Pig gets stolen! - Apr 11, 2013
Dear gardening friends
You have to love this weather. We are in tee shirts and shorts here. You will probably find yourself wondering out in the garden with weather like this.
I noticed Bindii was starting to grow in the lawn at the boy’s school this morning. When I drop the boys off I always go for a coffee in the main street of Campbelltown.
Have you noticed everyone is wearing track suit pants? They must be about to do some exercise?
Anyway when I got back to my car I discover that the boys have left the car door wide open. Nothing stolen, so it must be my day.
Pig wasn’t so lucky, on Saturday night we had a break in, and somebody stole Pig from the milk crate. I think I may have been asking for trouble with a sign saying “Pig dreams about going on a holiday”. The robber cut a huge hole in the fence to steal a ceramic pig. Judging by the size of the hole we are looking for someone who is fat and stupid. The real Pig would never be in Campbelltown on “Loggies Night”. Pig was in Melbourne of course doing the after parties. So the robber has just taken Pigs stand in, on a holiday.
The real Pig is back on duty today wondering why someone would pay 5 million dollars for a horse that has never won a race when they could buy a Pig for $37.99.
Anyway, as somebody rude once yelled out to me during a garden talk “When are you going to talk about plants?”
I have often spoken about how insects attack plants that are stressed. Well we have had a Gardenia in a big pot here at the nursery for at least 20 years. During that time Karyn has mulched the Gardenia with Greengold Planting compost a number of times and she has also treated the soil with Wetta Soil every year. Recently we have noticed that the Gardenia always had Mealy Bug and Scale insects. These insects feed off the plant and eventually the leaves get covered in Black Sooty Mould as well. Ants move in to eat the sticky substance that the insects produce. The ants then stop other insects from eating the Mealy bug and Scale. The Gardenia looses colour in the leaves and it goes down hill quickly. We could spray the plant with Eco Oil or Pest Oil but that doesn’t fix the real problem.
Our Gardenia is just so pot bound the potting mix has now been replaced by roots so there is nothing to hold the water. You probably have plants at your place that have been in the same pot for years too. Well this week we pulled our Gardenia out of the pot. We cut off 25% off the roots with a mattock! Then we put it back in the same pot using Tim’s Best Potting Mix. Because we cut 25% of the roots off we also had to remove at least 25% of the foliage. We did this with a saw and sharp seceteurs. The bare stems will shoot out with fresh new growth over the coming months and by spring it will be looking great again. The pests will disappear because the plant will be getting so much more water now it will be able to fight them off. Autumn is a great time to repot plants. If your plants are tropical wait until spring.
If you own gardening tools with wooden handles keep them in your garage out of the weather. If you don’t the handles will dry out and split and you will get splinters.
Simon has been busy making a Wall Garden at work. If you have a boring brick wall at your place that could do with a face lift come and talk to Simon. This new Wall Garden simply attaches to timber brackets that you attach to the wall. You can buy the planters separately for around $20 each. When you water, it drips down to the garden below. Simon has turned his creation into a herb and veggie unit. He used Tim’s Best Potting Mix with a side dressing of Fast Food. Come and check it out near the lunch room.
Tibouchinas are flowering on the hills around the Macarthur district. I took a photo of a Tibouchina Alstonville growing in The Parkway near Bradbury Swimming Pool. It looks fantastic up against the dark brick work of this house. Alstonville can grow up to 4 metres high but it can be pruned back every year at the start of spring and kept small. We have a new white flowering Tibouchina called “Peace Baby”. This compact little shrub grows just 60cms high and it can flower all year in the right position.
Tibouchinas love lots of water!
Simon has ordered lots of Grevillea’s this week. Have you noticed how Grevillea’s really put on a show in autumn? Our Grevillea Peaches and Cream is covered in flowers now. This is one of our most popular varieties because it has peach and cream coloured flowers all year round. Simon has also been able to get some rarer grafted Grevillea’s. We now have Billy Bonkers, Ivory Whip and Lollypops. These smaller growing Grevillea’s are really special. We only get them around once every 5 years so don’t miss out.
We also have a new ground cover Grevillea called New Blood. This glossy green Grevillea has bright red spidery flowers that look sensational. It only grows 25cms high by 1.5 metres wide.
Grevillea’s thrive in hot sunny spots in your garden. Grevillea New Bloods are available from $14.99.
I am back on the radio this Saturday morning on C91.3 with Rob Doorey. Listen between 7.30 and 8am for a laugh.
Hope you are enjoying this fantastic gardening weather.
Happy gardening.
Tim