Shady Characters

TOP TIPS

• Shade is a priority in gardens during the heat of summer
• There's a range of options to provide shade quickly while you wait for trees to grow
• Shade sails should be professionally installed  to avoid damage to your house in strong winds
• Use climbers over pergolas and garden structures for quick shade and a green canopy
• Umbrellas can give instant shade and add party feel to a garden setting even where you have established trees.
• The cooling effect of a living canopy is like an air conditioner
• Deciduous climbers allow sun in winter

While it's hot I love nothing more than sitting outside after the temperature has dropped, enjoying a beer, wine and coffee (in that order). The warm days last month gave me renewed appreciation for shade. These days shade in the garden is a must.

Maybe you don't have the space for a tree or if you are in a new suburb and they just haven't grown yet do not despair.  There are a range of options to get shade over an outdoor area quickly.

Shade sails are a simple way to get shade quickly in a new backyard.  They can be temporary until plants grow or more permanent structures. They can be attached to your house or to poles which have been installed to withstand the force of strong winds.  Professional installation will ensure they are anchored well and wont damage buildings. They come in a range of colours and look good if well made and installed. 

The simplest and quickest way is an umbrella.  They can look really great.  I love the large market umbrellas you find at your favorite café.  The cantilever style umbrellas can shade your outdoor setting with the pole to one side.

Pergolas are a permanent feature in your garden and can be a real focal point for family gatherings and meal times.  I reckon they look best when made from timber or steel.  We have built a few and I reckon they give a natural, earthy look and feel to an outdoor area.  Pergolas made from steel look terrific, although they do cost a bit more.  Quick shade can be gained from a solid roof, shade cloth or with a climber.  Call me to discuss your range of options.

Cover your pergola with a climber.  They add textural interest to your outdoor space and the air-conditioning effect the living foliage provides is simply wonderful. The feeling that you enjoy relaxing under the shade of the luxurious green canopy of a climber is unbeatable.  You just can't get that with metal or polycarbonate roof sheets. 

If you use a deciduous climber you will get excellent shade in summer, a great display in autumn as the leaves turn and then in winter you can enjoy the sunshine as it streams through the bare canopy.  Timber pergolas can be stained or painted to suit your outdoor theme.

You can use climbers as either a short or long term solution. Like any plant it's a question of finding the right spot.

All climbers need a structure as they get started. The simplest pergola or shade structure could be a few wires between poles.

Of course you can use climbers to cover up unsightly features such as old timber fences or the now ubiquitous Colourbond fences and sheds. Make sure you trim them regularly to stop them wrecking the fence or escaping into the next-door neighbours place.

If you keep your climbers under control, they can be some of the most rewarding plants you'll have in your garden and, because of their vertical growth habit, they take up very little space.

The trick with climbers is they have one aim in life - to get to the top as quickly as possible.  The first one up to the sun wins.  Some climbers don't care who they walk on to get to the top.  There are some that behave better.

Climbers generally shine in late summer. Those that have evolved in warm climates are growing and flowering now. Climbers do well if you give them the right conditions and they grow poorly and attract pests and diseases if they aren't in the right spot.

Best climbers for a pergola are deciduous.  Yes there'll be leaves for the compost, but the winter sun's worth it.

Write to us for the fact sheet on using climbers for shade.

Work Hard Get Lucky In Your Garden!

TOP TIPS

• Work hard and get lucky
• Deep watering using water saucers or empty drink bottles will benefit your plants.
• Australia day is coming so get planting with Aussie natives like Eucalyptus ficifolia, banksias, brachycome or Westringia.
• Plant seeds now for winter flowering annuals and vegies
• Prune shrubs to tidy up and shape and make cuttings of daphne, camellias, geraniums buddleijas and other shrubs now

So was this your first week back at work? 2012 is already shaping up as our best year ever! I hope yours is heading that way too. The way to ensure its your best year is to decide that it will be. Create that expectation. My two favourite quotes are "The harder you work, the luckier you get", and "If it's to be its up to me". I'm not sure who said them, but I reckon they apply to pretty well every aspect of life whether its sport, work, study - and yes even gardening!

So let's get lucky and make it happen! Now we are back at work there is a lot we can do to set our gardens up for summer and for the rest of the year.

The warm days we are having in between the cooler and slightly damp days we have had so far this year have been great for pests. They haven't taken a holiday and are most likely busily sucking and chewing their way through your garden. Many of the real pesky ones are sap suckers. Aphids, thrips and the like are only tiny but they can and do spread disease. Mottled looking variegation on rose leaves is mosaic rose virus, spread by one of these sap suckers.

A systemic insecticide like Confidor will fix up these bugs. Systemic insecticides enter plants through the leaves and remain in the plants circulation system (hence systemic) for a couple of weeks. . There are other options, which including organic alternatives. I'll give you more ideas about these during the year. Birds can help eat these bugs but make sure they don't eat your fruit as it swells and ripens on trees and tomato bushes by protecting it with a net.

The warmer humid days have also been great to help mildews and other fungal problems like blackspot and rust get going. Use a complete fungicide to help with these. If water remains on the leaves for a lengthy period it provides ideal conditions to foster fungal problems. So just make sure when you water the soil and not the leaves and foliage.

At this time it's important to water thoroughly with whatever water you have access to. Those really hot scorching days knocked the lawns and gardens but the cooler conditions have helped. Good soakings once or twice a week are best. Make water saucers around each plant or use empty milk bottles upended in the soil. Keeping a good layer of organic mulch on beds will help hold moisture in.

Keep on planting and preparing soil. Summer is a great time because the beaut long and warmer days are keeping things growing. With Australia Day around the corner why not get started planting some native plants. Eucalyptus ficifolia is my favorite. Its showy red flowers complement a tree that's not too big and not too small. It just needs a bit of looking after when young.

Brachychome daisies are low growing and can add wonderful bluey mauve colours (or pink or white) to your borders, pots, rock gardens. They blend in well with most garden , from cottage to contemporary. Westringia or grevilleas are my choice for hedges

Lots of plants, which bloom in winter and early spring, can be planted from seed now. Plant them out is seed trays and keep them in a bright shaded spot. In 6 weeks when autumn arrives you'll be able to plant them out. Calendulas are bright and fun as are pansies just to name a couple.

Grab your secateurs and tidy up any early summer flowering shrubs and natives that have finished flowering. Trim and tidy lavender now too. You can make some cuttings from shrubs now as you prune including camellias, azaleas and geraniums. Make cuttings of Daphne now too. Keep them moist until they take root

Prune buddlejas by half, and they will bounce back into bloom again. Natives need regular pruning and trimming to encourage a good shape and to keep them young. Isnt it a shame we cant do that with people.

Once you have all this under control put up a shade umbrella and call the family outside for a BBQ or alfresco dining. Gardens should be enjoyed by everyone! Till next week enjoy your garden!

At TOP hEDGE our Horticulturists and Green Gardeners know all this and mulch more ways to make you garden thrive in our conditions, so if you love your garden but never have enough time give us a call on 5330 1071 or contact Top Hedge.

A One Step Plan to start your successful
year in the garden in 2012

TOP TIPS

• Happy New Year to you and your garden
  
• What's the one thing you NEED to do to improve your garden in 2010.
  
• Write it down the promise yourself that no matter what this ONE THING WILL GET FIXED
  
• Start a garden scrapbook and list the things you would like in your garden
  
• Cut pictures from magazines of gardens and plants you love
  
• Plan a family entertaining area you can enjoy next Christmas

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and received all the new pruning tools, mowers, pots, plants, water features and things that you had on your Christmas wish list for our garden. Did you survive the all the relatives?

What plans do you have to welcome in the New Year on Saturday night? Happy New Year for Sunday! Just watch that last drink so you don't end up nursing too big a headache on Sunday. Speaking of drinks, the weather bureau is predicting the odd storm and shower so hopefully we'll get a good drink of rain to start the new year.

How much time did you spend thinking about, planning and organising for Christmas this year. From the wreath on the door to the roast turkey, everything was well thought out. Every part of this special day is planned and organised so that all our friends and family have a marvelous time.

How great would our gardens be if we spent the same amount of time planning our year and our gardens for 2010.

Good news! We don't need to spend a long time planning our gardens. Just follow these two steps.

Step 1 is really quick. All you have to do is just answer this question. What one thing do you NEED to do to improve your garden in 2010?

Now this is not an essay question and there's no trick. Every garden owner, or professional gardener intuitively knows the one thing that frustrates, disappoints or annoys them about their garden.

It may be as big as needing a whole new back yard, or as small as a gate that sticks. Maybe you need a new gardener, or to up-grade your mower. It might be time in June to get your roses organized, It may be time to hire a Top Hedge garden coach, or for something as simple as a new pair of secateurs.

Whatever pops into your head, just trust yourself! What is the one thing would you like to up-grade or eliminate this year?

Now its important is not to try to figure it out. Just trust your instincts and your inner voice and write down your answer. Now pop this note on the fridge or on a nail where you will see it in your shed.

That's it. We're done. Now you can go back to whatever you were doing, entertaining your visitors, playing with the kids and their new toys. Enjoy the weekend and New Years. Have a champagne and watch the cricket on telly.

When you get back in the garden shed next week, pick up your note and promise yourself - whatever else goes on - this ONE THING WILL GET FIXED!

You garden will be better for it, and that's a promise. And the confidence and momentum you feel from achieving this objective will propel you to greater things.

Every year between Christmas and New Year I make use of this quieter time to review the year just past and check in with my goals and dreams for the year ahead.

The second step is to get yourself a garden scrapbook and start making lists of things you would like in your garden.

It can be a photo album, a sketchbook or just an exercise book. Go through books and magazines and collect pictures of gardens you like. Stick them in your garden journal.

If you want to add a deck to your house cut out photos of the style of deck you would like. Find pictures that show the detail of the handrail you want, the sort of awning of pergola that shelters it. If you would love to install a new path, build an arbor or plant an avenue of trees to beautify your home, then find pictures, which show the style and detail of how you want them to look.

Make as big a list as you can. List all the things you would like to have in your garden. List all the things you would like to get rid of from your garden. List all the new skills you would like to learn and perfect. List all the gardens and places you would like to visit and get inspiration from.

Keep your garden journal handy so you can look at it everyday. Each week pick just one thing you can do this week to get started on a new project. Get started. Spend ten minutes if that's all the time you have but get started. Put a note on your fridge to remind you to take action. .Once you get some momentum you'll be amazed how quickly you'll achieve your goals

Have a fabulous and rewarding New Year in 2012. Happy gardening from all our Horticulturists and Green Gardeners at TOP hEDGE. If you love your garden but never have enough time give us a call on 5330 1071 or look around our site.

Party by The Pool

TOP TIPS

• Life is a garden
• Pools can be challenging places for plants
• Avoid plants that have lots of big flowers and fruits that shed a lot of material into your pool
• The ouch factor is very important to avoid
• Plants with invasive roots can damage your pool so keep them well away
• Choose plants that wont attract bees
• Star jasmine and creeping fig are two great climbers to hide ugly walls

At Top Hedge we love plants and helping people get the best from their gardens. We're outdoor specialists and the best thing is that gardens grow all around the world. Recently I was asked by one of our clients in Brisbane for help designing gardens around her new swimming pool. She wanted to know which plants would grow best.

Pools can be challenging environments for plants and there's a few things you need to consider if you have a pool at your place or at your beach house.

Firstly be aware that all plants shed. Some people think because plants are evergreen they don't drop leaves. Its not true. The difference between Evergreens and Deciduous plants is that deciduous plants have a predetermined season when they drop their leaves, evergreens don't. They drop theirs all though the year. If plants have big flowers or fruits they make a big mess when they drop. Some plants can make a big mess when they shed their leaves, needles, fruits, flowers, nuts or catkins fall in and around your pool. Fruit and flowers mean extra work for the pool cleaner - whether that's you or someone you hire.

Beware of the "Ouch Factor" when choosing plants to use near pools. Spikes are no fun but they don't just come on roses. Other plants with thorns are lots of the palms especially date palms and pigmy dates, bougainvilleas, lots of Agave and yuccas. It's no fun sliding into prickly customers on the pool deck.

Beware of invasive roots too. Figs elms and oak trees grow slowly and push their roots in and around plumbing systems and can even upset the concrete shell of your pool. Do a bit of research to make sure any plant you choose will be behave itself around your pool and guests

Bees are amazing and their honey tastes great on toast but you don't really want these guys doing their thing around the plants you have near your pool. Bees are attracted to flowers and nectar rich plants. Salvias cosmos, lavender, wisteria are loved by bees as is Wisteria. Plant these elsewhere in your garden to enjoy.

Keep an eye out for bees in your lawn. All bees love clover. If it is in your lawn already then weed it out. If you don't have it in your lawn be sure not to plant it if you reseed any areas.

Plants chosen need to be hardy enough to cope with the odd splash of salt or chlorinated water. Have a go with Cordylines, Murrayas (if you're near the coast), Agaves and Westringea which are ideal hardy plants as are the lower growing, Mondo Grass, Star Jasmine or Liriope. Acalyphas add great colour up north.

If space is limited around the pool area for a garden, liven up the area with pots or tubs. Use the plants above or add colour with flowering annuals.

The other way to grow is up. Choose climbers for walls around pools wisely. Two that I reckon work well are Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) or Creeping fig (Ficus pumila). Both are classy creepers which can be trained up wires or used to cover and hide walls. Both can complement either formal or tropical designs.

At TOP hEDGE our Green Gardeners know all this and mulch more, so if you are looking for landscape design for your pool area, give us a call on 5330 1071 email murray@ tophedge.com.au.

Christmas is coming. Do something

TOP TIPS

• Unique sculptures and water features can add drama and interest to your garden
• Sculpture don't have to be expensive you can use materials you find locally
• Interesting pots full of colourful foiliage, grasses veggies or herbs make a great statement
• Drainage is one thing you cant ignore plan it from the start of your garden.
• If you cant fix the drainage easily think about your plant choices.
• Acorus is a great little plant to add foliage colour to ponds or boggy spots.

Have you had your Christmas party yet? For the past couple of weeks we have been preparing a landscape for a Christmas party.  The weather has been fantastic for getting outside and getting work done. It seems that finally summer has come and with it some wonderful warmth. 

The Christmas party we have been preparing for was at a private home in Alfredton. The highlights for us were installing a large and heavy water feature and a large sculptural wall panel that the owners had bought in Indonesia and shipped home.

Guests at the Christmas party were greeted by a goddess sculpture overlooking Green goddess Arum lillies and tiger grass planted to handle wet feet.

The biggest challenges we faced were getting access to the backyard and drainage.

Access to the backyard was limited to a very narrow path accessed through a door at the back of the garage. Limited access meant we couldn't use a bobcat or a dingo. Instead we used a mini mobile crane, and lots of care. The two sculptural pieces look fabulous in their new home.

The other challenge we faced was drainage. Previously the gardens had been planted with dry tolerant plants. These had worked ok in some places because of the slight slope which allowed some drainage to occur. There were several areas around the house where small garden beds were fully surrounded by concrete and buildings. The heavy clay underneath the garden just did not allow rainfall to drain away easily. As a result many of the plants that had previously been planted were struggling and many were dead because they had drowned and their roots had just rotted out.

Interestingly when we were removing several of the plants that had been planted straight in the heavy clay in the backyard the holes we dug started filling with water. We looked around for a pipe that we had broken but it turned out to be only surface seepage.

The solution to a drainage problem can be quite involved. If you have time and motivation the best solution can be to install a series of drains under garden beds and lawn areas to drain the water away. If these drains are below the level of the stormwater pipes you may need to install a pump. Its best to consult a plumber or a landscaper for helpful advice with this.

Another really effective strategy is to raise the level of your garden bed which is what we did at the back. We mounded organic compost and planted straight into that and the new plants are loving it.

If you have a bed which is "concrete locked" and you cant drain under it, or raise the level of the soil then the next thing to do is change your planting scheme

One particular bed which was visible through a window at floor level in the lounge room. It needed something dramatic so we planted Acorus gramineus. This is a great little plant with long, narrow, slightly curved leaves that splay out into a mound. It comes from North Amerca and Asia and can grow around water ways in very wet soil or either fully or partially submerged.

Some other plants we used in similar very damp locations were Tulbaghia violacea or society garlic. It has a pale mauvy flower and is really drought hardy but interestingly it will also handle being grown partially submerged at the edge of a pond. Green Goddess arum lilles and Liriope were useful. To add some height we used Thysanolaena maxima or Tiger Grass. Although it's not a true bamboo it added a tropical feel.

Speaking of Christmas, have you organized all your shopping yet? If you need some tips to get something great for the gardener in your life then pop back here next week and we will give you some help. Meanwhile happy gardening and have fun.

At TOP hEDGE our Green Gardeners know all these and many more ways to make you a hero in the garden - So if she loves your garden but you never have enough time give us a call on 5330 1071 or email murray@ tophedge.com.au.

Spring to It

• Go for a ride this weekend and enjoy the spring gardens
• Ceanothus are large shrubs thatr cover themselves in blue flowers
• Echium Candicans have large blue purple or pink spectacular flower spikes
• Echium Cobalt tower is a really dramatic plant worth a look
• Dead head and pinch out flower spikes as they finish to encourage your plants to keep flowering
• Clean the BBQ and plant some tomatoes for the summer ahead.

Spring just keeps getting better and better. All that wonderful rain over winter and early spring has really pushed our gardens into full bloom. Roses round the region are bursting with buds and even some early flowers. Heaps of plants are flowering their heads off. This weekend pump up the tyres on your bike and ride around and enjoy spring. If you love beaut blue flowers keep an eye out for Ceanothus (California lilac) and one of my favourites, Echium. There are a couple of species including Echium candicans seen flowering up on Mt Buninyong. Another really showy one is Echium cobalt tower. Just make sure you have room for this one but it is spectacular.

As the show of spring flowers fades in your garden, give the plants a light tip prune. This is as simple as pinching out the new growing tip or cutting off the dead flowers with secateurs. This will encourage your plants to bush up and grow thicker. You can maintain them at a manageable size and they will flower even better next year.

By removing the growing tip, you also remove a plant hormone Auxin. This hormone encourages the shoot to grow up towards light and suppress all the dormant side or lateral buds, which are present where every leaf joins onto a stem. Removing Auxin lets these side shoots grow and where you had one shoot you will soon have 3 or 4 or more. Lots of plants flower at the growing tip so next year instead of one flower you will get 3 or 4 or more!

If you remove the flowers as they fade on many plants you will find they will come back with even more flowers Wisteria will do this as will the little native daisies like Brachyschome. Roses are a classic for this and there are heaps of others besides. Removing the dead flowers or dead heading removes the source of hormones that tells the plant to put its energy into making seeds. When you remove the old flowers the plant thinks, 'Gosh, now I have to make some more flowers so I can make seeds'...so it does! Nature really is wonderful!

Aphids suck! All the juicy new spring growth is a smorgasbord for them. Keep an eye out and deal with them. Squirt them with water if there's only a few or use a pyrethrum spray to kill them.

Other things to do at this time are:

• Get your patio and deck ready for the coming summer. Clean the cobwebs off the BBQ and plant any spare pots with petunias, or any other warm season flowering annuals you love. These love the heat and will be blooming furiously come the festive season if you help them along with a liquid feed every week or so
• You can repot indoor plants now and any tubs you have outside. If a plant has been in a container for more than two years the potting mix may need replacing or topping up.
• Jump on any weeds you see popping up. When the garden is bursting with colour it's easy to be distracted and many weeds are busy seeding at the moment and they reckon one year's seeds gives seven years of weeds!
• Deal with clover in your lawn now if you haven't already done so. Once it flowers (even if you mow it short) bees can cause problems for bare feet.
• Check your irrigation system is working and all drippers are working correctly. Check that the plants are being watered as they should. As plants grow their water needs change. If you need a hand call us at Top Hedge, our passion is gardening and we're happy to help.
• Prep the salad garden and start planting for a beaut supply of fresh greens for summer salads. While you are there stir up the herb garden as well. If you love mint it grows well in pots in saucers filled with water. This way you can have your mint and your garden too as mint tends to fill any space you give it.
• Get your tomatoes going now also. If you start them in pots the restricted space and nutrient availability forces them into flower early. Use a range of different size pots and they'll flower at different times. Plant them out and enjoy your harvest.

Do you love your garden but never have enough time to get your hands dirty? Give the 'garden gurus' at Top Hedge a call on 03 5330 1071 and our Ballarat landscapers we will help you restore your garden.  

Great Weather For a Garden Party 

TOP TIPS

• This sparkling spring weather is just perfect for a garden party.
• Tidy up your garden in small bites rather than let it get out of hand.
• It's time to get stuck into planting with magnificent moisture in the soil.
• Get outside and enjoy all the spring blossoms and you'll get some Vitamin D too.
• Flowering cherries are stunning trees in spring that add valuable shade in summer.
• Deciduous trees will reduce your energy costs and make your garden great for entertaining.
• Top Hedge can help with advanced trees.

Sparkling spring weather has greeted us most days this week. Sure it's been a little cool, almost frosty in places, but the days have been just brilliant. Take maximum advantage of the weather and get outside and organise a garden party. Cupcakes and cordial would be great for the kids with something a bit stronger for the big kids perhaps.

One garden we visited this week had the perfect spot for a garden party under a massive pink flowering cherry tree. This tree was planted by some wise gardeners possibly 30 or 40 years ago and the current owners and children are still enjoying the benefits today and will for years to come. Put planting a shade tree on your "must do list" this weekend.

Flowering cherries are not just beautiful from a distance with their spreading branches covered with pink frosting. This particular tree was a mature Kanzan grafted onto a 2m standard trunk. It was just stunning. Each flower was a naturally beautiful small work of art. They reckon each blossom consists of around 30 to 50 pink petals. I didn't bother to count them I was just in awe of the beauty of this tree.

Beneath the tree a pink carpet covered the lawn. The kids climbing gym and swing set was set beside the tree and they were having great fun playing in the petals, trying to catch them as they fell. In Japan the Cherry Blossom festival is a huge event as they believe that every petal that lands on their head is good luck.

The outstanding double pink flower of this tree has to be seen to be believed. Keep your eyes open around town as there are a few in local gardens. 

Once the flowers have finished the coppery bronze new foliage emerges, turning to a gorgeous green canopy which shades and cools the garden and house during the hot summer months which are around the corner.

Deciduous trees like a stunning cherry are the perfect way to provide cooling summer shade. They are better to look at than air conditioners or shade sails and way cheaper to operate with increasing energy costs. Just plant some deciduous trees along the north and west side of your house.

Trees planted on the western side of your house will shade the house and garden from summers scorching sun in the late afternoon. Trees on the northern side of the house will shade the interior rooms for much of the day as the sun tracks overhead.
 
These days most of us are looking for simple and practical things we can do to improve our environment. Well known English author Rumer Godden said, "A garden isn't meant to be useful. It's for joy." But clearly it can be both useful and joyous.   Planting a tree and improving our garden can have a powerful effect by reducing energy usage (and costs), reducing pollution and storing carbon. Through landscaping, gardening, planting and maintaining trees and green life in our gardens we can reduce energy usage and the consequential carbon and other chemical pollutants from power stations.

I reckon gardening is a really  positive and powerful thing to do. Research has shown that shade from trees can reduce indoor temperatures by around 6-12°C in summer. One single 8m tree strategically planted near a house to maximise wind breaking and shading effects can reduce your annual heating and cooling costs by as much as 12%. A good saving.

Trees and plants work like evaporative air conditioners. Hot air blowing through trees evaporates moisture from the leaves reducing the temperature and increasing oxygen levels. The shade also reduces the suns direct radiation on ground beneath trees. How good is that? All this from a shade tree that is also a fabulous feature in the garden, a great place for the kids to play, an important habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife and the best spot for a garden party, a BBQ to celebrate end of school, footy season or your win on the Caulfield Cup.

Right now in October is a fabulous time to plant because there's buckets of moisture in the soil. Trees, shrubs, annuals, veggies planted now will get into the damp soil and make great growth during spring.
 
Now before you get your tree have a think about the best spot to plant it for maximum effect of summer shade. Things to consider include how large will it grow, how dense is the canopy, does it grow in our conditions. Is it drought hardy, have sharp thorns, cause allergies, drop branches or rip up your drive? If you help or are looking for the best deal on an advanced tree or trees give us a call.

Are you a lover of your garden but cimply haven't the time to maintain it? Phone us at Top Hedge and benefit from the expertise of our experienced Ballarat gardening and landscaping experts. 

Hey Kids Here’s How to Get Movie Tickets

TOP TIPS

• Hey kids get your parents to get you movie tickets if you get out and do some weeding.
• Feed gardens and lawns now with organic fertiliser.
• Make sure you buy plants with healthy root systems before you plant them.
• Tidy up spring flowering shrubs and natives as flowers finish.
• Control pests and weeds which are on the move now. Use least harmful methods first.
• Selecting healthy plant stock and using proper planting procedures will avoid disappointment.

The second month of spring is upon us and daylight savings has given all a little extra time to get out and about in the garden. After the rain last week the sunshine has been pushing everything along.

Hey kids, this is the last weekend of the school holidays so Mum and Dad will be thinking it's a good chance to get the last help from the "free" labour. Play along with them and head out into the garden and help Mum or Dad with some weeding or cleaning up or mowing. There's always lots to do so it won't be hard to find a task to tackle. In exchange for your services you should be able to work on them to at least get you and your brother or sister tickets to a movie for your efforts. Let me know how you get on. You can text or email me via Top Hedge website.

One fun idea is to get your parents to buy you 3 terracotta pots 20 to 30cm diameter, some good potting mix and three punnets of seedlings of lettuce or other greens. Different colours make them interesting and leaf shapes too. Plant one punnet per pot and give them a liquid feed to get them growing. Make sure you pot them up, kids, so your parents will think you are really interested. That way you may be able to get tickets to two movies or bring a friend. You can water them with left over tea from the pot. In a week or so you will be able to start picking some leaves to put on your sandwiches for school. You should be able to win extra bonus points for that.

The other thing to do is get some lettuce seeds. Mix up the packets and sprinkle them on some moist soil in the veggie garden, around the tops of pots anywhere you have a bit of nice soil. The best thing is they are fresh and chemical free and if the you do it then tell your folks you might even be able to work on getting some money for popcorn at the movies.

Just a tip guys – weeds come on strong in October. The simplest most effective way is to pull them out. They steal water and nutrients from other plants in the garden, they look unsightly and harbour insect pests so get rid of them. Just make sure you know which ones are weeds and which are your Mums prized plants. Get an adult to help you use glyphosate on a paint brush to dab on hard to get or persistent weeds like couch and sorrel.

Once you control the weeds cover the soil either with close planting of your favourite shrubs or groundcover. This blocks the light and limits their germination. Your garden will look and grow better. You can also apply a thick layer of mulch to cover the area.

While your parents are still in shock that you are outside in the garden get Dad to give the lawn a break now too. If he lifts the mower so its 40mm or higher for fescue lawns. Cut it more often and leave the clippings to mulch in. This will feed your lawn and it will be healthier and stay green longer. This will make it softer and more fun to play on when your friends come over. Of course he could convert it to one of the warm season grasses like Santa Anna which are really soft to play on with bare feet in summer. We've had good success with these over the last few years.

Once your parents drop you at the movies get them to give the garden a good feed with a balanced organic fertiliser. Do it just before the rain so it can wash in. Healthy plants are better able to fight pests, disease and dry conditions. The reason they do this when you are out is because it pongs a bit and it's not so much fun to play outside with friends then.

Spring is planting time and the odd sprinkles of rain we've been having plus the cooler temperatures will give your plants a good start. Make sure you buy quality plants with a good root system. When you plant tease out the roots and cut any that are tending to grow around the pot.

Pot bound trees and shrubs do not grow well because the roots don't grow out to get water and nutrients. Pot bound roots do not form a good anchor for the tree to hold it against strong winds.

A real show stopper in gardens around town at the moment is the Mt Fuji Cherry. Its large white flowers make a fabulous display in gardens just as the Magnolias are finishing. There are some great specimens in the Sturt Street median strip on the Lydiard Street corner near "Robbie Burns". Keep your eye out for other examples. You will see them as standards, growing on taller bare trunks, which look just superb.

Japanese Cherries are a worthwhile investments if you are looking for a wonderful specimen tree for your lawn or a standard to pop into a corner of your garden.

When you are dealing with insect pests in your garden make sure you use the least harmful method so as not to kill the many beneficial insects that are working for us. Controlling ants around your plants will limit the spread of aphids and scale.

At Top Hedge our Ballarat landscaping geniuses know all this and mulch more ways to help your garden thrive in our conditions. If you love your garden but never have enough time give us a call on 5330 1071.

Purple Patch

TOP TIPS

• Aussie Mediterranean is a wonderful blend of plants for our climate.
• Lavender and catmint are both members of the aromatic mint family.
• Catmint is undervalued it smells great flowers fabulously and loves hot and dry in summer.
• Lavender is at home in almost every garden style.
• Lavender is dry tolerant – who says you can't have a great garden while saving water!!!!
• Lavenders come in a wide range of sizes from baby ones around 30cm up to almost 2m.
• They don’t need special care just lime and trimming to stop them getting woody.

Did you get wet this week? The thunderstorms on Wednesday were well timed to water gardens everywhere as well as all our dry tolerant nursery plants.

This week we're looking more at lavender. Now the weather bureau reckons it will be drier again for the next few months. It may be hot and dry again this summer but we'll just have to wait and see. Whether it's hot or mild wet or dry it doesn't matter because our gardens will cope.

Were you aware that around one third of all plant species in the world experience drought to varying degree each and every summer. Rains in autumn winter and spring are just what our new styles of gardens need.

Aussie-Mediterranean was a term coined by one of our innovative plant growers and suppliers Michael Warner. He came up with the concept to describe the new blended style of garden that evolved under the current climate. It is a beautiful natural blend of plants from these two areas Australia and the Mediterranean.

Aussie-Mediterranean combines a blend of Australian natives like Brachycome, Kangaroo paw, Thryptomene, Dianellas and Lomandra, Chrysocepahlum, Banksias Grevilleas and more with the many popular Mediterranean type plants such as olives, rosemary, lavender, Santolina and heaps more. It's a great mix. I love it because it contains one of my all time favourites - lavender. And what would spring be without lovely lavender!

I love lavender. The purple shades work so well with almost every colour scheme. Lavender works in all sorts of garden styles too and of all the flowers in our gardens it keeps its wonderful scent the longest except of course for roses.

Lavenders are so versatile. They make great hedges, trimmed as balls in contemporary gardens, used in cottage gardens, in tubs, under roses and of course in Mediterranean gardens. Back before clothes driers people used to hang drape their sheets over large lavender shrubs to dry. They would end up smelling beaut. Use one of the larger growers such as Lavendula x allardii for this.

There's more than 30 species of lavender but they fall into, 3 main groups.

• French lavender (Lavendula dentata) is soft and pretty and easily recognised by its leaves, which are long and thin with fine teeth running the full length of the leaf.
• English lavender (Lavendula angustifolia), is sometimes called true lavender. It has more long flowers on upright stems.
• Italian lavender (Lavendula stoechas) The flower heads are short, rounded and furry with 4 little bracts on top. They can be weedy so use with care. If you notice them popping up uninvited and you live near bushland think about getting rid of them and replacing with their better behaved cousins.

Santolina or Cotton Lavender is a lovely plant but don't be fooled by the name, it's not lavender but a herb in the daisy family. Its grey foliage and yellow flowers work really well with Phormium tricolour.

Now if you love purple in the garden you will love catmint too. They are both tough and hardy and love the heat and dry of summer after a bit of rain over winter spring.

Like lavender, catmint is another member of the aromatic mint family which includes all your favourite herbs like thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, and mints. They hail mostly from chalky hillsides around the Mediterranean so they like slightly alkaline soils. A bit of lime or old concrete around them will be good.

Nepeta, or catmint, is a really useful hardy perennial that you can use as a substitute for lavender or as a compliment with it. I reckon catmint doesn't really get the respect it deserves in the garden. You can find it in shades of vibrant bluish purple as well as soft pinks and whites.

The grey foliage is really lovely and fragrant and provides a wonderful contrast for other colours. The funny thing is cats aren't really fussed with it so if you are a dog lover don't let the name put you off. However bees really love it.

The main flowering period of catmint is in spring and early summer. Once flowering has finished cut the whole plant back hard it will grow back and rebloom.

It's fun to put leaves and flowers of these smelly plants in your outgoing mail. It gives people a perfume pulse when they open your letter, so give it a go. And if you know someone interested in a garden career get them to send me a letter.

At TOP hEDGE our Professional Horticulturists know all this and mulch more ways to make you garden thrive in our conditions, give us a call on 5330 1071.

Spring 

TOP TIPS

• Enjoy spring it's a magic time in the garden.
• If you are getting back into gardening after a break, start slow and build up.
• Smother weeds with a blenket of mulch and deal with what comes through.
• Weedmat will make weeding more difficult.
• Spray problem areas with glyphosaate to get them under control.
• Use a frog-friendly spray.
• Fiddle with the colour of your hydrangeas for holiday fun.

Spring has finally arrived after our long cold winter. Get out in the garden this weekend and spoil dad for Father's Day by giving him a hand with some of the jobs on his long list. Spring is a wonderful time to get out in the garden because you can feel the massive energy that abounds and the air is filled with sweet smells and new growth is everywhere.

This time last year our August rainfall was breaking records. This year it's been just right and gardens are looking splendid. 

Remember to spoil dad this Sunday because it's Father's Day. If you are still looking for ideas for gifts why not get him a pair of gumboots or a big umbrella he can use in the garden. Now the weather systems have swung back to what they used to be he should get lots of use from them.

Last weekend I noticed lots of people out mowing their lawn and tidying up after winter. If your mower has been sitting in the shed all winter this weekend would be a great time to drop it off to my mates at Henderson's so they can check the spark plug and give it a service and maybe new blades before the spring rush.

The most important thing is to lift your mower height up and keep it up this year. You will have a better lawn for it. Lifting your mower doesn't mean you mow less often. You mow as often as you did previously so your lawn still looks tidy.

Before you are tempted to just run outside and get stuck into the garden, stop and consider your body. Recently I have been having fun with my calf muscles from running and I have come to really appreciate the enormous value of stretching and warming up. If you have been taking it easy during the cooler damp months then take it easy at first.

Gardening is great exercise and it's just so much fun to get out and clear out the cobwebs – just start slowly and build up. Since the drought broke, hospital emergency departments have reported a large increase in the number of soft tissue injuries resulting from the increase in gardening. It's always a good idea to do some stretches first to warm up muscles, tendons and joints. Do any jobs such as digging in short spells. If you need a hand ask friends or family. Hopefully they will be happy to help especially if there is a cuppa with a scone with jam and cream at the end.

Remember to switch jobs frequently so you use different muscle groups. And remember whatever you are doing make sure you enjoy it. It's around this time every year many people emerge into their gardens to find the little weeds that were starting to grow in June are now big and threatening to take over the garden bed or lawn. We have a whole bunch of weed strategies. One idea is to smother them with a thick layer of mulch. Then just deal with what comes through. Take care not to damage any plants growing in the bed.

Even if you have weedmat underneath areas of mulch you will still get weeds growing. Weeds will grow anywhere there is moisture and weed seeds have collected. If you haven't used weed material under your gravel or mulch then don't bother.  Weed mat stops water getting through to the soil. Thick paper is a better idea as this rots down over time.

If weeds are small you can spray them with vinegar. If they are bigger you may need to use a glyphosate herbicide to get them under control first then use vinegar. Make sure to use a brand that is "Frog Friendly". Whenever you spray, pick a day with little or no wind to avoid any chance of spray drifting onto areas you don't want to spray. Glyphosate is only absorbed through a plant's leaves. When the weather is cold it only works slowly because the plant's sap system is only working slowly. As the weather warms it does work faster as the sap of the plant rises. Some people have success with boiling water and we find vinegar useful in certain situations.

Over in the veggie garden get organised and sow cabbage, carrots, silverbeet, spinach, capsicum, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, lettuce and zucchini. Check out Ditchy's veggie guide also from The Courier this week.

Need a bit of help to sort out your garden now that spring is here? Phone the professional Ballarat landscapers at Top Hedge on 03 5330 1071 or email us.

TOP TIPS

• Prune your roses and feed them.
• Plant any bare rooted trees, shrubs and roses now before roots develop.
• Get rid of weeds and mulch garden beds.
• Open up your soil so rain can soak down deep.
• Prune and fertilise citrus.
• Fertilise all your flowering plants and give your lawn a light feed so the rain can wash it in.
• Tidy up your veggie patch ready for planting.
• Apply liquid fertiliser weekly to salad greens for best results.

Congratulations to Neil Goad Automotive (the winner of the Trade Business Award) and all the other winners in the CGU Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards. It was wonderful to see all the brilliant Ballarat businesses on show at the awards night. Well done everyone!

Although we didn't win we were so grateful to be nominated and then selected as a finalist. It was such a thrill for all the guys in the Top Hedge Team to get so far. As Rob Cormick our senior horticulturist at Top Hedge, who's one of Ballarat's most experienced professional gardeners, said to me this week, "The satisfaction of being able to do our job well is our reward". Thank you all so very much. We are happy to serve and to help gardeners and clients with their landscapes.

In our work we work with plant communities. Amongst the plant community there's heaps of wonderful stories but one particularly comes to mind about Mychorrizal fungi. Just as there are good bacteria, there are also good fungi. What Mychorrizal fungi do is send their mycelium which is kind of like roots into the roots of certain plants.

The plants are limited in the reach of their roots so they are limited to the nutrients in the soil directly around them. These Mychorrizal fungi grow underground large distances collecting nutrients over a wide area and bringing them back to the plants which they swap for sugars the plants make with their leaves by photosynthesis. It's a win-win for both plants and fungi.

At Top Hedge we are a bit like Mychorrizal fungi bringing knowledge, talents, skills and solutions to benefit garden owners and landscape clients. We especially wish to thank all our clients past present and future for their help in sustaining our business. Thanks too to all our suppliers both of goods and services who have assisted and encouraged us over the years. Specials thanks to the team at The Courier who have edited and worked with us to grow this column from those first days more than eight (8) years ago when it was just five dot points about growing azaleas.

It's only fitting that the lead up to the CGU Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards has been a week of glorious sunshine. Spring is on the way there's lots to get done and we also have to start getting gardens organised for Christmas.

One of my favourite plants for Christmas is agapanthus. The reason is simple. Most of us who work take a break over the Christmas – New Year period. The one flower we can always guarantee to be flowering for that week is agapanthus. If you plant a bunch around the areas where you entertain and relax at Christmas you will be guaranteed big showy colourful blooms. We currently have a stack available in our landscape plants centre so if you would like to get started organising your show of agapanthus for Christmas give us a call or email us.

I reckon we are in for a bumper spring especially after all this rain. Everything in the garden and the region is looking marvellous. Once the ground dries a little more and the sun warms, gardens will be looking stunning. So let's get going.

There's a lot to do to get ready for spring so let's go. Firstly if you haven't already done so then feed your roses. Use a good quality slow release organic fertiliser. Blood and bone is great. You will also need to add a couple of handfuls of potash (potassium sulphate) so they have what they need to produce abundant blooms. It also seems to make them more resistant to aphids and diseases. You will also need to add a few handfuls of Epsom salts to give them a hit of magnesium that they require for healthy green leaves.

If it's been too cold to prune your roses, don't worry, you still have time. The cold weather will be back they say and we may get more frosts so late pruning may actually be better this year. Do not prune Banksia roses at this time, just wait till they have finished blooming on spring.

This week we have been planting bare root trees and roses. If you still some to plant get them in this weekend. If you have any plants in pots with firm root balls they can still go in as the roots are far less likely to be damaged.

Bare root plants are another matter though. As the new roots emerge they are very tender and easily broken. If you can't get them planted just pot them up and wait until October to plant them.

Another important task is to relocate any trees and shrubs that you intend to move. They will settle in better if you give them a big drink of seaweed. Tip prune any shrubs that have flowered over winter. This will make them bushier and you will be rewarded with more flowers next season.

The soil is now so soft from the rain that digging is very easy. If you are planning to plant new hedges or areas of garden beds, dig them over deeply and incorporate organic materials like well-rotted manure to help condition the soil. The rains will wash it in and your new plantings will thrive.

Mulch all bare areas of soil to stop weeds germinating. Use any organic material you can find. Pea straw is my favourite as well as bark mulch but compost and euchy-mulch is great too. Keep it well away from trunks because it will rot them with all this moisture.

At Top Hedge our horticulturists and landscaper know all this and mulch more. If you love your garden but never have enough time, give us a call on 5330 1071 for Ballarat landscaping design or general gardening and garden maintenance.

Fertiliser to Burn

TOP TIPS

• Wood fires keep us warm and the ash has many uses in the garden.
• Use the charcoal to restart your next fire.
• Make orchid mix using large charcoal and pine bark.
• Wood ash barrier around garden beds will deter slimey snails.
• Wood ash also deters pear and cherry slug  – just keep it dry until December.
• Wood ash makes a great fertiliser.
• It is high in potash (up to 6%), lime (30%)  and phosphorus (up to 2%).
• Use it sparingly as you would lime and check your soil pH regularly.

How great was the weather this week? We felt a real touch of spring. I am looking forward to warmer weather but I haven’t packed up the wood fire just yet. Remember in the Goldfields region we usually get a late cold snap. That’s why we restocked the woodpile just in case. Wood fires are great. Not only do they keep you warm, give you great exercise chopping carrying and stacking wood but you also get loads of free fertiliser and organic pesticides by using the wood ash.

Wood ash is great for the garden. Let it cool down for a day or so before you stick it on the garden. Give it a quick sieve to remove any big lumps of charcoal. Safeguard your health with a dust mask.

To get the best ash for your garden consider what you burn in your fire. The odd cigarette butt or piece of plastic can contaminate your ash.

Keep your wood ash in a dry container with a lid. Put charcoal back into the fire to help kick start it. You could also save it and use it for summer barbecues, rather than using some of the commercial products.

Before you throw it on the garden always check to make sure all is ok by testing it on a small patch before you apply it to your entire garden.

With all the rain we have been having snails are starting to get organized. Before they attack, sprinkle the ash around the border of garden beds to repel slugs and snails. The trick is you need to reapply this barrier to stop slugs and snails. You will need to reapply the ash after rain.

Years and years ago when I was a kid my uncle would use charcoal to pot up his orchids. Mix the larger lumps of charcoal with coarse pine bark to make a mix for potting orchids. It drains well and the charcoal stores nutrients from the liquid fertiliser.

The best use of wood ash however is as a fertiliser. When the wood burns in a fire all the volatile materials and carbon burn away and the ash that is left is made up of all the mineral particles that were absorbed by the plant while it was alive. Wood ash usually has fairly high lime content. But it can vary depending whether you burn softwood or hardwood. Hardwood ash that is dry and hasn’t been leached can contain up to 30% lime,6% potash, and 2% phosphorus.

Wood ash will also contain varying amounts of other life giving nutrients including magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, boron, and copper. That’s why it’s good as a natural fertiliser.

Be aware that all of these elements will be affected by leaching from rain so you will need to apply small amounts on a regular basis to counter the effect of rain or irrigation. This is the same with any fertiliser. 

You can also use wood ash as a bit of a soil conditioner, a bit like lime. Just test an area first. Make sure you mix through lots of well-rotted compost and manures to even out the mix. It can be really good for acid soils because the lime gives the ash a high pH but just use it sparingly and test it often. Keep your ash dry and apply a little on a regular basis so there is always some available for the plants.

You can sprinkle a small amount into your compost heap. Don’t add too much because it may slow or stop the decomposition.

I know roses in particular like it as well as anything else that needs to be fed well. A friend of mine used to put a handful in the hole every time he planted a tomato and he enjoyed great success. Just make sure you check the pH of your soil before you apply it. If you have neutral or limey soils already, adding more calcium or lime won’t be a good idea. Black charcoal on the other hand is different because it is mostly all carbon so if you crush it up you can use this more liberally.

Remember to keep some wood ash to sprinkle around cherry trees to deter pear and cherry slug when they appear in December. If you would like a fact sheet on cherry slugs drop us a line via email.

We were thrilled this week to be selected as a finalist in the CGU Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards. Thanks everyone for your support.

Remember to give our garden gurus a call if you love your garden but never have enough time. Phone Top Hedge on 5330 1071.

Pruning Bears Fruit

TOP TIPS

• Fruit trees and vines can be pruned anytime.
• Hard prune newly planted apple and pear trees to about six buds
• Thin fruiting spurs on older trees to around 10cm apart.
• Small gardens can enjoy fruit trees, just shape them to size.
• In larger gardens you can achieve traditional vase shape trees
• Remember the more horizontal the branch, the more fruit you’ll get!

Well this week we've had some great spray days. Wasn't it great to see the sunshine and blue sky?

While we are all in the pruning mood from last week let's keep going and get stuck into the fruit trees. It will help them provide us with more yummy treats for us to eat. If you don't have fruit trees. head down to your local nursery and plant some. As soon as you plant them start to train them. Sit, stay, grow!

You can still have fruit trees, even if you have a small garden. Small gardens are great! Just espalier young trees against a fence or wall. Espalier is French for a trellis on which trees are trained to grow flat. They look good and provide fruit as a bonus. Just tip prune them and tie the branches into line during summer.

Small gardeners can also train their trees as pyramids. Prune to a single stem and branches that radiate outwards so they look like Christmas trees.

The purpose of training your fruit tree is to open up the centre to allow light to penetrate. An orchardist once explained this very simply, saying fruit trees harvest light. Light is what drives photosynthesis. We all learnt this back in primary school but we tend to forget. Plants leaves convert energy from the sun into leaves and stems, flowers and fruit. I reckon that's really cool.

Great thing is your trees will remain fairly small once they are trained. When you tie the branches out horizontally, it changes the hormones in the branch and they virtually stop growing. You just get the fruit spurs bearing fruit each year. Keep the fruit spurs trimmed to one or two buds and about 10cm spacing between spurs. In November cut back new vertical growing shoots to two or three buds from the main branch

Have you ever wondered why we do most fruit tree pruning in winter? It's because they have no leaves and we can see what we are doing. You can prune most fruit trees and vines any time really. 

My theory is pruning was invented after a gardener saw a goat chewing a fruit tree then later found bigger, better and bigger fruit. One thing is for sure, even though gardeners have done pruning for thousands of years, many people are still unsure. 

Unpruned fruit trees and bushes have heaps of fruit but it's too small and pretty tasteless. Pruned trees have bigger and better fruit. Pruning let's in more sunlight so fruit ripens better. It also improved air circulation by getting rid of dead, diseased and badly placed branches, helping control pests and diseases. 

Apples and pears definitely seem to be the most popular in our gardens and they are both similar in how they grow and bear fruit. If you have just planted some trees that you bought this year, then prune them now. Cut them back hard to about six buds. The idea is to get them fruiting while they are small to slow down excessive growth.  

This spring and summer you'll get new shoots. The second year the buds on these shoots will turn into short, pointed 'spurs'. After the third growing season these spurs will bear fruit and continue for many years. 

With time these fruit spurs grow gnarlier, twisted and overcrowded, especially pears. It's easier to see these in winter so prune them now. Thin out overcrowded spurs so you have at least 10cm between them. Cut unwanted spurs off flush with the branch. Reduce gnarly old spurs you plan to keep so they have just one or two claws. If you have an old neglected tree it may take a while but you'll be rewarded for your effort.

If you have a large vegie garden area, try espaliering fruit trees around the boundary and even to define paths. They look fabulous. In England they grow what they call "stepovers" which are espaliered fruit trees grown with just one branch trained horizontally each side that you can - step over! It's a great way to increase the use of your space.

If you have a larger garden you can let your apple and pear trees grow a bit larger. The more horizontal a branch grows the more flowers and fruit it has (same is true for climbing roses!). So don't cut off all those long upright branches, just get them to grow outwards. Either tie them down with long strings or tie weights to the ends so they bend down over a season. 

Young whippy shoots can be tied down or pruned to three buds anytime. Big old branches are best removed in late spring but it's easier in winter. Remove any that drag on the ground. Remove any large upward growing branches in the middle of trees, which block sunlight and airflow. Eventually you end up with an open vase shape. Get rid of all debris and you're done.

Top Hedge Horticulturists and Green Gardeners know all this and mulch more to make your garden thrive in our conditions, so if you love your garden but never have enough time give us a call on 5330 1071 or email.

Winter Pruning

TOP TIPS

• Use clean sharp secateurs when planning 
• Do some research and homework before you tackle any pruning job so you know you are doing the right thing to the right plant at the right time.
• Deciduous shrubs that flower on last years wood shouldn’t be pruned now as you will remove the flowers.
• Shrubs that flower on this seasons wood can be pruned now and on into spring
• Be careful not to prune to hard on shrubs that don like it.  Lavender and wattle for example wont respond if pruned into old wood, but Grevilleas will.

At Top Hedge these last few weeks we have been planning and preparing for future expansion. We have been getting ready for spring. With the cold grey days of winter sometimes it would be easier to sit in front of the fire and put it off but someone once told me never settle for the path of least resistance. 

Winter has really settled in again this week with real cold and persistent drizzle but push on because there's a lot to do before spring blooms on us. Lots of gardeners reach for their secateurs at this time of year. Please, please, please make sure you clean them well, sharpen them and oil them. Yes it is rose pruning time but it is also the time of year many gardeners like to take care of other pruning jobs.

Many people approach pruning with trepidation and even fear. The good news is it's not as difficult as it may seem. The main thing with pruning is to do your homework first so you know what you are pruning and how it should be pruned. A point to make early is that not all shrubs need to be pruned such as witch hazel, and some other shrubs should not be pruned at this time of year.

There are several reasons we prune plants. It may be to maintain or reduce their size, rejuvenate their growth, promote flowers or fruit, or to remove diseased, dead or damaged branches. The pruning needs of deciduous and evergreen shrubs differ. Amongst the deciduous shrubs there are three main groups whose pruning needs differ based on how they flower.

These groups are :-

• Those that flower in the spring on wood produced last year
• Those that flower later in the year on current season's growth
• Those that may produce flowers, but those flowers are of little ornamental value

The main thing to remember is shrubs that flower in the spring should not be pruned until immediately after flowering. Although pruning earlier won't hurt the plant, you lose this year's flowers. This is true for weigelas, forsythia, lilac and mock orange among others.

Shrubs that bloom on the current season's growth or that do not produce ornamental flowers are best pruned now into early spring. Roses are a great example but theres other shrubs such as Rose-of-Sharon, pyracantha and spirea. By encouraging more new season growth you actually promote increased numbers of blooms.

When it comes to pruning there are three basic methods – thinning, heading back and rejuvenating.

Thinning is used to thin out branches that are too dense. Remove most of the inward growing stems by either cutting them back to a larger branch or cutting them back to just above an outward facing bud. On multi-stemmed shrubs just remove the oldest canes completely.

Heading back is done by removing the end of a branch by cutting it back to a bud. Use this when you need to reduce the height of a shrub or keep it compact. Don't cut all the branches back to the same height because it may end up looking like witches-broom.

The most severe type of pruning is rejuvenation and it can be used on multi-stem shrubs that have grown too big and have just too many old branches to warrant saving the younger canes. Cut back all stems to around 10cm long stubs. It's not recommended for all shrubs but it does work well for spirea, forsythia, pyracantha, flowering quince and some shrub roses. For roses don't cut them below the graft.

While you are pruning, check your lemon tree and get rid of any stems that have large swellings. These are citrus gall wasps. Do it before August to stop the new generation.

Top Hedge horticulturists and landscapers know all this plus mulch more ways to make your garden thrive in our conditions. If you love your garden but never have enough time, give the Ballarat landscapers at Top Hedge on 5330 1071 or email us.

Grow Garlic to Beat the Winter Blues

TOP TIPS

• Garlic is an antiseptic, an antibiotic and boosts the immune system.
• Tutankhamen used garlic way back in 1500BC.
• Plant early season onions now as they will grow biggest.
• Good soil preparation is the key - lots of lime and no nitrogen rich fertilisers.
• Make sure the drainage is good.
• Seed sown direct will shoot in 2 weeks or so depending on temperatures.

If you had a choice, would you rather kiss someone with a hint of garlic on their breath or someone sniffling and dribbling from a cold? Ask this question around your work and see if you get as interesting response as I did.

It seems everywhere I have been this week someone has been sick with a cold. It has been wet and very cold for a good while now. It's been great weather for staying inside making those yummy winter soups and stews packed full of onions and garlic.  My son, le chef, reckons I overdo the garlic when I cook but why not, I love the taste and generally speaking, I find most winter bugs tend to avoid me. 

I reckon onions and garlic are the secret to staying healthy in winter. Science has continued research into garlic and its healing powers which have been known since Tutankhamen was a lad.  He loved it so much he was buried with some in his tomb 1500BC.  

Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful broad spectrum natural antibiotic which apparently the bugs don't build resistance to. A compound, Allicin, is produced when garlic is crushed or finely chopped and exposed to air. This compound is broken down by cooking so to get the benefits it's best eaten raw. A word of caution though, some people are allergic to garlic so check with your doctor before taking any medications.

The cool thing is that Allicin is a compound that contains sulphur. As gardeners, we have been using garlic in sprays to combat fungus and insects for ages. Sulphur is the active ingredient in many shop bought fungicide sprays. Looks like it's the sulphur compounds in gardlic spray that does the job on the fungus. Interesting eh!

Recent research has shown that garlic is also an antiseptic and it boosts the immune system. It's full of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and, of course, sulphur.  Oh and if you are worried about your breath just chew parsley to fix it. Grow a pile of parsley amongst your onions and you'll be set

There are around 700 Allium species (onions) which are all characterised by an "oniony" smell. Of all the onion family garlic is the best because of that sulphur. Only some are edible including such wonderful gourmet delights as onions. garlic, shallots, spring onions and leeks. Amongst these are lots of different shapes, colours and degree of onion flavour.

Onions are a great winter crop in home garden. There are early, mid season and late maturing types (this means when they should be planted.) Plant in this sequence to avoid them bolting up to seed. The earlier sown varieties are generally bigger because they have more time in the ground. Garlic, leeks and others can be planted now too.

Many are ornamental with beautiful brightly coloured flowers. There is a bunch, which are problem weeds such as wood garlic and the three-cornered garlic or onion weed (Allium triquetrum) which is a real pest in our region. These can take over if they like the conditions in your garden. Good news is you can eat onion weed. Use it like chives only sparingly, as it's slightly bitter.

Good bed preparation is essential. A finely tilled soil with no weeds is best. Remember to lime your soil well a week or two before planting because onions love a sweet soil. Just don't add nitrogen rich fertiliser as they will grow lots of leaves on top and only small weak and soft onions. If you did last season great, but no new stuff!

Make sure the drainage is good, especially in this weather. If it's not then you will have to raise the bed up. Sow the seed direct where they are to grow, in a shallow furrow and lightly cover with compost or sand.  

Seedlings will pop up in around 2 weeks. If it's colder they'll take longer. If you sow them extra thickly you can use the ones you thin out to flavour some mashed spuds. Make successive sowings ever 4-6 weeks and you'll have a steady supply for your kitchen. Grow them in pots and troughs on balconies and patios.

Garlic will grow from single bulbs planted now. 

The onion family all do best in a sunny open spot which is weed free, so keep weeding up during the season or mulch. It's best to hand weed around onions to avoid disturbing their roots and bulbs.

Because of their strong taste, pests generally leave onions alone but you may find rust can be a problem if it's humid.  If you space your lines of onion seeds widely you can plant rows of carrots later and they will have less disease problems.

Happy Gardening!

Do you love your garden but struggle to make enough time? Give the "garden gurus" at Top Hedge a call for help with gardening and landscaping Ballarat on 5330 1071 or email us.