Growing strawberries from seeds can be a fun and rewarding project, but it does come with certain challenges and considerations. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to extract seeds from store-bought strawberries, plant them, grow them, and understand the best practices and potential issues. Extracting […]
When planning to cultivate berries like currants and gooseberries in your garden, understanding the concept of chill hours is crucial for ensuring a successful harvest. This guide will help you navigate the chilling requirements of various currants and gooseberries, so you can optimize your gardening […]
Kiwi fruit (Actinidia spp.) is a popular and nutritious fruit known for its unique flavor. This long-lived, vigorous, fruiting vine is native to certain regions of China and parts of Southeast Asia, where it has been cultivated for centuries. Achieving successful kiwi fruit production requires […]
The passionfruit vine (Passiflora edulis) is a vigorous perennial woody evergreen fruiting subtropical vine from the Passifloraceae family. It has three-lobed, glossy green leaves, and climbs by tendrils, reaching a height of up to 5m (15′), depending on the structure it’s climbing upon. The purple […]
The goji berry plant (Lycium barbarum), also known as a wolfberry (gouqizi, 枸杞) in Chinese, is a scrambling deciduous shrub with long, sparsely spiny weeping branches. It’s a Lycium (boxthorn) species that is a member of the Solanaceae (nightshade or tomato) plant family, and is […]
Blackberries and blackberry hybrids, such as thornless blackberries, loganberries, boysenberries, youngberries, taybberries, silvanberries, marionberries and lawtonberries all belong to the genus Rubus, along with raspberries. Unlike raspberries which have vertical growing canes, blackberries and their hybrids have long trailing horizontal canes, which are usually supported […]
Mulberry trees are deciduous trees which are traditionally winter pruned when they’re dormant and have no leaves, with the pruning carried out in late winter. When spring arrives, the buds on the bare branches open to produce new leaves, as well as new branches which […]
Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) belong to the genus Rubus, along with other cane berries such as blackberries, boysenberries, lawtonberries, loganberries, marionberries, silvanberries and tayberries. What’s quite interesting is that the whole Rubus genus is part of the Rosaceae (Rose) family, to which almonds, apples, apricots, cherries, […]
Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) are a popular dish in Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine. These appetisers are made of meat, rice, various herbs and spices, all of which are wrapped in grape vine leaves and cooked. When cooking, it’s important to use the correct ingredients, […]
Queensland fruit fly or Qfly (Bactrocera tryoni) is one of the most damaging pests of fruit and vegetables in Australia. This insect is native to eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, but has extended its range due to transport of infected fruit, the planting […]
Small-space gardening is becoming increasingly popular as outdoor spaces and gardens get progressively smaller in urban areas. There are many ways to maximise the use of limited available space, and one of the best ways is vertical gardening, growing upwards rather than outwards! Gardeners are […]
Grapes fruit on new season’s shoots which arise from one-year-old canes. Once these canes have produced their fruit for the season, they will not produce again. To keep grapes productive, they need to be pruned to renew the young canes which will produce in the […]
Plant propagation is the practice of creating new plants from old using a variety of techniques such as seed sowing, grafting, taking cuttings, division, marcotting, ground layering, and even tissue cell culture. Some gardeners may wonder why there’s such a wide range of propagating techniques. […]
Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are native to north-eastern North America. and grow in swamps and bogs. They are a low growing, trailing woody evergreen perennial with small oval leaves that grows along the ground and forms a dense mat. Berries are produced on short vertical upright […]
If you thought that hedges and hedging were restricted to ornamental gardening only, you’d be seriously mistaken! Hedges are quite useful in a garden, and can serve many functions, such as: barriers for security, privacy and screening purposes shade for people or gardens – especially […]
Constructing a grape vine trellis is an excellent way to support your vines and ensure they receive ample sunlight for optimal growth. This guide will walk you through building a basic 2.0m x 2.4m (6′ x 8′) grape vine trellis, including the necessary materials and […]
Good Companions Bad Companions Apples Chives, Horsetail (Equisetum), Foxgloves, WallflowersNasturtiums, Garlic, Onions Grass, Potatoes Apricots Basil, Tansy, Southernwood Tomatoes, Sage Asparagus Tomatoes, Parsley, Basil Basil Tomatoes, Asparagus, Parsley, Apricots Beans Carrots, Cucumbers, Cabbages, Lettuce, Peas, ParsleyCauliflower, Spinach, Summer Savory Onions, Garlic, Fennel, […]
