Plant Gardens 101

The debate about climate change has been raging for quite a few years now. Not only about what may or may not be causing it but also as to whether it actually exists. I suppose as a gardener one of the things that you do tend to observe on a regular basis is the weather and in particular rainfall.

Now without getting too deeply into this debate the one thing that I’ve noticed over the last ten years where I live in Melbourne, Australia is that we are now getting less and less rain. In fact it’s now at the stage where our water storages are at an all time low.

So having said that there has never been more reason to plant drought tolerant plants in your garden. I’ve been growing them for over ten years but I also realize that not all gardeners are into drought tolerant plants. So whether you are or aren’t here are some tips so that your plants can survive on less water. (more…)

The summer of 2006/7 was quite dry and to make matters worse we had water restrictions in Melbourne and my one and only water tank had very little water in it. So to say that water for the garden was a scarcity was an understatement.

I’d just planted out my new garden just a few months earlier and most of the plants were just surviving let along actually growing. The exceptions to this were about 3 or 4 Eremophilas that I’d planted. These plants were doing really well, putting on new growth and getting ready to flower for the autumn, winter and spring period. They seemed to be thriving despite the lack of water and were living up to their reputation as being really drought tolerant plants.

It was because of this that I decided that these plants had earned the right to occupy a much larger piece of my garden. Also because these plants come in so many varieties I knew I’d have no shortage of variations to choose from. The only problem was that most nurseries didn’t stock them. If I was to fill my garden with them I’d have to go to some specialty Australian native plant nurseries. Luckily though in the meantime I came across a local market with quite a few plant stalls and these turned out to be a real treasure trove. (more…)

Grevilleas are a plant that have been used it gardens and landscaping for many years and despite this it still amazes me as to how many misconceptions there are about growing them, especially in the home garden.

They are a genus of plants that grow mostly on the continent of Australia and consist of well over 300 species as well as hybrids that number well into the hundreds. In fact the Grevillea genus hybridises so readily that horticulturalists for years have used the different species to breed new hybrids as well using the hybrids themselves in the quest to breed new and exciting varieties that can be used both in the home garden and also for landscaping. (more…)

How close can you go to killing a plant without actually killing it?

Before I actually wrote this article I thought long and hard as to whether other gardeners would actually believe my story or if I should try to change some of the detail to make it sound more believable. In the end I decided to protect its integrity and just tell it as it happened.

It was a hot summer afternoon in the middle of December which had been preceded by a winter and spring with well below average rainfall. You’d have thought that transplanting a semi established shrub would be the last thing a gardener with any ounce of credibility would consider on a day like that.

Well in this case I’m not sure if I had a moment of madness or I was suffering from a bout of extreme optimism but I still look back today and find the story I’m about to tell quite amazing. The shrub in question was a Grevillea Caloundra Gem (G. Banksii x ‘Coochin Hill or so the label said) that I’d planted right at the front of the garden bed just two years earlier. It had grown to a height of about 2 m and was doing quite well. The problem for me was that despite the lack of rainfall it was doing just a little bit too well and was starting to hide the slower growing plants behind it. So the only solution for me was to shift it to another place alongside a fence where it would serve much better as screening plant. (more…)

Rain barrels and rain barrel diverters are now becoming top selling gardening accessories as green gardeners look toward rainwater harvesting as a means to solve water issues in the garden. So the question needs to be asked, if you were to fit a rain barrel diverter to a downspout and direct rainwater into a rain barrel, how much rainwater do you really think you’re going to collect?

Well I have two 55 gallon rain barrels in my garden that are connected to one downspout that is serviced by about 250 square feet of roof area. As a consequence it only takes 0.7 inches of rainfall to fill both of those rain barrels. Now imagine if I only had one rain barrel attached to the downspout. It would then only require 0.35 inches of rainfall to fill the rain barrel. So if I was to get 1 inch of rain I could collect only 35% of that rainwater while 65% would be wasted and that’s of course assuming the rain barrel was empty to start off with. If I was to get more than 1 inch then even more would be wasted. (more…)

There are certain things about the concept of rainwater harvesting that can sometimes be taken for granted, especially if you’ve been familiar with the process for a while. This was certainly the case for me while talking to a neighbour about rainwater tanks. One thing that I’d noticed over the last few years driving my car around Melbourne, Australia were the amount of houses that have Rainwater Tanks installed (and they’re just the one’s you can see from the street). Rainwater tanks really are popular these days. The other thing that I’ve noticed is that most of these rainwater tanks are only connected to one downpipe (downspout). I’d often wondered how much rainwater these tanks actually harvested and I got my answer while talking to my neighbour. I knew he’d installed a rainwater tank about a year previously so I asked him if he was happy with it and if it harvested much rainwater. He replied that he wasn’t, as we don’t get enough rain to fill it. I told him that he needed to connect more of his roof area to it. (more…)

The first lesson I learnt in rainwater harvesting was one that cost me dearly but as time went by it was one that I benefited from enormously. Rainwater harvesting or the harvesting of rainwater for my garden was a concept that I’d thought about for sometime before I actually went ahead and purchased my first rainwater tank. Looking back now though, I suppose I’m just like most people and didn’t really go ahead with it until I really had to….. During the spring of 2006 we’d just come through another dry winter in Melbourne, Australia. Despite this though, we weren’t under any water restrictions so I decided to go ahead and plant a new lawn in my backyard. I’d been holding off for the previous few years as we’d been in drought since 1997. So I went ahead and purchased some turf and before I knew it I had a new lawn complete which a sprinkler system and all the water I needed courtesy of my garden tap. Now all I had to do was turn on the tap, sit back, relax and just watch the grass grow. How sweet was that? Unfortunately for me about one week after my new lawn was installed my plans came to a very quick and sudden halt. Water restrictions were introduced. This now meant that I could no longer use my garden tap to water my new lawn. I’d just spent several hundred dollars on turf and a sprinkler system and had no water to keep it alive. I had to get some water from somewhere, and fast. (more…)

Rainwater Collection in modern urban areas is something that is still new and at its infancy in many respects but with many areas these days experiencing changing climates the installation of rainwater collection systems is now becoming more popular.

The biggest question for many home owners is how to go about implementing rainwater collection and what type of rainwater collection system to install. There are many types on the market but broadly speaking you can divide rainwater collection systems into above ground and below ground systems.

When making your choice there is much to consider. Below ground rainwater collection systems are obviously the most efficient at collecting as much rainwater as possible. The fact that the inlet to the tank is below ground level allows rainwater to be diverted easily by the use of gravity from all of the roof area, thus maximising the rainwater collection potential of your roof. Despite being very efficient, below ground rainwater collection systems can be expensive to install. Installation costs include excavating the site and lack of access to existing residences can make these systems prohibitive to many houses. (more…)

Rain barrels and rain barrel diverters are now becoming top selling gardening accessories as green gardeners look toward rainwater harvesting as a means to solve water issues in the garden. So the question needs to be asked, if you were to fit a rain barrel diverter to a downspout and direct rainwater into a rain barrel, how much rainwater do you really think you’re going to collect?

Well I have two 55 gallon rain barrels in my garden that are connected to one downspout that is serviced by about 250 square feet of roof area. As a consequence it only takes 0.7 inches of rainfall to fill both of those rain barrels. Now imagine if I only had one rain barrel attached to the downspout. It would then only require 0.35 inches of rainfall to fill the rain barrel. So if I was to get 1 inch of rain I could collect only 35% of that rainwater while 65% would be wasted and that’s of course assuming the rain barrel was empty to start off with. If I was to get more than 1 inch then even more would be wasted.

So the question needs to be asked; Are rain barrels practical and are they worth installing, considering most of the rainwater they harvest ends up going straight down the overflow? Well if you work on the theory that harvesting some is better than harvesting none then I suppose that’s ok, but wouldn’t it be better again if there was a way to harvest it all? (more…)