Have you eaten blue chips? - Jun 15, 2012
Dear gardening friends
Our bodies are aching all over. This week we have been busy potting up 1500 rose bushes. Just as we were finishing these, 500 fruit trees turned up so we had to pot these too. We have shovelled 15,000 litres of potting mix.
I would like to thank Monica, Russell, Ryan and Karyn for rolling up their sleeves this week.
We also had a work experience boy from Lomandra school named Mitchell who has decided never to become a horticulturist! Wow, he picked a bad week to turn up.
Our rose bushes come from South Australia and they are grown by an Italian family who have been growing roses forever. We pot our roses into 200mm pots using the best quality potting mix. This costs more but we refuse to torture our plants by cutting off 90% of the roots and squeezing them into those little bags you see in super markets.
Because our roses have more roots they come away quicker in spring and the plants never look back.
Simon and Ryan have chosen the most fragrant varieties available. All your old favourites plus a few new releases too. They are all guaranteed to grow.
Remember if you are planting new season roses in your garden then you need to prepare the soil first. Dig in some of Tim's Cow Manure then mulch the garden with sugar cane. Roses need at least 6 hours of sunshine per day and they hate root competition from trees. They can be grown in pots but they have to be huge!
Our new season fruit trees arrived this week too. We have focused on the new dwarf growing varieties that are more suited to today's courtyard sized gardens. These cute little trees will still provide you with hundreds of normal sized fruit. We have dwarf growing apples, pears, cherries, nectarines, peaches, mandarins, lemons, limes and oranges.
If you are growing these in your garden, plant them on a mound of Greengold Planting Compost. Mix this with your existing soil to form the mound. Never fertilise newly planted fruit trees or they will dehydrate and die. Water them twice weekly with Seasol for best results.
If you're growing fruit trees in pots use our Tim's Best Potting Mix. Never use Citrus Food on plants growing in pots or the roots will get burnt and all the leaves will drop off! Just mulch the surface with Tim's cow manure every spring and autumn. This will also recondition the potting mix and make it hold more water.
With so many new plants arriving this week it's worth while coming to take a look.
We still have the $1.00 Spring Bulb Sale happening so make sure you get some of these. Some customers have been back several times this week to buy more bulbs.
We have posted yet another you tube clip, this ones about Autumn Trees. If you would like to cut your electricity bill in half then this video will show you how. Go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGKDx3klnXE
We have a narrow growing Ornamental Pear tree called Pyrus Cleveland Select. This variety is perfectly suited to small gardens so come and have a look. Pyrus Bradford is unavailable at the moment.
While we were potting roses and fruit trees in the carpark we kept hearing Rainbow Lorikeets. They were in our Grevillea Bulli Beauty feeding on the nectar. This Grevillea really is amazing. It is covered with hundreds of flowers every day of the year. The pink flowers are so large they make the branches weep down. I have attached a photo for you to see. We have under pruned ours so it looks like a small tree.
If you want to prune your Grevilleas at home wait until the start of spring.
It is time to spray your lawn to control Clover and Bindii. I have written this article for next weeks Macarthur Chronicle.
Your lawn may be sleeping but broad leaf weeds like clover and bindii are thriving. Unfortunately most people wait until the bindii has already produced the prickly seeds before they decide to spray. This is bad news for your pets and children because they will be doing "The Bindii Ballet" all summer long.
There are numerous hose on bottles available at the big sheds that claim to kill bindii but I have found these products to be almost useless and the spray blows back over your hands and face. These chemicals are dangerous so how can this be safe?
The best applicator is one of those pump action, 5 litre bottles with the long handled sprayer and adjustable nozzle. The long handle keeps the spray away from your face. Always wear long pants and shoes.
The best bindii killer is a product called "Richgro Bindii Killer for Buffalo Lawns". This can be used on all types of lawns including Couch, Kikuyu and Buffalo. Mix 30ml in 5 litres of water over 50m2. Add a squirt of dish washing liquid in with the spray and it will stick to the weeds leaves even better.
Do not mow your lawn for 7 days before or after spraying. Do not apply in windy conditions or if rain is expected within 24 hours. Keep pets and children off the lawn until the spray has dried.
To control tough weeds like clover, spray again within 10 days for best results.
Karyn went on "The Bridge Climb" with her family on the weekend. It was their second attempt to climb the harbour bridge. Last time they got to the pier before at storm made it too dangerous to climb. They got half way up the bridge this time before, you guessed it, another electrical storm meant the climb had to be cancelled. If you are thinking about doing the climb check to make sure Karyns family hasn't booked the same day.
I have also attached another photo of another of Lisa's creations. It looks sensational with the silver of the Cineraria, then the blue in the pansy flowers complimented by the blue ceramic pot it is all planted into.
Have you ever eaten blue chips?
Our seed potato supplier called in last week with a variety called "Sapphire". These potatoes are blue on the outside and on the inside. If you grow these you could be eating blue chips for Christmas!
They are even better for mash.
Another blue potato worth growing is a variety called "Royal Blue". This one is actually white on the inside so it's not as scary. If you prefer white potatoes go for a variety called "Dutch Cream".
If you live in a frosty area wait until August to plant your seed potatoes.
While we were potting up roses this week we told each other stories. About 20 years ago I was working in a nursery in Dural. There was a P.A announcement saying I had a phone call. When I got to the counter the caller had gone but I was given a scrap of paper that said. "Ring Mr Lyon" and a number.
I dialled the number and missed the introduction but I said to the lady that I needed to speak to Mr Lyon.
"Nobody of that name works here she replied" Yes he does I said, he just left me a message.
This is Taronga Park Zoo she said in a huff "somebody is playing a trick on you!"
Happy gardening
Tim