Gardening Tips

In January 2012 I sent out a survey to ask you what you wanted more of in my ezine and workshops.

Here is what you asked for (in a nutshell).

While I'd love to put all your wonderful suuggestions into practice straight a way, it may take me a while! BUT I'm working on it.

Thanks so much again for all your ideas. I hope you’ve started to read and cook from the Thank-you gift!  

(By the way, the larger than life happy gardener you see here distributing frogs is atop  the Museum of Civilisation in Quebec Canada)

The Survey has now closed.

Creating a no-dig garden, whether it's in a raised bed or on grass, like when i converted my lawn to vegie garden, is easy.

Just follow my easy steps with pictures and you can't go wrong.

If you'd like me to come and help you at your garden, just email me to arrange a time linda@ecobotanica.com.au

Plants are like us in some ways. They can thrive in the heat, but it can also be cruel and killing. Do you wonder why you have bad luck growing in summer?

Don't despair. I have 4 easy steps to growing successfully in the heat. Here are the first two steps. Part 2 coming soon...

Wondering what to do and what to harvest in your garden over the hot season? Well, it's kind of warm one day and cool the next... We have some lovely harvest coming up. Check out the options in the suburban garden. Here is a picture of just 1 harvest from our garden. Looks like we'll be eating plenty the next week or so...

Holey leaves in your organic vegetable garden? It's probably caterpillars feasting.

You can't douse witih chemicals in an organic vegetable garden, so what do you do?

Check out my easy and effective suggestions for organic caterpillar control...

Are you away on holidays over summer and not around to care for your garden? Do you have a garden of weeds in the steamy season? Rather than leaving your garden go to waste and weeds, grow a green manure crop.

While you are finding it too hot to garden, the green manure is growing steadily and only needs a dig a few months later, to add free fertiliser and organic matter to your soil.

Find out how to grow a green manure that's perfect for lazy summer gardens...

Are you keen to know a bit more about what goes on in your soil? Here you can read up on phosphorous and how you can make this essential element more freely available for plant growth.

As the weather warms up, the grasshoppers of all shapes and sizes will abound as well. They are hungry little (or big) things, making the most of your green leafies and herbs, reducing them to shreds. They used to LOVE our edible hibiscus and in the end, it was a race to see who got to the leaves first.

It’s not nice to serve up your vegies and herbs with the leaves eaten is it? Grasshoppers live a long time as far as insects go. The life cycle takes about 10-12 months, starting when an adult female lays up to three pods (about 20 eggs per pod) in the soil. The eggs sit there over cool weather, hatching in warmer weather. The young grasshopper goes through 5 stages of growth and moulting of its exo-skeleton before reaching the mature size. Once mature, the female lays eggs before dying, and the cycle starts all over again. So that explains why you don’t find many grasshoppers in winter. They are all sitting as eggs in the soil.

Read on for some tips to reducing the damage from grasshoppers in your productive garden. Oh, yes, and if you have mysterious mounds of soil on your lawn find out what causes it in the same article!

 Growing plants indoors improves air quality, increases productivity, reduces stress and helps people feel more contented at work and at home. 

Try also settling in a few plants around your home or workplace. They can be edible too, to add to your lunch or for a mid afternoon snack...

Is ginormous a word? If it is, that's a descriptor for the effort your leafless trees put in to spring into flower in spring. It's called bud burst.  These buds flower and when pollinated, form your fruit. Learn a little more about caring for your fruit tree for maximum fruit...

I admit it. I am mad on organic and veg. food love gardens, especially when they grow food and I think of where my next meal is coming from ALL the time. Especially when I am on holidays and someone cooks exotic food for me!

So it was that Bali lured us into its spell. Find some ideas for your next green holiday from our expereince in Bali...

Do you have weeds springing up in your pots, paths and garden beds? They’re a nuisance,

and as the weather warms they’ll be growing quicker than ever.

Clever marketing and our need for a quick fix drives many people to reach for some weed killer. A spray on the offending growth results in an effective kill. However, before you reach for the bottle of Roundup or Zero (Glyphosate) give a little thought to the effects it may have on you and the environment.

Why waste your money? There are just 6 things you need, to keep your pots thriving.

Here are my 6 Top Tips for healthy potted plants from a converted pot plant murderer...

Do you have a hive of Aussie Native Stingless Bees that you bought from Ecobotanica?

Perhaps you are thinking of keeping your own hive for pollination and honey? They are happy little things that take up very little room and work tirelessly in your garden pollinating cucumbers, fruit trees and lots more. You'll never have to hand pollinate your zucchini or pumpkins again...

For 8 of the best root vegeis to harvest in Autumn, take a look. You'll be tempted to sow the seed for next year, so start planning a patch for purple carrots, perfect parsnips or striped beetroots...Click to read more in a full colour edition

A lemon myrtle tree is an attractive and fragrant small tree with a myriad of uses, from repelling mozzies when rubbed on the skin to making lemon myrtle cordial and sauces, bikkies, flavouring fish and much more.

It can be a challenge to get started, so find out how to grow it successfully.

 The Miracle fruit plant (Synsepalum dulcifolium)  is amazing. Not only is it a neat, small, evergreen shrub that thrives in our frost-free subtropics, its miraculous secret is the ability of the fruit to change all acidic or bittere  flavours to sweet. You can grow it too.  Read more...

That gorgeous plant pictured is the edible Surinam Spinach.

If you have been thinking about growing some healthy green vegies but don't want any failures, read on to find out my all time 6 favourite and easy to grow spinaches that suit subtropical gardens. Read here for a full colour article ...