Timely topiary for a Tidy Garden

Sydney Garden Talk Wed.5-6pm, Sat 12-1pm, 2RRR 88.5fm
Feature interview:Mark Morrison, horticulturalist and topiary enthusiast. Start your topiary now. For more info go to http://www.morrisonsgardencentre.com.au/
Feature interview2:Nara Native Turf-from Ozbreed
Vegetable Hero:Cauliflower-Brassica oleraceae Botryoides.
All cauliflowers need a neutral or slightly alkaline soil to do well. If the soil is too acidic, the plants will be unable to obtain all the trace elements they need, and may develop whiptail. On the other hand, soils which are too limey or chalky can lead to stunted and discoloured cauliflower. Leave at least six weeks between liming and manuring. As with all brassicas, avoid using a plot on which a brassica crop was grown within the past two years. Cauliflowers will definitely suffer if they are grown on the same plot for two or more years in a row. A cauliflower is ready for cutting when the upper surface of the curd is fully exposed and the inner leaves no longer cover it. As usual in your veggie garden, cauliflowers are ready at the same time. If the weather is warm and you leave the cauliflowers in the ground once they have matured, the heads expand and they become discoloured and less appealing. To avoid this lift some early, they will be quite edible.
Here’s a tip to not have to eat cauliflower everyday for a month, gather up the leaves and tie them together over the curd so that they cover it, using garden twine, an elastic band or raffia. It will also protect the winter ones from the frost.
Design Elements:Structure for the garden-an overview.
It’s the bones of your garden. If you half close your eyes and look at your garden the things that stand out are the ‘structural’ elements. Providing a sound underlying structure is at the heart of good garden planning. Structure can be many things:
1 At its most obvious it’s the hard manmade elements in a garden – stone or brick walls, wooden screens, a pergola. Paths and paved areas (like a patio) also provide structure – they are elements that define a space.
2 Plants also provide structure. Obvious examples are hedges as they often enclose the garden and define its boundaries and are a very strong vertical element. But mid height and smaller hedges are also structural – think of the box hedges in a knot garden and the way they form a pattern. You can use smaller hedges to break up the space in a garden – either a mid height hedge to hide a section of your garden, or a small hedge to edge a planting bed.
3 Evergreen plants are structural elements in a garden. They keep their leaves all year round and their shapes, whether columnar, round or spreading, define the space. Some plants have, or can be pruned, into a clearly defined outline so you can use them architecturally (box). Many have an architectural outline – think of yuccas, phormiums with their sword-shaped leaves. You can also use standards for a structural element – a row of standard roses alongside a pathway.
4 Focal points are extremely valuable for structure and interest in the garden. Could be feature tree (weeping ones work well), a striking plant in a beautiful container, a sculpture, water feature, or seat.
Plant of the Week:Banksia ericifolia-Heath Banksia.
Both varieties of Banksia ericifolia are medium to large shrubs with narrow , linear leaves to about 15 mm long. The flower spikes are 80 - 110 mm wide, up to 500 - 600 mm long and usually orange in colour, although there is a form with maroon flowers in cultivation and another with whitish flowers with red styles. B.ericifolia is one of a group of banksias with "hooked" styles projecting from the axis of the flower spike. The flowers occur in autumn and winter and are followed by woody seed-bearing cones.