You Need A Japanese Maple. - Sep 25, 2025
Dear gardening friends
Do you remember this garden in Elderslie, I just happened to drive past last year, on the perfect day. I drove past again today, and there was the owner, sitting on a garden bench reading a book, I couldn't believe my luck, I stopped to say hello.
Annabele Cook came from Marlow in England, "We were on The Thames" she tells me, "Then we were up rooted, and came to Australia, we were 10 Pound Poms.
My father was a Scientist and he got paid quite well, so my mother looked after us."
I caught Annabele reading her book "It's a romance, it's easy to read, I don't have to think too much", it's crap isn't it, "Well yes, it is a bit".
I love how the garden hose is twisted and turning like a giant snake, it hasn't been used for a while, it never stops raining.
Annabele tells me she loves roses, she prunes them up high so the air can circulate below, "It helps prevent black spot" she tells me, "I know which roses are more disease susceptible."
She plants vegetables between her plants, I was surprised how fabulous the leaves of the Rhubarb looked with its red stems. She loves Princess Lilly's too and she has them planted everywhere.
It's early spring so the roses aren't blooming yet but there's still colour in the garden with Azaleas in bloom.
She had beautiful Citrus trees in pots that had been pruned to shape, they were bursting into bloom. I noticed the pots are sitting on the soil rather than on hot concrete, thats got to help.
The back garden has a Granny flat that looks out onto a beautiful rose garden and a Buxus hedge.
She loves to sit in the front garden, she has lovely new neighbours with kids, they love her garden, and they come to visit often. They invite Annabele for birthdays, she loves it, their house looks over her garden.
"My mother loved gardening, I love gardening too, I'm a bit of a black sheep." I think all gardeners are black sheep, don't you?
I called into Campbelltown Art Gallery this morning because I wanted to take a photo of the Japanese Maple, that's growing in the Japanese Gardens.
It's closed of course, so I had to peep in through the fence. Wow what a surprise!!!!!!!
The Japanese Gardens look amazing right now, everything's in flower and the deciduous trees have just sprouted fresh new green growth. It's mesmerising.
I wanted a nice photo of a Japanese Maple because we've just got some beautifully grown plants from Sunrise Nursery. They are such beautiful small trees and they are perfectly suited to today's courtyard sized gardens. They also drop their leaves in winter, to let the warming sun shine in.
We have beautiful advanced trees for just $29.99.
They look amazing and you can also grow them in big pots. We actually have an amazing selection of grafted Japanese Weeping Maples too.
If you're coming to visit our nursery drop into Campbelltown Art Gallery for coffee and lunch. It over looks this spectacular Japanese Garden. My mate Micheal from Campbelltown Council, does a great job here.
I'm amazed how many people don't know which way their house faces, they don't know where the sun comes up, they must get out of bed at lunch time.
If you're looking at planting shrubs in your garden then you need to know does it get morning sun (east) or afternoon sun (west).
I just had a lady wanting to plant Hydrangeas and she just wants them so she's going to plant them. It doesn't work like that, you don't decide on the plant before you know if it will like the conditions you have.
Hydrangeas are super tough plants but in the western suburbs they grow best in morning sun then shade. If they get the afternoon sun the leaves and flowers will burn and the plant will droop on those hot days.
So walk around your house, see where the sun comes up, that's eastern facing, Gardenias, Hydrangea, Clivia, Fuchsias and Azaleas will grow well here.
If it's north or western facing then you need sun loving plants.
If you've got pots put your biggest pots in the sunniest spots. Bigger pots hold more potting mix and potting mix holds the water so plants growing in bigger pots last longer in the hot sun.
Put your smaller pots in shady spots. Little pots dry out quicker so they need to go in the shade. Gardening is all about maths. You can't choose plants if you don't know your aspect.
Plants don't grow where you want them to grow, they grow where they want to grow.
P.S Hydrangeas have just arrived.
Business is about people, you go to places where you feel loved. I started chatting to Esperanza, she's originally from the Phillipines. She was asking me all about Mango trees.
But I noticed she had this beautiful apron and I asked her all about it, she made it, it's got a big pocket at the front where she can put her phone and wallet. It's such beautiful colours too it made me happy.
And then I noticed her fabulous glasses and I told Esperanza how fabulous she looked. She started to smile and tell me stories about her life here.
She has 3 boys and one of them helped her out with a house at Minto. It's got enough room around it to grow Mango trees.
I was yelling out to Hayden that I'd made a new friend, I was feeling pretty happy because she was a smart dresser too, but then Hayden turned up and Esperanza dumped me, turns out Hayden is her favourite, and she only comes here because of him.
Look at them, two peas in a pod.
Happy gardening
Tim