burst into bloom, it's too late to apply, so you'll get damaged leaves all summer long.
It's time to spray Bindii.
This horrible weed sets seeds in early spring, then it's too late to spray your lawn.
We have a fantastic product here called Richgro Bindi and Clover killer.
It's safe for Buffalo, Kikuyu and Couch lawns.
Mix 30mls in 5 litres of water.
Add a squirt of dish washing detergent to make it stick to the leaves better.
Spray this over 50m2.
Spray again in 7-10 days.
Your lawn has to be long for the spray to work, on broad leaf weeds. So don't mow your lawn before application.
Measure your lawn, so you know how much spray to use. If you use this over 100m2 then you've used it at half strength, so it won't work. Clover might need several applications to kill it.
Lots of winter pruning.
Prune Roses and deciduous fruit trees now.
Prune Hydrangeas back by 25%.
We've noticed Roses are being attacked by Downy Mildew. This fungus disease causes the leaves to drop off. Spray with Yates Anti Rot several times. Prune roses back, to encourage fresh new healthy growth.
I've noticed that Woolies and Bunnings are packed. We are not busy.
Bring a mask.
Sign in, and apply hand gel.
Happy gardening
Tim