Boxing Day on the radio

Feature interview:Habitat network member and IEWF (international weeds foundation ceo) Bev Debrincat talks about bring back small birds to your garden. Plant small prickly bushes closely, like Acacia ulignosa, Grevillea sericea, dianella spp, and Geranium homeanum.
Fantastic Fruit:
Strawberries.
Garden Design Elements:
Blacony gardens that face south.
Plant of the Week:
Corymbia "Summer Red."

What is this thing called Permaculture?

Sydney Garden Talk, Saturdays 12noon-1pm. 2RRR 88.5 fm
Today's feature interview was with Rosemary Hadaway, Permaculture Sydney North's coordinatore for the Ryde local group.
There are several main elements to Permaculture that makes it different from an organic or sustainable gardenening.
1. Have veggies and herbs, compost bin and worm farm near the back door. This is called Zone 1.
2.Have a water element near you veggie bed. It can be a 30cm bowl to add humidity, attract dragon flies and other beneficials to your veggie garden.
3.Grow perennial herbs like bush basil to support your tomato plants.
4. The next zone contains the fruit trees, further away from the house.
To find out more, join a local permaculture group http://www.permaculturenorth.org.au/
Ryde Rosemary Hadaway 9809 1253 ryde_coord@permaculturenorht.org.au

Plant of the week: NSW Christmas Bush

Asthma gardens

Saturday 12noon-1pm. SYDNEY GARDEN TALK 2RRR 88.5 FM
Feature interview with Michael McNaught, horticultural liasion officer at Eden Gardens.
What changes can you make to an existing garden? See asthma website below.
Spray your living christmas tree with DroughtMaster, an acrylic polymer which fixes any mould spores, before you bring the tree into your home.
http://www.edengardens.com.au/
To visit the asthma display garden go to Eden Gardens Cnr Lane Cove and Fontenoy roads, North Ryde, Ph (02) 9491 9900
For further information about asthma free gardening go to http://www.asthmansw.org.au/ or ring 1800 645 130

Vegetable Hero: Cucumis sativus or Cucumbers.
Cucumbers aren’t picky about soils. As long as your soil is well-draining and has a pH of around 6.5. Add in plenty of organic compost so that they have the proper nutrients to grow strong and healthy. To make sure your garden bed has the proper drainage you can build the soil into mounds (like mini volcanoes) that are about a ruler length and a bit, apart Wet the soil first and then sow 4 -5 seeds into the top of each mound. Make sure the mounds don’t dry out, especially during hot weather so add some sugar cane or tea tree mulch. Of course if you’re watering too much and wondering why nothing is germinating, that’s because the seed has rotted away. When your seeds have germinated, pick out the strongest couple and throw away the other couple so you don’t get overcrowding.

Water regularly at the base of each plant – keeping leaves dry will reduce the risk of powdery mildew disease – and feed every couple of weeks with a soluble plant food.
 Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that is spread by spores carried by the wind. Look for white to gray fungal deposits on the leaves and stems of your cucumbers. As the mildew spreads, the leaves may begin to drop off. There are varieties of cucumbers available that are resistant to this disease. You can also try a natural fungicide. 1 part whole milk to 10 parts water. Make up into a spray bottle and spray directly onto the leaves.

PLANT OF THE WEEK:

HYDRANGEA:

Pictured: Hydrangea "Ayesha" features cupped petals.

Where they grow best?

There is nothing difficult in growing hydrangeas.

The natural habitat of hydrangeas is a woodland setting. This means dappled shade. Morning sun is good –southerly or easterly aspect, or in the shade of tall trees, but not afternoon sun because the flowers will deteriorate (scorched and bleached looking) much quicker if they receive hot afternoon sun.

Hydrangeas are hardy and can take some frost as they lose their leaves in winter anyway.

Mulch well with compost and some form of animal manure. Feed heavily in spring.

WINNER OF PLANT OF THE WEEK: Ann from East Ryde, wins a Hydrangea "Endless Summer"-a repeat flowering Hydrangea. for ringing in with a gardening question on how to get rid of white fly.
Use Natra Soap a concentrate available from Yates.
Spray needs to make direct contact with the pest.
 
WHAT'S ON
Sunday 20 December. Carols spectacular at North Ryde Common in support of local Rotary clubs. Festivities start at 5pm at suburban Sydney’s biggest and best carols show. Admission is free. Food stalls and drinks plus rides for the children. School choirs and well-known artists will be on stage singing some of your favourite carols. Spectacular Fireworks Finale at 9.30pm.

Monday 21 December Botanical Christmas Craft - Kids’ Activity at Royal Botanic Gardens. Make special Christmas decorations and wreaths from plant materials. When: Mon 21 Dec, 2 sessions daily: 10.30 am-12 noon & 1-2.30 pm
Where: Community Education via Woolloomooloo Gate
Cost: $15, Friends $13.50
Enquiries: 9231 8134

Green Christmas ideas: Christmas is a great opportunity to give gifts to the people we care about. However, we need to be mindful of making sure the gifts we give are more sustainable.
Consider giving someone a voucher for a service this Christmas. Services use fewer resources than manufactured goods but still contribute to the economy! Ideas include:

1.  Dinner at a café or restaurant
2.  Subsription to "Friends of the Botanic Gardens." http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/
3. Tickets to a theatrical performance, concert, movie.
4.  A cooking class, gardening course from Eden Gardens, photography or other course…
5. Lawnmowing or general gardening service.

For more sustainable Christmas ideas visit the CSIRO website:
http://www.csiro.au/science/Sustainable-Christmas.html

Community Gardening

Sydney Garden Talk Saturdays 12noon-1pm 2RRR 88.5 FM

PLANT GIVEAWAY-Begonia fuchsioides "Red Cascade." Gorgeous plant to suit full, sun or semi shade. Drought hardy, with bright red fuchsia style flowers. Suit pots, hanging baskets or front of garden beds. Grows to 50 cm.

All you have to do is write in with a gardening question. sydneygardentalk@gmail.com

Today's show featured Mark Hall, president of Macquarie University Community Garden Club corner of Culloden and Talavera roads, Marsfield. A 3,000 square metre site of 60 members. Winner of the Royal Easter Show flower and garden section, and 3rd prize of vegetable garden section in the Ryde Spring garden competition for 2009.

Start a community garden by applying for some land. Get members by leaflet dropping, newspaper announcements, notices on community boards.

Then digging, weeding and improving the soil with the addition of compost. Each member pays an annual fee of $20, plus a dollar fifty for every square metre of allotment.
Anybody can join, ring Mark on 0408 869 863  or emaill: markhall1@bigpond.com for an application.
Fantastic fruit: Peaches and growing Peach trees, (Prunus persica.)
Peach trees are vigorous growing, but small tree with a spreading canopy, usually 2-3m in cultivation. Of course you can get the dwarf cultivars known as Nectazie, with yellow flesh and Pixzie, a white fleshed peach. Easily grown in a pot of 30cm -40 cm, grows to about 1.5m but with full sized fruit.
Peach trees like deep, well-drained soils, loamy to moderately sandy soils are best. Most varieties naturally form a vaseshaped tree which is the simplest way to grow stone fruit. Remove any dead, whippy or crossing branches. Prune to shape in late summer or autumn after harvesting.
apply lots of nitrogenous fertiliser like Dynamic Lifter, Blood and Bone.

Garden Design Elements: South facing balconies. Choose, ferns  (Dryopteris erythrosa) or Gold dust Plant, (Aucuba japonica "Crotonifolia.") . For Morning sun and afternoon shade, Begonia "White Cane," Fatsia japonica (2 metres), Plectranthus "Mona Lavender."
Morning shade, afternoon sun-Bromeliads such as Aechmea blanchetiana, or any Neoregelias.

Plant of the Week: Eleaocarpus reticulatus or Blueberry Ash tree. Aa small tree, that grows between 3-15m tall and 3-5m wide. It has a dense crown of foliage, and an approximately conical form. It needs little maintenance, surviving well in low nutrient and dry soils (although it performs best when well watered). This species grows in a range of light intensities, from shade through to full sun.

E. reticulatus is naturally found in a wide range of environments, from moist gullies through to rocky ridge outcrops and sandy coastal scrubs. An Australian native that naturally grows along the east coast from Fraser Island, Queensland down to Flinders Island, Tasmania. The warmer temperate conditions along the coast suit this species, and it is not found at cooler high altitudes or in areas with frosts.

Geraniums or is it Pelargoniums?

Sydney Garden Talk 12noon-1pm Saturdays on 2RRR 88.5 FM

Feature interview was Gary Dale, Geranium breeder from Geranium cottage. Geraniums originate from dry regions of South Africa, so don't kill with overwatering. Regular tip rpuning helps flowering. Cut them back by half every year.

Plant giveaway: Ivy Geranium "Tom Girl."won by Susan from Newtown.

NEW: Design Elements with Lesley Simpson, garden designer.
Plant suggestions for north facing balconies.
 

Fantastic fruit: Blueberries.Selecting and Storing Blueberries – Pick or buy blueberries that are firm and have an even colour with a whitish bloom. Ripe berries should be stored in a covered container in the fridge where they will keep for about 1 week. Realistically blueberries should be eaten within a few days of picking or buying. I tend to eat mine straight of the bush..

Don't wash blueberries until right before eating as you will remove the bloom that protects the berries' skin from going bad.. If kept a room temperature for more than an hour, the berries will start to spoil.
Blueberry Nutrition - Blueberries are also a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, manganese and both soluble and insoluble fibre like pectin. A cup of blueberries will give you 30% of your RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of Vitamin C.
If you think they’re too fussy to grow, . for the same price as a cup of coffee, treat yourself to a punnet of Blueberries, eat them straight out of the punnet (wash them of course) and enjoy the health benefits.
Mail Order: http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/
Choose Rabbit Eye and other chilling varieties like Sharp Blue and Misty for Sydney districts near Ryde and Hunters Hill.

Plant of the week: Star Jasmine. Botanical name:Trachelospermum jasminoides.

Family: Apocynaceae

Common name: climbing star-jasmine

Originates in woodlands of Japan and India.

Twining semiwoody vine to several meters long. Leaves opposite, deciduous, 2.5-7.5 cm (1-3 in) long and 1.3-5 cm (0.5-2 in) wide, lanceolate to broadly elliptic or oval, apex usually acuminate, base cuneate to rounded, margin entire, dark green and glabrous above, paler and pubescent below, petioles 3-8 mm (0.1-0.3 in) long. Flowers in cymes clustered in leaf axils, peduncles 1.3-2 cm (0.5-0.75 in) long, corolla 5-lobed, funnelform, greenish-yellow, striped with orange inside. Fruits paired follicles 12-22 cm (5-7 in) long and about 4 mm (1/6 in) in diameter.

For climbing on tall walls, Star Jasmine needs tying and training. With age, the vines do become thicker, and so the structure on which it is trained, ought to be able to take some weight. On short walls though, it does not require support, as it cascades over the top of the wall. It is also used sometimes as a medium scale ground cover. Left to its own devises, it tends to mound somewhat, and in time can become bare and bald, other than at the growing tips. It is therefore worth pruning and clipping on a regular basis in order to induce lateral growth and ultimately, a denser, more compact appearance.

QnA from Granny Smith festival was about Catnip.

Picture is my cat Mozart eating some Cantnip leaves growing in the garden steps.

Nepata cataria pictured in garden.. Grows to about 50cm x 50cm

Catnip or Nepeta cataria, can be grown from seed or you can buy it from the herb section of good nurseries. They are tough plants, coping with sun or semi-shade. Just give them a good clip to keep them tidy every so often. They really don’t need much fertiliser, if any and only an occasional sprinkle of water. Give you feline friends a bit of treat. A lot of cats like to lie on the bush or even eat a few leaves. Eating the leaves makes them bit drowsy, but for some cats you wouldn’t notice the difference. Catmint doesn’t have as many oils in the leaves, but makes a

nice low growing mound underneath plants like roses. There’s also Cat Thyme or Teucrium marum, harder to get, but much more potent. I used to have a cat that loved nipping this plant.

What's On:
Sunday 29 November. There’s a new community garden starting up in Lane Cove. It’s behind Chatswood South Uniting Church, cnr of Mowbray Road and the Pacific Highway. They hold open days for interested people on the last Sunday of every month between 2 and 5 pm. If you live near this area and are interested in being part of a community garden, visit www.permapatch.org.au or ring Jono on 0401 890256 or Mandy on 9436 2891. They are actively looking for new members to get involved.

Saturday 5 December, 9am – noon. Seed Collection Field Trip From delicate grass seeds to hard woody fruits, our local native plants form and hold seeds in a range of fascinating ways. Come and learn the fine art of collecting seed and practice your skills on a local bushwalk. Wear study shoes, bring a hat and water. Spaces limited.  Location: Lane Cove Council. Contact: Michelle Greenfield PHONE: 9911 3579

Sunday 6 December. Brush Farm House Open day. Tours at 11am and 1.30pm. Cost: Free. Bookings essential. Phone 9952 8222

Sunday 6 December. Macquarie Community Garden. Gardeners meet at 4pm on the first Sunday of every month at corner of Talavera and Culloden Roads in North Ryde, adjacent to the University sports fields. If you’re interested in getting involved, come along and talk to the other gardeners. You don’t have to be a student at the Uni to be part of the community gardening club.

Lilly Oh Lilly

TUNE IN TO SYDNEY GARDEN TALK with MARIANNE
SATURDAYS 12 noon-1PM 2RRR 88.5FM
Today's show was about Cottage Gardens and how good Salvias perform in Sydney. Marion talked about Savlia chiapensis, a nice compact salvia with rounded glossy green leaves and bright cerise flowers.

Caller question on Lilly Pilly Psyllid

What are Pimple Pysillids? Not some dreadful form of acne that afflicts gardeners, but that lumpy bumpy leaf caused by the lilly pilly psyllid (Trioza eugeniae).

Trioza is a tiny native insect related to cicadas, that in its first stage of growth when the psyllids or nymphs are quite tiny, feed inside the leaves. They settle in one spot then embed themselves in the leaf, forming a lump or pimple. It looks ghastly because it usually affects all new growth and it’s the last thing you want to see on your stylish hedge or topiary. Some lilly pillies won’t ever get pimple psyllid like all varieties of Acmena smithii and Syzygium luehmannii the weeping Lilly Pilly.
Can be controlled with a thorough spray of Confider about every month.

Vegetable Hero: Pumpkin from the cucurbitaceae family. I cup of cooked pumpkin has 2g of protein and 12g of carbs! Plenty of beta carotene though to help comabt efects of aging like Alzheimers.

Pumpkin seed needs a soil temperature of 20˚C for germination. You can either sow them individually in 10cm pots and plant when pots are filled with roots.

Or, sow seed or plant seedlings into mounds of rich compost made over loosened soil. Plants take 70–120 days to mature.
Pumpkins are shallow-rooted they need regular watering in dry or windy weather. Even moisture helps prevent fruit splitting.
Pumpkins produce short-lived male and female flowers that can close by mid-morning. Female flowers open above the swollen, distinctive embryo fruit and male flowers produce pollen. If the embryo fruit falls off, that usually means it didn’t get pollinated.

Plant of the Week: Lillium longliflorum or November Lillies
Plant bulbs in Autumn:
All Liliums can be grown very successfully in containers too, just choose a size and shape of container that will complement the height of the flowers without looking out of proportion. Make sure that the container has excellent drainage, and can easily accommodate the bulbs without them touching the sides of the pot. Use the best quality potting mix you can buy, preferably one with a slow release fertiliser. Plant your bulbs, water them in, and then water regularly once they are actively growing, During the warmer months, keep an eye on the pots to ensure they don`t completely dry out on hot days.
Events this week:

Wed 18 Nov. 2pm - 4pm, Woolwich Walk led by local identity Phil Jenkyn. This walk includes Woolwich Dock, Clarkes Point and Kellys Bush. Meet at Woolwich Lookout, cnr Woolwich Rd and Gale St., Woolwich. Hunters Hill Historical Society. Enquires 9817-2677

More events on http://www.huntershill.com.au/

Saturday 21 November, 2-4pm. Royal Botanic Gardens. Friend & Foe South African Plant talk and walk. Explore the popular garden plants and some potential weeds that originate from South Africa. Bookings essential. $15. Phone 9231 8134. Meet at the Maiden Theatre.

Saturday 21 November; 11am – 1.30pm G ladesville Hospital and Priory Walk led by Peter Colthorpe, chair of Friends of Gladesville Hospital. Meet at The Priory, 2 Salter St., Gladesville. Gold coin donation for repairs to The Priory. Bookings and enquiries 0434 673 101

Now until 31 Dec - Remove invasive vines and receive free native plants. Nasties include Morning Glory, blackberry, tradescantia (ex-wandering Jew). The aim is to provide habitats for small native birds in shrubs and groundcover.
LOCATION: Hunter's Hill Council
CONTACT NAME: Bushland & Natural Resources Officer, Kerry Heatley PHONE: 9879 9439

Maria rang with details of her brother's website about his garden in Belgium!
http://www.casa-mediterano.be/

More Birds in the Garden

STAY TUNED TO 2RRR 88.5 FM  Sydney Garden Talk on Saturdays 12noon-1pm
Today's program was all about Pidding Park In Ryde, and how bushcare volunteers have worked to make it the best buhcare site in the Ryde Spring Garden competition. Join you local bushcare group now and make a difference.
For more information contact:Ryde Council Bushcare Officer :Sandra Payne:Ph: 9952 822
Vegetable Hero:Beetroot-grow some now, soak in a shallow saucer of water overnight then sow about 1cm deep.Harvest when about 3cm in diameter for tender tasty beets or no later than 7.5cm in diameter. Keep up the water otherwise they will be tough and woody.
Plant of the week:Jacaranda mimosifolia. Prune dead and crossing branches right back to the trunk so that the suckers don't spring out from the cut. Flowering late October through November. Comes in white as well. Suitable for big gardens.
Australian Conservation Foundation is holding a meeting for Lane Cove residents on Thursday 12th November. RSVP on 1800 223 669
Recycle your electronic waste 9-4pm on Saturday 14th at Willoughby Leisure Centre, 4 Small Street Willoughby.

It Was all about "Little Birds."

Stay tuned to 2RRR 88.5 FM

Saturdays 12noon-1pm for 1 hour of gardening talk about plants, local gardeners,environmental issues, about bushcare and about what's on in 2RRR listening community.

Today's episode of Sydney Garden Talk was about creating a habitat for birdlife in the garden with Executive Director of IEWF (International Environmental Weeds Foundation.) Bev Debrincat. For information  on the Habitat network, or IEWF,email Bev info@iewf.org or ring 0419 206 253
To buy plants to attract small birds, contact Rob at Cornucopia in Gladesville Hospital grounds.
ring 9816 0344 M-F 9-3.30

You need prickly type plants like Acacia ulignosa and Hakea sericea or grevillea sericea to provide a safe haven from bigger more aggressive birds.

Things to do: over the next couple of weeks there are historic walks around Hunters Hill. http://www.huntershill.nsw.au/ Tells you all the walks available.

Vegetable Hero was Spinach. Grow Spinach Summer Beauty or Baby Leaf Spinach from seeds available from Yates.

Top roses for plant of the week:

Red Pierre, Altissimo (clg); Crepuscule, Papa Meilland,

Crepuscule climber 

Festival of the Olive

The image on the right is my amazing African Violet in the special plastic pot for such plants.
TODAY'S PROGRAM 2RRR 88.5 FM Saturdays 12noon-1pm
After interviewing the head gardener, Dave Grey, of Historic Houses Trust, we headed of to Elizabeth Farm for some olive tasting. I've decided the olive growing in Sydney is frought with problems. Best to buy fresh from local produce markets, but if you want to give it a go, here's that recipe.
By the way, the oldest olive tree in Elixabeth farm is actually dead, but has resprouted. The 500 cuttings taken from the tree to try and preserve the genetic link only resulted in 2 surviving. One was planted at Elizabeth Farm, and the other at Vaucluse House in the kitchen garden.
The recipe for olives in Brine is
Make a slit in each olive or crack each one open carefully with a wooden mallet.
•Put the olives in a large bowl and cover with water.
•Change the water daily for two weeks to extract the bitterness and make the olives "sweet".
•After 14 days, drain the olives and place in a solution of brine made with 100g salt/1 litre water for every kilo of olives - leave for 2 days.
•Drain again and place in a solution of vinegar and water made with 1 part water to 4 parts vinegar for a further two days.
•Finally, drain the olives again and store them in olive oil and herbs of your choice OR a mix of 3 parts brine (made as above) to 1 part vinegar covered with a layer of oil
The other topic on the show was growing Bromeliads. Ken from the Bromeliad Society gives tips on how not to kill the plants. DON'T OVERWATER. The next Bromeliad show is not till April in 2010!
But they have monthly meetings, 2nd Tuesday of every month, so why not join?
http://www.bromsocnsw.org.au/

Plant of the week is the rose. Next week is top 5 roses.

Rose Spray recipe:
3 tsps Bi-Carb Soda
2 Tablespoons horticultural oil.
4 and 1/2 litres of water.
Mix and spray fortnightly on roses to prevent black spot and powdery mildew.

Granny Smith Festival Day

Today's program  featured the CEO for Smart Approved Water Mark. Go to http://www.smartwatermark.com/ to use the water use calculator.Michael from Eden gardens gave some beaut descriptions of the 1st and 2nd place getters for the Ryde Spring garden competition. It seems judges are looking for a unified theme. Stuff your garden with as many plants as possible. Don't mix and match plants from tropical and cottage garden themes. Don't have any weeds, and manicure your plants to blazes.

The vegetable hero, was in fact the Granny Smith Apple. Needs winter chilling of 400 hours (below 7 deg. C) to grow successfully. This also applies to Pink Lady and Pinkerbelle apple trees. You also need two trees for pollination to occur.

My tip: leave the apple growing to Bilpin growers and buy your fruit from the organic markets.

Plant of the week:Grevilleas-any. (Pictured)

Put in the new hybrids Grevillea Lady O and the ground cover one G. Lemon Gem. Or stick to traditional good doers like G. Moonlight, G. Superb and G. Ned Kelly. Prune these larger grevilleas to keep them looking good in your garden.

Listen to 2RRR 88.5 FM on Saturdays 12noon-1pm. email your gardening question: sydneygardentalk@gmail.com

Saturdays On the Radio

Todays program (October 10th)was all about how to get involved with Enviroweek. Register by going to http://www.coolsydney.net.au/ or http://www.enviroweek.org/
It's all happening today at Lane cove, Burns Bay road (october 11th) with their Village Fair.
Todays Plant of the week is Bauhinia variegata or Orchid tree. Great for small back yards as it only grows to 5 t0 6 metres and you can cut the flowers for a vase.
My Vegetable Hero is the chilli. 100 grams of Chilli provides you with a weeks worth of vitamin C! But if you're growing it, it needs a minium night temperature of 16 degrees C to set fruit.
Keep listening to Sydney Garden Talk on 2RRR 88.5 FM, Saturdays 12 noon- 1pm

Tomato Fungus fighter recipe:Mix fat-free milk with water in a 1:1 ratio and apply it using a spray bottle. Spray directly onto the clean leaves of your tomatoes. The solution coats the leaves and leads to the growth of an invisible fungus that frightens off black spot.