Jennifer Stackhouse

Imagine your garden as a giant smorgasbord. That’s how garden pests view it and, guess what, they are planning to come to your place for dinner to feast on new spring growth!

Fertilisers, also known as plant foods, come in a range of formulations including granular, slow-release and liquid. Which formulation you select depends on your garden size, storage facilities and ease of application.

I am standing at my kitchen window looking out across the vegie garden to the hills beyond. In the middle distance is a power pole. It is the only blot on the otherwise perfect outlook. I can only see it from this angle as the kitchen is elevated. In the garden it is out of sight, blocked out by small trees growing along the boundary. When those trees grow a little taller they’ll block the pole from the kitchen window too.

One of the best ways to experience the seasonal transition from winter to spring is to include a blossom tree in your garden.

I have several varieties of large, bushy Camellia Japonica shrubs growing near my carport and they put on a warm welcome as I arrive home on a chilly winter’s day.

Winter pruning is done to encourage new growth and good flowering through spring and summer.

In Australia we mostly experience a white or hoar frost where the ground is covered with ice and the grass can become crunchy underfoot.

These dramatic flowers are ancient plants that link the flora of South Africa with our own native plants.

The interest in greenery indoors is part fashion and part science. New and vibrant containers – pots, hanging baskets, vertical gardens and terrariums – have given indoor plants new...

There’s nothing quite as cheery to see growing in a garden as a daisy bush. But daisies aren’t just daisies.