WALTER Burley Griffin’s vision of a garden city has long given way to the bush capital, which has now been replaced by a concrete jungle as block sizes shrink and towering high-rise developments reduce the […]
IT takes just a few warm days and, suddenly, there’s an explosion of growth in the garden. Bulbs, corms and rhizomes all store energy in various forms during the dormant winter months until nature decides […]
WISTERIA is in all its glory in some places and, in others, coming to the end of its flowering period with its almost-overwhelming fragrance. There are two main varieties of wisteria, W. sinensis (native to […]
LILAC is a hard plant to kill, which means it’s one of those that anyone can grow successfully. It’s almost a given that lilacs, renowned for their colour and fragrance, will do well. Most grow […]
GARDENS shouldn’t be solely focused on plants, but should be fun places for adults and children alike. Today I’m illustrating a couple of fun ideas; one that costs serious money and space to build, and […]
NATURE is truly amazing; no matter how hard the ground, bulbs have a way of pushing their leaves through in places that I cannot remember ever planting. I am also looking at the buds of […]
AS we head towards warmer weather and the prospect of spending more time outdoors, now’s the right time for spring cleaning in the garden. I’ve just taken a large boot load of unwanted garden products […]
ROSES can be pruned at any time, it doesn’t have to be traditionally at the end of August/early September. Some readers, who have attended rose-pruning demonstrations, have been told timing is very important; prune too […]
SPRING is one of the most exciting times in the gardening calendar and the Pieris family, commonly called pearl bush (the panicles of flowers resembling strings of pearls) provides a special delight this time of […]
AS the days get longer and warmer, blossom trees are starting to burst in all their glory, none more so than the spectacular Magnolia stellata or Star Magnolia by our front door. One of my […]
I HAVE been writing a regular gardening column for more than 30 years and one request I receive from time to time is for me to share what I’m doing in our garden in downtown […]
AS spring arrives our national floral emblem, Acacia pycnantha (or Australian Golden Wattle) patiently waits for warmer weather to fully open in flower. More of a small tree rather than a shrub, it is considered […]
LAWNS look understandably sad at present with little or no rain and severe frosts. But will the lawn recover? As in the bush with the severe drought, the grass is still there and with good […]
WITH barely a couple of weeks until the official start of spring there are early blossoms out in abundance, the first being Prunus mume or flowering apricot. As local gardeners know, spring really starts in […]
AS we appear to be having increasingly longer periods of dry weather, it’s worth considering drought-tolerant plants for the garden. While some think them uninteresting and lacking in colour, nothing is further from the truth. […]
A LACK of space is no impediment to enjoying fruit from one’s own trees. There is a range of miniature fruit trees that can be grown in tubs in the ever-so-small garden or on a […]
THE popularity of indoor plants waxes and wanes with an upsurge in popularity at present. Not only here, but quoting from “The Garden”, the journal of the UK Royal Horticultural Society: “For the first time […]
THIS time of the year is perfect for planting trees, if for no better reason than Sunday, July 29, is National Tree Day (or for schools, Friday, July 27). Planet Ark’s first National Tree Day […]
STRAWBERRIES would have to be the world’s most popular fruit and now’s the perfect time to replant strawberries that have been in for more than three or four years or plant new ones. When replanting […]
THERE are more than 220 species of magnolias. The evergreen varieties are mainly from North America and deciduous, with their spectacular flowers, are native from the Himalaya to Japan. At this time of the […]
“THE week of the Italian way of living” culminates with Vivere all’Italiana Day and an open day at the Italian embassy on Sunday, November 25. Visitors will be invited into the embassy gardens where Italian […]
UP to 100 police and members of the ACT State Emergency Service will search on a large area of Mount Ainslie this weekend (November 17-18) in relation to a historic missing person case. Police say […]
A BLACK Yamaha motorcycle was travelling north on Yamba Drive when it collided with another vehicle turning from Yamba Drive into Dookie Street, Farrer, this morning (November 16). Emergency services blocked the road following the […]
TWO faculties from the University of Canberra are providing support for drought-affected rural communities, with a caravan of researchers leaving tomorrow (Saturday, November 17) for the pilot of the “Creative Arts and Rural Health Initiative” […]
A NGUNNAWAL woman, 30, has allegedly used the internet to bring drugs to Canberra through the postal system. Police searched the woman’s home after a package was given to police earlier in the year, which […]
