Gardening Business up and running

For a long time I have been working towards opening my own gardening business, I am aiming to provide High End Garden Design and Maintenance services to Melbourne suburbs.
Please take a look at my new business website.

http://mpgardenguide.wix.com/gardener

If you need any assistance.

Book review - Lothian Companion Planting Guide

Book Review - Lothian Guide to Organics and Companion Plants

In this post I will be reviewing a book I was given for Christmas titled: ‘Lothian - Successful Organic Gardening – Companion Planting’. It aims to give a run down of the basics of companion planting and gardening in general, how to create a garden plan and also has a plant-by-plant guide to the most common garden plants, their enemies and beneficial companion plants. The book is beautifully set out, very easy to follow and has very nice full-page photographs of common garden pests. It also provides tips and tricks throughout on various aspects of gardening.

The book aims to dispel some of the more common myths around companion planting and also tries to provide scientific evidence for some of the most common folklore surrounding the subject. The language is succinct and easy to read and considering it covers such a large subject matter the information inside is thorough and easily accessible. The plant-by-plant guide is particularly useful as it not only gives a rundown of common pests and diseases as well as optimum growing conditions, but also provides a range of possible companion plants. I found this book extra useful as I am in the middle of planning my own winter crop and had easy access to good information on which plants to choose, where to plant them and what to plant them with. There is even an up to date map of climatic regions in Australia in the back, which separates the landmass into nine different climate regions, rather than simply saying temperate, tropical or arid.

The book is edited by both amateur gardener’s and qualified horticultural academics which explains why there is a good scientific basis for the information provided, rather than just reproducing what has been said by Jan next door. I would definitely recommend this as a good read for the beginning gardener, especially if you are interested in companion planting and organics. At 20 bucks, its a bargain price, seeing as a lot of garden help manuals can retail upwards of $40.

Bonsai - Natives can cope

You may have come across various forms of pruning, generally aimed at maintaining the health and productivity of a plant. Although this is an aspect of Bonsai, they are also a perfect example of pruning for aesthetic purposes. In traditional Japanese Bonsai art, the aim is to create a miniature version of something that would occur naturally in the wild. One book suggested that one should pretend you are seeing a tree from the wrong end of a telescope. I could fill this whole assignment with information on Bonsai growing but I have decided to focus on creating Bonsai from native Australian species as I recently came across a book that dispelled some myths about this ‘branch’ of Bonsai.

Anything is possible

Lovely Ficus specimens.

Firstly it is true that some Australian species such as the Eucalyptus can be quite difficult to both establish as a Bonsai and to maintain. There are, however, species like Ficus that are perfectly suited to the Bonsai trade. Some specimens even develop miniature aerial roots and even some amazing buttress root systems. The degree to which this occurs is once again dependant on how you prune and manipulate your tree. Pruning is also carried out on the roots, which is the key process in maintaining the small size of the Bonsai. Roots are pruned while transplanting. Done every 2-5 years depending on the age and habit of your Bonsai species.

Interestingly the authors of the native Bonsai book I am reading had a lot of issues with ‘wiring’ their native species. Wiring involves wrapping the trunk in  (Usually) copper wire in order to then train the tree into the form you desire. In the native Bonsai, the authors found that sections of the tree would die completely, go dormant or that new shoots would die back. They found that preventing these reactions was simply a matter of trimming back strong upwards growing shoots or shoots that were vigorously forming from the base near the trunk.

Amazing She-Oak (Casuarina)

She-Oak forest.

Check out this site to get you started:

www.bonsai.asn.au

Zucchini - Grow and Cook

Zucchini - From Soil to Boil

As you can see, foliage can become troublesome.

I am currently undertaking a degree in horticulture and part of our course requires us to grow our own personal vegetable plot. Possibly the best aspect of the course thus far. I was lucky enough to get a really nice crop of small zucchinis from just two plants and i just love their flavor and versatility so i thought i would show you all what i did with mine in the kitchen and give you some information on how to grow them at home.

Zucchini Grow Bio

Ready to pick

Soil: Depends on climate, if planted early Zucchini can thrive in light sandy soils. If they are expected to survive a hot midsummer period then heavier clay soils should see them through.

Timing: Plant seedlings in Nov-Feb, seeds can be germinated earlier in a greenhouse.

Spacing: 50-90c apart, foliage spreads quite extensively and can crowd out other plants if you are not careful

Harvest time: 5-9 weeks, harvest when zucchinis are small but dark green, once they reach 'marrow' size they are not as tasty or nutritious.

Watch out for: Zucchinis are very frost prone, don't plant early. Also watch for powdery wildew, aphids and thrips.

My Dish

I thought i would keep it simple for this one. Just a variety of veges including the Zucchinis arranged nicely on a wooden board with some good bread and tzatziki and gaucamole for seasoning. I just love being able to pick and choose little tid-bits from the selection to create your own sandwich. The roasted sweet potato was beautiful and acted as a meat substitute in this case. Naturally you can substitute any of the ingredients but i would definately suggest trying the sweet potato and zucchinis as they made this dish.

I like zucchini butts, and I cannot lie.

Ingredients:

Zucchini

Carrot

Sweet potato

Capsicum

Avocado

Salt

butter

Pepper

Lemon

Rosemary

Store bought tzatziki :(

Good bread of your choice, nice and crusty is best in my opinion

Method:

This is a good thickness.

For the sweet potato, sprinkle a baking tray with olive oil, rosemary, pepper and salt. Depending on how thick you slice your tatoe this can take around 20-30 mins so its good to get this step on the go first.

So Easy!

Grate as much carrot as you need and place on board. Meanwhile get your zucchinis sauteing on a low heat with a touch of olive oil, tablespoon of butter, garlic and season to taste. Make sure you don't overcook the zucchini, if you have sliced them nice and thin they should only take a couple of minutes, you want a little bit of that firmness left in. 

 

Am i in heaven?

To make a really nice simple guacamole, slice an avocado in half and mash up the flesh with a fork while its still in the skin. Once you have a nice consistency add some lemon juice, pepper and salt. Don't be scared with the salt here as it will need a good sprinkle to get the flavors humming! If you are feeling especially flavor-less you can always add a little guacamole seasoning from el paso etc. (I do)

Now slice up your bread and get it under the grill, rub with garlic and olive oil beforehand for crispness and flavour if desired.

After

And there you have it, arrange everything nicely on a board or some other serving dish to give your diners that extra wow factor. Theres nothing like a nicely presented pile of veges to make you go mmmmmmm!

Legumes and Soil Quality

Legume Confusion

Leaves and flowers of the 'Lead Tree'

It is common to find reference to the great benefits of growing a crop of legumes such as Beans or Peas in terms of soil health. Indeed the Mayans were know to cultivate the Leauceana or 'Lead Tree' for the specific purpose of improving soil quality. Six bags of dried leaves from this tree are comparable to an equivalent bag of store bought Ammonium Sulfate fertilizer. AMAZING!!

This discussion arises from the fact that legume species from the Fabaceae plant family form mutually beneficial (Symbiotic) relationships with bacteria in the soil know as Rhizobia. These Rhizobia in-turn process Nitrogen from air pockets in the soil and make it available to plants as Ammonium. Nitrogen in the air is after all not useable by plants before it is 'fixed' in such a process.

Why are we talking about Nitrogen in the first place? Because it is possibly the single key nutrient to plants and thus life on earth. Low Nitrogen levels are the most common cause of crop failure or low yield and Nitrogen is readily lost from agricultural and garden soils alike during extended wet periods and to the natural Nitrogen cycle (Diagram below).

Rhizobia 'Nodules' on a bean plant

This relationship costs the legume in question quite a substantial sum as it must transfer a large portion of the energy it makes through photosynthesis to the Rhizobia. As such, contrary to popular belief, there is actually little to no 'leakage' of Nitrogen from the the Rhizobia into the surrounding soils. Its like asking your next door neighbor if you could borrow the carpenter they have hired after he finishes fixing the front door. 

Rhizobia on a Pea

That is to say you will most likely not get a bigger tomato crop simply by planting beans near them during the growing season. The true benefits of the legumes come only if you turn the whole growing portion of the plant back into the soil after it is done, let it rest and then plant where the legumes have decayed. Note also that the presence of the nodules i have shown does not necessarily mean you are getting nitrogen fixation taking place. Nodules that are larger than 2mm and a pink/red color are working efficiently and fixing nitrogen.

This is not to say that planting legumes is not worthwhile, simply that the right procedures need to be followed in order to get the maximum benefits.