Garden Style - This Week: June Calender
The Sunday Age
Sunday May 31, 2009
The good gardener maps out a sound plan for the month ahead, says Jim Fogarty.1Donate to Australian obstetrician Catherine Hamlin's 50th year of life-saving work in her Hamlin hospital in Ethiopa by buying a David Austin 'Gold Celebration' rose. 2Don't throw out precious but unwanted plants, trees or shrubs. Exchange them at tradeaplant.com.3Check for fungal diseases on natives and succulents that are prone at this time of the year. Water Yates Anti-Rot over plant foliage as a preventative treatment.4Brace the cold at the Royal Botanic Gardens guided walk and discover its beauty and history. Tue-Sun, 11am and 2pm. Register at the visitor centre at the cafe, 9252 2429. Free.7For a sustainable, gold-hued decking timber that weathers to a natural grey finish, support a local business recovering from the fires, see goldencypress.com.au8Divide clumping plants and, viola!, you get a new plant, free, to swap with friends or family. Best options include kangaroo paws (right), hot pokers and Liriope sp. 10Check out the University of Melbourne's new website, which lets gardeners share clever water-saving ideas. smartgardenwatering.org.au 12Take cuttings such as rosemary, Westringia sp (left), lavender and box to produce your own plants. Place them in the laundry to keep warm over winter. If they fail, try again in spring.13Now is the time to buy bare-rooted, deciduous fruiting and ornamental trees from garden centres. Bare-rooted roses are also available. 14Visit the hothouse at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Learn about plant life that evolved before dinosaurs roamed. Every day, 10am-4pm, gate E on Birdwood Avenue. Free.15Transplant deciduous shrubs or small deciduous trees. Dig a large root ball and, once you've planted, backfill the soil around the root system ready for spring growth.16The Annabel Trends 2nd Skin range of gloves are shaped for gardeners with larger hands. Made from soft goatskin and Lycra. annabeltrends.com, rrp $26.95.19For winter colour in dry shade, plant hellebores. A new variety is H. 'Ivory Prince' (right). Plant en masse under trees and large shrubs.21Today, the shortest day of winter, is the best time to plant garlic (right). Garlic makes a great companion plant to other vegies as it has pest-repelling properties. 23Prune back burnt foliage on plants such as flax. Selectively prune damaged leaves to the base of the plant to encourage growth.24Prepare garden beds for winter vegies by digging in plenty of compost and dynamic lifter pellets.26Raise funds for the McGrath foundation by buying a Jane McGrath Rose, an old-style English floribunda rose with soft pink blooms. mcgrathfoundation.com.au27Winter is a good time to clean up weeds, and to trim back unruly plants before spring growth begins. Fiskars Weeder (below), rrp $49.99, at Bunnings stores.30Don't want to pay for your mulch? Search on Google and you might be in luck with local councils or arborists offering bags or trailer loads free in your area.
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