It’s Time To Plant Fruit Trees! - Jul 04, 2025
Dear gardening friends
A guy came up to me in the nursery a month ago and gave me $100.00. What's that for mate? I asked him. "I love how you plant trees around Macarthur and I d like to help you plant more."
No, you don't have to do that mate, I'm going to plant trees anyway, that's very kind of you though.
But he wouldn't take the money back, and he turned and walked out. He was nicely dressed I noticed.
Anyway I planted five trees, on my way home from work, because I knew rain was coming. I've spent my new friends $100. When you plant trees and it rains, they really get settled in, and I won't have to go back and water them, for a week or so.
Winter is the best time to plant trees, especially when you won't have the time to go back and water them often. Councils used to always plant their trees in winter because the mowing staff have more time available to plant trees. I'm not sure if this still happens.
I plant my trees in places where trees have often been planted, but they didn't survive. These trees often never get replaced.
I prepare the soil and plant suitable trees that will survive. I go back and water them so they do grow.
There is a real belief that bigger trees have a better chance of survival and often customers ask me about bigger trees because they think they'll grow faster.
But bigger trees have more roots and because they are bigger they actually need more water to keep them alive. I plant smaller trees and I often choose natives like Brachychiton, which survive with less water.
Mark Engall just turned up with a truck full of Citrus trees. You might not know this, but winter is fruit tree planting time. If you plant them now they have time to get established before the heat of summer arrives.
I saw these little orange fruit on a Calamansi tree. This sour tasting fruit is also called a Calamondin. I was given one of these by Jamie Watt when I worked at Swane's nursery and he called it a mini mandarin. He even pealed one for me and said taste this Tim.
I'd only been there a couple of weeks so I was real green and I chewed on that mini mandarin for about 10 seconds before spitting it out. It was no mandarin.
But I have since discovered they make amazing Salad dressing, simply squeeze the sour juice over the salad then dress with Olive oil. It's a zingy salad dressing and it's loved by Vietnamese chefs.
When I was a teenager Cumquats were all the rage. They got put in jars and drowned with Brandy. They looked great and it made them taste better, the more you ate, the better they tasted.
We have a full range of Citrus trees and summer fruit trees in the nursery now. Plant them on a raised mound using Tim's Best Potting mix to get them growing.
They can be grown in big pots, if you can remember to water them. Never use Citrus Fertiliser on potted plants, it can kill them.
I was just having lunch with the boys in Argyle street Camden and I noticed this beautiful Rosemary plant thriving here in the gardens.
I'm always using Rosemary in my cooking, and I've got a nice big plant growing in a pot. But I was thinking Rosemary loves being pruned, and it actually makes it grow better, so if you're looking for Rosemary take a sprig from here.
I cooked an amazing dish last night where I used Rosemary, so check it out in the comments on Facebook .
If you'd like to grow Rosemary we have the ground cover variety and the shrub version. I can't imagine not cooking with Rosemary. It's fabulous.
We are always testing our famous Tim's Best Potting mix just to make sure it's always the best quality. How do we do that? We grow flowers directly in the bags.
These Johnny Jump up Violas are growing and flowering profusely. They will grow like this for you to when you use Tim's Best Potting mix.
Yes we've put drainage holes in the bags to let the water out. These flowers will make us happy right through winter and early spring.
Flowers make you happy. Tim's Best Potting mix makes your plants happy!
Come and see our Potted Colour selection. It's looking fabulous after the rain. Plant some in pots and they will make your garden smile through winter.
You still have time to grow Winter Vegetables.
Cabbage, Cauliflower, Garlic, Silverbeet, Broccoli, Lettuce, Carrots, Onions and Peas. Gardening in winter is easier. Dig Tim's Cow manure into your soil for better results.
The Red Scarfs are back!!!!!!
Come get one, $10.00, bargain.
Happy gardening
Tim