Do you love you dog? - Aug 19, 2011
Dear gardening friends
It has been so wet lately you may not have been able to spray your lawn for Bindii.
The bad news is time is running out and soon the bindii seeds will have set and then it will be too late to spray. This means your poor dog will be stepping on painful bindii all summer long.
We have had great results using Richgro Bindii Killer for Buffalo Lawns. You use 30mls in 5 litres of water over 50 square metres of lawn. Add a squirt of dish washing liquid and it will make the spray stick to the weeds leaves.
Keep your dog off the lawn for 20 minutes until the grass is dry. A follow up spray 10 days later will help kill difficult weeds like clover.
It is probably going to be too wet to spray this weekend but come and get the product so when the sun shines you are ready to go. Don't spray when it is windy or it could cause damage to your rose bushes.
Talking about rose bushes, Ryan has returned after chucking a sickie last week. We have sprayed him with Seasol so you and I don't catch the bug. Ryan often smells like Seasol because he loves using it on our rose bushes.
We had a customer yesterday who drove all the way to Swanes Nursery at Dural to buy rose bushes but she came back to us because she thought our rose bushes were better.
This is because Ryan looks after them so well and this year we planted them in the most expensive potting mix.
They say you pay for what you get and this is certainly true when it comes to potting mix.
This week we have been very busy filling the nursery up with spring stock. We have to do this over several weeks leading up to spring so we don't kill ourselves. Yesterday lots of new release plants arrived from a nursery in Melbourne.
We love Melbourne grown plants because they just look so much better than plants grown in Sydney. It must be the climate.
They do cost 20% more because of transport costs but they are certainly worth it.
We got a new plant yesterday called "Plum Gorgeous" and it is going to be a real winner. Plum Gorgeous has purple leaves all year and it has hot pink flowers all spring. It only grows 1500mms high which is breast height.
It can be pruned to any height and used as a hedge or just let it grow.
Plants with purple foliage are very fashionable at the moment so if you love fashion make a move.
We also have a new dwarf Lemon Tree called KEVIN the LEMON.
Named after a former Prime Minister it is said to be the greatest lemon ever! Growing to just 1500mms high( About the same size as Kevin) it can produce over 200 thin skinned juicy lemons every year once established. It grows brilliantly in a large pot or sunny garden.
If you're planting it in the garden plant it on a mound of garden mix for best results. Lemon trees hate clay so you need to lift it to get good drainage. KEVIN is sure to be a winner and it is exclusive to Tim's Garden Centre.
Just a foot note, if you are growing citrus trees in pots never use Citrus Food to feed them. If you do the leaves will all drop off and you could kill your tree. It does say this in fine print on the bag but it is often over looked.
We recommend you mulch with cow manure every Spring and Autumn and feed with Tim's Fast Food.
I had a nice time in New Zealand but Pig screamed when I tried to pack him in my bag. I think he must be claustrophobic.
I wasn't going to carry pig under my arm all the way to N.Z so he had to stay home.
As I went through the departure gate they confiscated my tooth paste and deodorant so I ended smelling a bit like Pig.
The staff at Ray's Butcher in Camden recently took possession of a Pig and they have seen Lamb and Beef sales sky rocket.
It seems everybody has fallen in love with Pig and they don't want to eat his cousins.
Karyn is back from her holiday at Fraser Island. She had a lovely time. Karyns garden is looking sensational at the moment.
I especially love the Poppies swaying in the wind.
Monika's knee operation looks like it has been a success so she should be back at work next week just in time for the Spring rush.
Happy gardening
Tim