April 27th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
DESIGN ELEMENTS
with landscape designer Louise McDaid
DRY GARDENS part 4-lawns for dry conditions.
There are those gardeners who like
to see a green expanse of lawn, and there are others who see it as another
possibility of planning and planting another area for garden beds.
Some of us think lawns are high
maintenance-mowing, fertilizing, weeding watering, while others think it’s low
maintenance.
There are a lot of reasons why you should still have a lawn.
It does cool an area, but don't expect it to be green all year round. It's seasonal like a lot of plants in your garden.
Don't waste time an energy trying to grow a lawn where it just won't grow-like under trees or heavy shade positions.
So what types of lawns do best in
dry conditions?
Warm season grass-Sapphire-is a soft leaf Buffalo.
Native grass alternatives that act like a real lawn.
Zoysia macrantha is sold as Nara turf-warm season grass.
Seed sown native lawns might take a year or so to get established but are well worth the wait.
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Nara Native Turf |
Red Grass-is a warm tough season grass, withstands long drought periods. suits heavy clay.
Weeping grass "Griffin."-Microleana stipoides is a cool season grass. Green for most of the year but has summer dormancy.
Wallaby Grass-cool season with good drought tolerance.
TIPS for lawns in hot dry times.
Not watering too often, not watering long enough, and scalping your lawns when mowing are all
bad practices that make the job of keeping a lawn looking great all that much
harder.
If you have any questions about the types of drought hardy lawns
that Louise mentioned, why not write in and ask for a fact sheet?
April 27th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
WILDLIFE IN FOCUS
with ecologist Sue Stevens
Mistletoe is an air-born parasitic
plant that lives off the sap of their hosts, These plants thrive in almost
every type of climate and soil in Australia, and are found everywhere Australia
wide except Tasmania.
There’s a particular bird that loves
the berries of Mistletoe plants, with a really obvious name.
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Mistletoe bird |
Do you know why mistletoes look like
their host plants?
Some botanists think it's because of a hormone within
the host that gets into the mistletoe and influences the way it grows.
Mistletoes may also mimic to hide from leaf-loving animals such as possums, 60% of whose diet consists of the leaves of plants.
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Mistletoe babies |
FLOWERING TIMES OF MISTLETOE IN Australia.
A good time to look out for the Mistletoe bird is when the berries are obvious on the Mistletoe.
Those living on the coast will see
the Mistletoe flowering in spring and summer, but many mistletoes were at their
peak of flowering in March, particularly in the drier inland areas.
These bizarre plants are easy to
spot when in flower because of their bright antler-shaped orange or red
blossoms that stand out against the dark foliage, advertising their nectar to
birds.If you have any questions about the Mistletoe
bird or even have a photo of one, why not drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644
Gladesville NSW 1675.
April 20th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
DESIGN ELEMENTS
with Louise McDaid, Landscape Designer
There are times of the year when
it’s better for planting out new trees, shrubs and perennials.
Sometimes though, we just have to
have something what we see in a nursery,garden centre, plant collector's fair or a friend gives us
a plant or two.
So how does this plant cope?
Should you plant it out in the
garden when it’s really hot?
Or should we wait and hope it
survives in its pot until cooler weather?
It’s a personal choice as to which plants get watered and which you
hope will survive the hot dry conditions that some of us have experienced.
Established trees that are quite large might be alright but younger
smaller trees and shrubs definitely will need a bit of assistance.
If you’ve got that specail plant still in a pot, now’s the time to
put it into the garden because Autumn is the best time to plant out, and to
move plants in the garden.
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Australian Native Eucalypts |
If you have any questions about this
week’s any trees on your property, send it our email address, or just post it.
April 20th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
SPICE IT UP
with Ian Hemphill
Ever heard of native pepper? Maybe
you’ve already used it in your cooking?
If you haven’t, you’re in for a
surprise, not only can you grow your own native pepper almost anywhere, there’s
also a surprising amount of recipes that you can use it in.
But be warned, information on the
internet isn’t always right so you need to pay close attention to this…

Native pepper-berry can be ground in a normal peppermill, but use it sparingly.
Native pepper is five times hotter than standard black peppercorns!
The strong flavour of native peppers goes will with lamb, game and any slow cooked dishes.
Pepper leaf has the same flavour as native pepper, but has the same strength as standard ground black pepper.
Use it in ground form and take in the smell of the Australian native bush. A wonderful aroma!
If you only want to grow the one
native pepper tree, , check that it’s Tasmannia
lanceolata, the native pepperberry.
For those wanting the fruit, you need two trees to
get the berries, but one tree will supply you with plenty of leaf that can be
dried and ground to give you the same flavour as the berry itself.
Who isn’t tempted by the native
seasoning of pepperberries, bush tomatoes wattle seed, ground coriander seed,
sweet paprika and lemon myrtle. Yum!
If you have any questions about the Native
Pepperberry why not drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville
NSW 1675.
April 14th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
Real World Gardener is
funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
DESIGN ELEMENTS
with landscape designer Louise McDaid
Continuing on the series in
drought proofing your garden, you’ll find out why some plants are more hardy
than others.
It’s not so much which plant
breeder did or didn’t do, but more about particular plant adaptations that make
some plants better at coping with lack of water than others.
Needle like leaves, grey leaves, leaves with hairs on them and hard
leaves are all adaptations to dry conditions.
In fact, Australian plants have the most obvious adaptations to dry conditions.
Sclerophyll means hard leaf, and the Sclerophyll forests of Australia are plants that have adapted to the harsher conditions of the last few thousand years.
Grey leaves reflecting the sun's rays, and leaves that hang down with their edge to the sun, as in Eucalypts, are a prime example.
The needle like leaves of many Banksias are exposing a reduced surface area to the sun. Also the reduced leaf has few stomata, meaning fewer avenues for water to escape in transpiration.
You don’t have to just plant cactus and succulents. There are many natives
and non native plants that fit this description.
Now you have the tools to look at plants in the nursery and decide
yourself if they’ll grow in dry conditions.
April 14th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
Real World Gardener is
funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
PLANT DOCTOR
with Steve Falcioni, of eco Organic Garden,
This new segment-Plant Doctor, looks
at different pests and diseases that can occur in your garden.
Do you find that no matter how
carefully you look after your garden, there are plants that seem to get
everything wrong with them?
Then you’re left wondering, is it
me? Is it the wrong climate? Should I spray with something? Should I forget
about this plant?
Well today’s look at what can go
wrong is about a fungal problem that seems to hang around during the warmer
months.
Fungal diseases are caused by
microscopic spores that float through the air landing on just about everything
in your garden.
As soon as the spores find the
right environment, the fungus starts to grow.
Doing nothing only increases the
problem and eventually reduces the life of the plant. But there are
environmentally friendly or organic ways to treat problems.
One of the best ways to treat powdery mildew is to use Potassium bicarbonate, available as eco Fungicide and eco Carb for roses. This is best applied with a sticker of horticultural oil, so that it stays on the plant after rain. The potassium bicarbonate works so well, that it bursts the fungal cells, 5 minutes after application.
April 6th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
Real World Gardener is
funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
DESIGN ELEMENTS
with landscape designer Louise McDaid
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photo: Real World Gardener |
NEW SERIES-DROUGHT PROOFING YOUR GARDEN part 1
Today starts a new series on dry
gardening around Australia.
We’re not talking cactus and
succulents specifically or gardening with only hardy native plants.
The idea behind this series is
that summers are getting warmer so we need to look at how we garden, and what
we can do to preserve our precious plants.
Let’s find out what this is all
about.
It's important to know what type of soil you have.
Once you work that out, you can set about improving it (if it needs it) which will save you years of headache in the years to come.
Poor sandy soils and waterlogged heavy clay soils are just two that need to be improved.
If you ignore this step, your plants will refuse to grow well, and you may end up spending too much money on fertilisers and pest control products to overcome soil deficiencies.
Plants that grow in the wrong conditions, tend to be stressed and easily succumb to pest and disease.
If you’re looking at a large garden and thinking, how am I going to
achieve that better soil profile?
Don’t think of doing the whole garden at once. Start working on a
small corner by giving it the right amount of mulch and compost.
Then gradually work your way around the garden over several months.
Look it may even take a couple of years, but at least you’ve started.
If you have any questions about this
week’s any trees on your property, send it our email address, or you can write in for a fact sheet.
April 6th, 2014
REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney,
streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio
Network. www.realworldgardener.com<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" />
Real World Gardener is
funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN
edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album
Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com
THE GOOD EARTH
with Margaret Mossakowska from Permaculture North
Whether or not you’re into
permaculture, there’s plenty of things to be done in the autumn garden.
Working conditions aren’t quite as
unpleasant, plus all the seed and bulb catalogues fill out post boxes or
inboxes if we’re getting them via email.
Who can resist all the new varieties of seeds and bulbs but what must we do first?
Various online websites, garden magazines and gardening books, tell us when to plant this or that.
The reality is, those timeframes are very generalised and it's knowing your seasons and responding to the climate in your district, which indicates when it's the time to plant certain crops.
Of course, if you're a beginner gardener, there are some basic rules that you need to know.
Of all the least attractive or
glamorous tasks in the garden, working the soil is one of them.
You can make the task easier by
planting green manure crops as Margaret suggested.
Green manure crops make the task of digging
and fertilising a whole lot easier, because you let the green manure crop do
the work for you.

You don't have to dig them in, just lay them on top of the soil and let the worms do the work for you.
You also can just rake them into the top 10 cm of soil if you prefer.
If you have any questions about the
Autumn garden why not drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville
NSW 1675, and I’ll post a CD in return.
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