Trees have bums too - May 02, 2013
Dear gardening friends
You have to love autumn in Macarthur. All the deciduous trees are starting to colour up. My neighbour has a Liquidambar tree that is looking fantastic at the moment. I took a photo of it this morning when I was taking the dog for a walk. I love it when the sun shines through the autumn leaves first thing in the morning.
I also stopped to take a photo of a Manchurian Pear tree growing out the front of a house in Englorie Park which is next to Glen Alpine. There is a small section of Englorie Park that can be seen from Menangle Road. The developer planted the street trees in this suburb and their Landscape Designer did a fantastic job with the tree selection. Check it out next time you are passing.
I am back at work and thanks to Simon for writing the gardening club news letter while I was away. I noticed he didn’t miss me with some of his comments. It must have been pay back time.
There was a suggestion that I had fallen in love with Wisterias while I was in Italy. I have attached a great photo of another one just to prove this theory.
My boys also found a great cubby house in Tivoli.
While I was in Italy we stayed in an old Villa near Rome central for a couple of days. It was one of those great looking buildings with the big windows that open up to let all the sun shine in. When I was getting undressed to take a shower I noticed a lady was watching me from a window across the road. She was wearing a big hat and she was in the shadows trying to hide. I had my shower then peaked around the corner to see if she was still there. She was of course because I obviously look pretty good in the nude. Then when I had a closer look I noticed that she had a gold frame around her!
Back in Australia, I am really enjoying this beautiful autumn weather. How could you stay inside when you could be out in the garden planting some flowers and getting a tan?
If you haven’t planted some pansies in a pot on your patio then you are missing out on some happiness. Pansies flower for 6 months non stop and they are so easy to grow. Always pot them up using Tim’s Best Potting Mix and you can’t go wrong.
I had a customer yesterday who has planted fruit trees in pots and they haven’t grown at all in 4 years! He was having a go at me because he bought the fruit trees from us. But when I questioned him about what potting mix he used and where he bought it from he couldn’t remember. There are so many brands of potting mix that are being sold that nothing grows in, it makes me mad. If you buy Tim’s Best Potting Mix I guarantee your plants will grow in it.
Simon has been approached by a new supplier of fertiliser wanting us to stock his brand. To test if the fertiliser really works he potted up some lettuce seedlings into 200mm pots using Australian Standards Regular potting mix. This potting mix contains no fertiliser. He planted up 3 pots with the same lettuce seedlings. The first pot he didn’t add any fertiliser. The second pot he applied the recommended dosage of the new fertiliser. The 3rd pot he used Tim’s Fast Food. I have attached the photo of this experiment. The good news is Tim’s Fast Food really is a great product. The bad news is if you are planting seedlings in Australian Standard Regular potting mix and not adding fertiliser then your plants will never grow.
The new fertiliser Simon has trialed is pretty good but not as good as Tim’s Fast Food. Whether you have success in the garden will all depend on which products you choose.
Simon has found a new Blueberry plant that gets fruit 3 times bigger than traditional blueberries. The fruit are the size of a one dollar coin!!! That’s huge compared to the fruit you buy in the shops. The new plant is called”Blueberry Burst”. This Blueberry has to be grown in a big pot if you want to have success. It’s an evergreen variety that only grows one metre high so it’s perfect for a pot. If you grow one in a pot now you will be picking fruit this August, September. The plants are arriving next week so if you want one contact us now so we can reserve one for you. They will cost around $20 depending on transport costs. Come and see us for a pot and make sure you use Tim’s Best Potting mix.
We have had an unusual request from a local High School. Some of the children at Thomas Reddall High School in Ambarvale were having difficulty reading so the school started a mentoring program where parents and grand parents came to the school to read one on one to the children. The program has been a huge success and the kids are now starting to read themselves and discovering a love of books. The problem is they need more adults who would be willing to help out on Thursdays between 9 and 11am. The school has discovered that the adults love it as much as the kids. If you are retired or just wanting to help contact Bee Perusco on 46254404. Training is provided. You won’t get paid but you will be rewarded.
Don’t forget mothers day will soon be upon us, Mum’s love pretty flowers and flowers don’t come much prettier than Cyclamen. A favourite of Mums world wide cyclamen love being in the cold so to keep yours at its best put it out at night with the cat before you go to bed. Cyclamen flower non stop through the cooler time of the year perfect to brighten up the back patio. We also have Mothers day gift vouchers available spend $40.00 and we will give your Mum $50.00 to spend in the nursery.
Happy gardening
Tim