Australian Native and Exotic Fire Resistant Trees and Plants for Fireproof Landscapes

Fire protection is especially important in Australia, the driest continent in the world, which is plagued by periodic bushfires. These fires can burn uncontrollably in wilderness and rural areas, tearing through forests or grasslands, consuming dry combustible fuels which build up from prolonged dry weather […]

Permaculture Plants – Australian Indigo, the Nitrogen Fixing Tree for Small Sites, an Alternative to Tagasaste for Urban Gardens

In permaculture, tagasaste (tree lucerne) is used as a nitrogen-fixing tree on large sites and rural properties, but it can grow around 5-7m tall and equally wide, which is way too large for smaller urban properties. Luckily for Australian permaculture gardeners, we have a much […]

Permaculture Plants – Tagasaste, the Nitrogen Fixing Tree for Large Sites

Permaculture is all about energy-efficient design, and if you can add a single design element to a site that can perform many functions, then that’s an incredible gain in efficiency! A tree that could do almost everything would be incredible, but it doesn’t exist. The […]

How Far Do Large Tree Roots Extend?

Arboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of trees and shrubs, and arborists use several formulas for calculating how far tree roots extend in order to protect the health of trees when construction works and soil disturbance occurs nearby. Knowing how far tree roots extend […]

Tree Pruning, How to Prune Tree Branches Correctly

The first step in pruning a tree, before making and cuts to change the shape or size of a tree, is to remove any dead, diseased or broken branches. If removing a branch completely, it’s important to make the cut correctly so as to not […]

What is Chop and Drop Gardening (Sheet Composting)?

Permaculture is all about working efficiently and in harmony with Nature. We can garden far more efficiently, with far less effort, and improve the soil at the same time by emulating Nature’s soil building processes through practising Chop and Drop gardening. How do most sustainable […]

Horticultural Glues and Tree Banding Trees to Controls Ants and Other Pests

Glue-banding of tree trunks is an effective technique for controlling various pests of fruit trees. A waterproof band covered in horticultural glue, an aggressive long-lasting adhesive, is wrapped around the trunk of the tree to create a sticky barrier which prevents climbing insects from making […]

How to Kill a Tree Stump Without Poisonous Chemicals

Sometimes we need to cut down trees to remove them, but chopping trees down to the ground does not stop them putting out new growth from the stump or from the roots and eventually turning back into full sized trees again. In fact, the technique […]

Can You Grow Pistachio Nut Trees?

With the ever-increasing interest in food growing worldwide, many people are trying their hand at growing nut trees with great success. Pistachio nuts are very popular, just about everyone loves them, and it’s inevitable that some gardeners will take interest in growing their very own […]