Gardens

Five gifts from the garden for Mothers Day

By Michael Smit in Gardens, Living on 8 May 2013

mothers-day-600x240pxWe want to thank the Mums this weekend for all their hard work with some gardening gift ideas. Breakfast Our daughter makes this breakfast on Mother’s Day and it never fails. Not gardening related? Think again! You’ll need your herb garden for this one.

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8
MAY
2013

Gardening in the Desert

By Michael Smit in Gardens on 22 February 2013

Sturt's Desert PeaIt’s 40 degrees in Alice Springs with bright blue skies. It is raining in parts of  northern Australia  but Alice doesn’t get rain every year and with high temperatures and low humidity anything damp is oven baked pretty fast. Clothes dry on the line in the time it takes to have a meal. How do you garden in the desert? I was wondering how plants survive at all but there are

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22
FEB
2013

Christmas Gardening

By Michael Smit in Gardens, Living on 20 December 2012

christmas-garden-harvestChristmas is almost here, a time of giving and receiving, a time of spirit and for most of us a time of coming together and sharing. All of these themes come to life, it seems to me, in a community garden. Community gardens are used by volunteer groups in the community with permission from the owners

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20
DEC
2012

Melbourne moves to Permanent Water Use Rules

By Michael Smit in Gardens, Videos on 6 December 2012

Garden WateringMelbourne and many parts of Victoria have now moved to Permanent Water Use Rules across the State. It is hard to get good talent these days but we do have a simple video that makes the rules easy to understand, and a nice shot of a fountain.

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6
DEC
2012

Summer Gardening

By Michael Smit in Gardens on 28 November 2012

Child in raingardenSummer takes us outside into the elements, hot sunshine, the first swim and the busiest time for the garden. The vegetable garden has mostly realised the potential of Spring, fruit trees are weighed down, the lawn needs mowing and water has become precious again.

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28
NOV
2012

Awake thou wintry earth

By Michael Smit in Gardens on 19 October 2012

Rainbow-Chard600x240pxAwake, thou wintry earth – Fling off thy sadness! Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth Your ancient gladness! ~Thomas Blackburn, “An Easter Hymn” I travelled in Tasmania and Melbourne last week and saw the magic combination of a wet winter and warm days arriving. Blossom and color filled the air, peacocks sunned

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19
OCT
2012

Plant Favourite – Lavender

By Michael Smit in Gardens on 20 September 2012

Plant favourite - Lavendula dentataLavendual dentata or ‘French Lavender’ is a spreading shrub to 1m tall and 1.5m wide. Its leaves are dark green, straight, and about 4cm long. Its flowers are fragranced, purple in colour, and are borne on spikes which are produced in mid and late summer. So if you plant it now you should have flowers in February/March.

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20
SEP
2012

Blast your way (efficiently) and WIN with Garden Fury

By Cail Rayment in Gardens, Living on 3 September 2012

GardenFury_featThe savewater!® Games Arcade has just added its newest and most action-packed game just in time for Spring. Grab your water-efficient trigger nozzle and take aim at ‘GARDEN FURY‘.

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3
SEP
2012

Using the rain to keep a raingarden

By Luke Gibbons in Gardens, Living, Videos on 14 May 2012

A raingarden built by the side of the road.With all of this rain falling from the sky, wouldn’t it be a great idea to harness what nature is providing us for the garden rather than relying on drinking water?

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14
MAY
2012

Rainwater Tanks – a few things to consider

By Luke Gibbons in Gardens, Living, Videos on 30 April 2012

Rainwater TankAs many reservoirs around Australia continue to fill, and with many government water rebate programs drawing to a close (except in Victoria) fewer rainwater tanks are being installed. But should it actually be the other way around? It is better to install a tank when water is still plentiful, rather than waiting for the weather to dry out.

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30
APR
2012