Vegie patch

Daily routines:

• Look at your vegies every day.
• If you see any holes forming in leaves,look over and under the leeaves to see if you can catch and squash the culprit.
• The more you do that's a big money-saver.
• Look for weeds too.If you didn't plant or sow it,pull it out.
• Usually you can just drop any weeds you pull back onto the ground to rot away,but not if the weed has bulb or flowers on it.In that case,throw it in the bin.
• The fewer weeds the less competition there is for water and nutrients so your vegies get it all.And since many weeds are the host plants for insect pests,getting rid of weeds reduces your pest problems too.

Agapanthus'Baby Pete'

Agapanthus

Once established it is very tolerant of dry conditions and coastal spots,and is easy to grow in sunny or partly-shaded spots in any well-drained soil.Apply a slow release fertiliser in spring.There's not need to prunebut removing old stems will encourage furtherflowering.Its compact habit makes it suitable to mass-plant as a groundcover or as an edging along pahts or driveways.It will also make a great display in pots in small gardens and courtyards.

Growing tips:

It's a moderate drinker

English Lavender

English Lavender

A good looking,sweet smelling shrub topped with a haze of blue flowers.

They are lots of varieties which may be bigger or smaller in size,have greenish or greyish leaves,or flowers which range in colour from white through pink to purple.

English lavenders are small,bushy shrubs usually topping out at 60-70cm.They produce their flowers from the start of summer.

Lavender Basics

• The most sweetly fragrant lavender of all
• Plenty of sunshine,the more the better
• Fast-draining sandy or gravelly soil is ideal
• Shear lightly all over when flowers finish
• Likes plenty of rain or watering during the cool months of the year,from May to September

Grower's tip:

Lavenders love lime.Each spring,spinkle one handful of Dolomite lime around each plant,lightly scratch it into the soil and water in well.

Grevilleas

Grevilleas

They're Australia's most versatile,longest-blooming shrubs,and there are hundreds of naturals species but it's mostly the popular hybrids that draw gardeners in.

They've been bred for bigger,showier flowers or masses of smaller blooms and many hybrids also have the tidier,more compact habit that gardeners want.

Grevillea Basics:

• Full sun to part-shade
• Soil should drain freely but average quality will do
• Prune after bloomig ends or when the least number of flowers are present on the bush
• Water them deeply,occasionallly,but only during dry times
• Feed once in spring with native plant fertiliser or don't feed at all
• Attracts birds with its nectar-rich flowers

Grower's tip:

Grevilleas grow fast and can become too big for their spot.Control them with regular prunin.

Cut back after blooming and prehaps give a light trim again a few months later.

HIBISCUS BASIC

Hibiscus are warm -climate,sun-loving shrubs happy right at the coast or much further inland as long as they get plenty or rain or watering during summer.Flowering starts late spring and continues for moneht and though each bloom only lasts a day or two,they just keep on coming so there are always plenty to admire.

Hibiscus Basics

• Plenty of sun,the more the better
• Warm,frost-free climates are essential
• Good quality,fertile,loamy soil
• Feed generously during warmer months
• Water deeply at least weekly in summer

Grower's tip:

Hibiscus flower beetle feeds on pollen,marks petals,causes early flower fall.You can control this pest with Confidor.Also cut back plants by one-third in early October.