Few garden elements can ‘charm up’ an outdoor living area like a water feature.
Size doesn’t matter - something small and elegant will do the job perfectly well,
as this gorgeous stone urn illustrates. If you love the sound of trickling water,
you'll need to include a low-voltage pump in the base and a small trench to run
the cable to a power outlet. But a still water feature can be just as lovely, with
its glassy reflective surface. Just be sure to include a few tiny fish, such as White
Cloud Mountain minnows, to eat any mosquito wrigglers that might intrude. Line
the base of your water container with river pebbles for extra charm.
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Australia's biggest garden
festival, the Melbourne
International Flower & Garden
Show, is back with stunning
displays and more than 500
exhibitors, from Wednesday,
30 March to Sunday, 3 April.
The annual festival features show
gardens by 2006 Chelsea Flower Show gold medal-winning designer
Dean Herald, 2006 Chelsea gold winner Scott Wynd, and
Better Homes
and Gardens’
Jason Hodges - a past gold medal winner at the show -
along with many other talented designers. There will also be plant sales,
garden clinics, demonstrations and a children’s fairy garden. The show will
be held in the 1 30-year-old Royal Exhibition Building and surrounding
Carlton Gardens. For more information, visit www.melbflowershow.com.au
April
in the garden
When organic mulch has finished its job,
dig it into vegetable beds to improve the soil
texture and nutrient content.
Introduce red-hot colour with pots of common
geraniums
(Pelargonium
sp.). A fantastic new
cultivar to look out for is the American deep red
geranium ‘Calliope’, with its semi-double blooms.
Visit www.bigredgeranium.com.au
Sow Iceland poppy seeds for a late-winter/
early-spring burst of colour. These poppies -
which are in fact from Siberia, not Iceland - do
best in a sunny spot with regular watering.
If you’re fed up with poor-quality imported
garlic, grow the ‘real’ stuff. Seed cloves can be
bought from specialist suppliers. Plant in well-
drained soil in full sun over autumn. Side-dress
with blood and bone in early spring and you can
expect to harvest by summer or early autumn.
Now is an ideal time to plant sasanqua
camellias - in many nurseries this month. Adding
a good helping of compost to the soil around
the planting hole will help them get established.
Continue to plant spring-flowering bulbs
in pots to guarantee a colourful celebration after
the long days of winter. Daffodils, ranunculi and
hyacinths are fine for cooler areas.
Celebrate Plant Life Balance Day on 2 March
by bringing a pot plant into your workplace for
harmony and better health and productivity. An
initiative of Nursery and Garden Industry Australia,
the day encourages the growing of hardy indoor
plants, such as mother-in-law's tongue, Zanzibar
Gem, bromeliad and dracaena (pictured).
Revive your lawn in autumn, so it stays strong
and healthy through winter. Feed it now, using
either a manure-based food like Yates Dynamic
Lifter Organic lawn food or a slow-release product
like Scotts Lawn Builder. Also, repair bare patches
by loosening the hard top soil,
topdressing with improved
loam, and then either
sowing seed or
planting runners.
Water with a
soluble fertiliser.
Set up a few ‘herb
shelves’ outside your
back door, so you can
keep potted herbs handy
for easy picking. Use Besser
blocks for the base and lie
recycled timber planks across
to form the shelf. Give the
whole thing a coat of paint so
it blends with your house.
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BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, APRIL 2011 bhg.com.au
Photography fony Fawcett
