Any gardener knows that September marks the beginning of the pay off for all your preparation work throughout winter and these gardening tips will help you to grow a better garden. If you have worked hard, September and spring will be an absolutely marvellous time in your garden.

What makes September such a good month for gardens is the fact that, in general, around Australia, the weather starts to warm up with more sunshine hours. This leads to a slightly warmer soil temperature. However there are still occasional showers (and even some storms) which supply much needed moisture so that your plants can make the most out of the sunny weather. This is slightly different in tropical regions where the rains will actually be starting in the next month or so after the dry season. So what do you need to do this month? Well, there are two things you must do during spring, and therefore begin this month; enjoy the fruit of your labour and start to prepare for summer.

1. Enjoy the fruit of your labour
September is a good month to plant some annuals. Some Australian favourites include ones such as petunias and marigolds, as listed previously. Though these are not Australian natives, they can be planted in and around your native plants to spice up your garden with a little colour. Local nurseries will have a large array of annuals to choose from so why not head down and pick some out?
Make sure you spend some time out and about your garden, soak in the sun, and enjoy the spring blossoms. Perhaps even look for a local wildflower show to go to one weekend to gain some inspiration. There is nothing like seeing Australian natives in full bloom out in the wild to inspire you and give you ideas of how to best grow them in your own garden. Even if you don’t use Australian natives, wildflower shows will help you see how you can best utilise the Australian landscape in your garden.

As your plants blossom, make sure you trim off the flowers when they die. This encourages your plants to flower again because they really want to produce seeds. September, and spring in general, are also great times for growing your own veggies. Plant some peas, lettuce, beetroot, carrots and silver beet and if you have not already, it’s not too late to plant tomatoes or beans.

2. Start preparing for summer
The second major task for spring is to make sure that you start to prepare your garden and grassed areas to cope with the summer heat. If you have any dead patches of lawn, dig up a couple of runners from other spots in your grass to replace them with. This is mostly effective with buffalo-style grasses though couch grasses will respond as long as you get some roots.

I like to find runners that have grown in places where they were not meant to for use. Anyone who has grass knows that keeping it separate from your garden can be a big task by itself! If you take these troublesome shoots and plant them in dead spots you effectively ‘kill two birds with one stone.’

Make sure that your garden beds are sufficiently mulched now. Don’t wait for summer because the weeds will pop up in abundance from late winter if you do not have sufficient mulch. Plus, if you mulch well now, your soil will be improved so that is it better prepared to handle the heat of summer, and, in the case of tropical Australia, the wet of summer.

If your garden is already littered with weeds, clear them out and get mulch down before optimal growing conditions begin and make weed control almost impossible.

If you want to get gardening tips for the whole year sign up now to my pre-release subscriber list so you can get the best price on my upcoming gardening tips ebook, releasing September 16th.  Sign up here.

Last month i reviewed the Stihl range of Brush Cutters. This month I am going to review a pretty important garden product that can significantly improve your garden and that is the humble garden shed. You might be wondering how a garden shed improves your gardening? Simply this, a good garden requires good tools. A good, solid, water-proof garden shed will keep your gardening tools better for longer, enabling you to better care for and maintain your garden.

Shed 1 – Masterstore Garden Shed 1.5m x 1.5m
This shed is the smallest in the range. It is a very simple shed that is very easy to put together and erect. The Masterstore Garden Shed is perfect for gardener with only a few tools or who are not particularly worried about being able to lay out your tools in a particular order. The shed is available in pale Eucalypt colour (pictured) or classic cream. This particular shed only has 1 door but it is only a very basic shed. One big upside to this shed is that because it is small, you have many options to place it. Plenty of people buy a small garden shed like this to position under an existing carport or patio area. A good, basic choice.

Shed 2 – Tidymaster Garden Shed 2.3m X 2.3m
The next size up in the Bunnings range and it really is a relatively significant increase. An upside to buying a bigger shed like this is that is is much easier to fit a worthwhile bench inside the shed and also allows for a more organised shed to be set up, with board for tools to be hung from. A garden bench helps to increase space use because equipment like lawnmowers and Brush Cutters can be placed underneath it and the bench itself can be used for planning or storing other tools. This shed is available in plain zinc colour or the pale Eucalypt colour. It is made from slightly stronger materials than the Masterstore, has a solid hinged door and a gable roof. A fantastic choice if you want a slightly larger garden shed.

Shed 3 – Tidymaster Garden Shed 3m x 3m
This is the biggest garden shed that Bunnings sells. The biggest bonus to this garden shed, other than the size, is that it comes with 2 doors which means moving equipment in and out is a breeze. Simple equipment like wheelbarrows and lawnmowers will never be an issue again! Obviously the larger size afford more space for more tools to be stored and also means that this size is the best shed to double as a work space for various gardening tasks like putting together wooden supports or building garden bed frames etc. Another upside to the size is if you put in shelving units and the like, they don’t have to go right up against the walls (because you have extra space) which reduces the effect of condensation and any possible leaks in the shed, which will help preserve your tools for longer. This shed is available in the plain zinc colour or classic cream. My garden shed of choice from the Bunnings range!

Hopefully you can find a shed that fits your gardening lifestyle from the Bunnings range!

It can actually be around now that gardeners make the biggest mistakes because you start to think ‘well we’ve survived summer, now we’ll just sit back, relax, and let winter take care of our garden by itself’. Wrong! What you do now over the next month or two will directly effect how well your garden survives the NEXT summer!

Autumn is a fantastic time to be out and about in your garden. Usually, in most parts of Australia, the weather starts to become milder but there still remains a significant number of sunny days to potter around in. Right now is a great time to prune your summer flowering perennial plants, like lavender, ready for the winter quiet. However not all plants should be pruned yet. Some people make the mistake of pruning their roses too early. April is still too early for roses because if you prune them now, they’ll start growing back too soon and won’t perform as well. Save your roses for June-August pruning. Continuing to dead head roses is important though.

April is also a great month for planting spring bulbs, such as daffodils. This will give them plenty of time to get set and grow ready for a beautiful showing come September. It can also be a good time to spread a light organic fertiliser around your shrubs and trees. Though they’ll receive Winter rains and won’t be growing as much, they still require nutrients to survive the cooler winter.

Autumn, and in particular April, can be a great time for planting trees because trees really do require good amounts of water to take root. Planting now will give them a month or 2 of good, sunny weather while still receiving some good rains, and then lapping up the rains of winter. The milder weather will also help because the trees won’t experience sun damage as easily before they have the root system to cope with it.

It is also not too late to get your winter vegetables in, especially if you get them down in early April. Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage and your leafy Asian style vegies really need to go in now if you want to get the best out of them throughout winter.

Use the next few months to really sow into your garden. As the rains start to fall in cooler and temperate climates you won’t have to spend as much time worrying about and making sure your garden has water so really work on other tasks, such as preparing garden beds for spring and summer annuals, fertilising, mulching and the like. Take the sunny days provided to you to provide the best benefit to your garden so that when Spring and Summer comes again your job will be easier!

Article Headline Examples
Special Feature
Italian Garden
Starch Staples

Plants & Flowers
Undercover Colour
Heady Hydrangeas

Gardens & People
Chook palaces
Grow your own

Know How
Sandy Soils
Thrifty Gardens

Best of the Regular
Clippings – Monthly guide to the latest plant releases, products, events and gardening news

Backyard Wildlife – Reviewing various animals that you may find in your backyard, both beneficial and dangerous.

Troubleshooting – Gardening experts answering readers questions.

Last Word
The Gardening Australia Magazine retails for around $6 and is available at most local newsagencies. You know you are getting quality when you buy something from the Gardening Australia franchise and you also know you will be able to find added content on their website which I will also be reviewing at a later date.

Update
I wrote this article in February last year and looking back on it now, not a lot has changed! I regularly peruse this magazine and very much use the Gardening Australia website. It has a lot of great articles and tips on gardening, provides a lot of good fact sheets from their show and has many links to other great resources. Why not check it out today?

With March also marking the beginning of autumn it is a good time to start thinking about what you want in your garden in spring and what needs to happen for that. Yes, winter comes and goes first but a top spring showing requires forethought. From about Mid-March to May you’ll want to get any winter/spring flowering bulbs in the ground, so perhaps start preparing your bulb garden beds now so that they are ready to go when the time is right.

If you have been putting off mulching then now is as good a time as any to make sure your garden has at least has a little mulch above the top soil. Even if you did mulch this summer, you may find you need to give it a light top up as a lot of mulch may have broken down already. You could probably get away with a smaller mulching now given that most of the hot weather is behind us and you’ll want good drainage in winter. The upside to laying a good layer of mulch now is that it will minimise how much you need to add when it comes time for next spring and summer.

You can also start planting some of your more winter friendly vegetable types, such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. This is also a really good time to try your hand at growing your own garlic as opposed to always buying it from the shops. Winter lettuces will also thrive throughout autumn and winter. Planting some spring onions now would also be a good idea. Growing my own spring onions was one of the best decisions I ever made. I only planted a few seedlings and they grew and grew and supplied me with all the spring onion that I needed for a long time. You can also often get away with buying some spring onions from the supermarket provided they still have the roots, and planting them. They do not always survive but this is how I often go with spring onion. The big upside is you can start harvesting now as the plant is already mature. March is also a good month for sowing carrot, spinach, broad beans and peas. Also, your Asian leaf and root vegetables would do well to be sown in seed form sometime this month.

Finally a bit of house keeping could be in order. If you have perennials that have taken over your garden in spots over summer and are coming to the end of their flowering season, consider giving them a good trim or even dividing them and planting them separately. Some perennials do this better than others, the best way I’ve found to learn is by trial and error so give it a go. Just try to remember, try and leave one section of the plant as undisturbed as you can while removing and transplanting the other section. This tends to help both plants survive the separation process.

1. Have lots of flowering plants throughout the various flowering seasons.
Birds and insects are attracted to flowers because flowers produce nectar and this is a very good food for birds and insects. If you can set up your garden such that there are always flowering plants then you will encourage return visitors and may even be lucky enough to attract wildlife to live throughout your garden on a more permanent basis. Having birds and insects around your flowers is good because flowers position their pollen right where the nectar is, so that when birds and insects reach in the get the nectar, they also pick up some pollen. This helps in pollinating other flowers so that plants can re-produce, keeping them happy and healthy.

2. Install a bird bath.
Wildlife require food to survive, but of course they also all require water! If you have a bird bath in your garden, you will increase the chances of alluring a beautiful variety of feathered friends to your yard. This can also be used as a feature in your garden with the right choice of bird bath, or you can hide it within larger shrubs, as long as the top is free for birds to be able to get to it. Just make sure you are able to top it up!

3. Have a mix of Shrubs and Small Tree’s
Various wildlife require very different environments to thrive. Birds like to fly in and rest in tree’s and amongst shrubs. Insects like to rummage in and around mulch and other organic matter. Birds will also like to feast on the insects that you have throughout! The best gardens have a real mixture of ground level shrubs, mid level shrubs and small trees. This provides the needs for many different birds and insects which can lead to great sounds in and around your garden as the birds and insects interact with their own kind, or warn others of their presence.

4. Spread a few Rocks around your Garden
Many small animals, such a gecko’s and lizards, require warmth to operate because they are cold blooded. One great way to encourage these animals into your garden is to litter small rocks or boulders throughout your shrubs. Rocks and boulders absorb heat and make great resting spots for insects and reptiles to gain energy and generally spend time. Of course, for these very same reasons you need to be aware of snakes because snakes love a good, hot rock. If you are in a known snake area, you may still like to add rocks, just keep an eye out for any unwanted snake visitors.

5. Install nest boxes and rotting logs
If you are really serious about encouraging wildlife to make their home in your garden you might want to actually add some homes! A few nest boxes perched in the branches of small trees will encourage birds to make their abode in your garden and a few, strategically placed old logs will make the perfect home for some local insects. You can even incorporate logs as a feature in your garden, planting shrubs around it which can produce quite a nice effect.

6. Make sure pets won’t disturb your visiting wildlife
One of the biggest reasons why people can’t get wildlife to visit or even live in their gardens is because their pets prey on anything that comes by! If you have a cat, make sure you make use of a cat bell. Yes, many crafty cats can still get around this but you will increase your chances of encouraging wildlife in this way.

If you have dogs, you may also want to fence off some of your garden area’s to stop them getting in their and digging holes or generally scaring wildlife away. Native wildlife needs to feel safe in order for it to make its home and this is not likely if cats and dogs will be chasing them!

Perhaps create your wildlife garden in spaces that your pets do not normally occupy? If you keep your cat indoors or your pets out the back, make your front garden into an attractive wildlife spot. Perhaps create one area out the back that your pets can’t generally get to but with access for local wildlife. Either way, doing your best to separate your pets and your garden will help in encouraging wildlife to make its home at your place.

The Last Word
Of course, if you like a quiet garden without bird and insect noises, or you are not a fan of various animals living and lurking around your garden, then you won’t want to create an environment for them. This will limit your gardens health, because of the reasons mentioned above, but it is still possible to have a nice garden without inviting too many birds and insects. If you want to limit these, check out your local garden centre for idea’s. I myself LOVE to encourage wildlife in and around my garden!

Since moving into my current house I’ve been doing quite a bit of work around the garden. I haven’t actually lived somewhere that I can have a garden for a little while, something I am very glad that I have rectified. So far I have installed 4 ACQ Treated Pine raised garden beds, all of which are now full of various different vegetables. However, whenever I look out the back at the old, rundown asbestos fence, I want to cry. It is just so bland, boring and grey, not a good look in a garden. As such I have always been on the lookout for something to place in front of the fence to make it look better. On a recent trip to Bunnings I came across Eden’s Euro Reed Natural Garden Screening and thought I’d buy one pack to test it and see what I think. In the process I realised that my readers may benefit from my thoughts on this product!

Eden’s Euro Reed Natural Garden Screening

To the right you will see a picture from the Eden Website which really captures the possible look you may be able to achieve with this product.

What is good about the product?
One obvious positive is that the screen fencing comes pre-made. The whole thing holds together quite well but still allows flexibility so that when you install it, you can get it just the way you like it (with a bit of patience).

Another positive is that there are different colours and styles (though the different colours and styles will have a slightly different name). The variety I am using is the Euro Reed. I also noticed a number of other colours and screens made from slightly different materials. This means there is likely a colour and material to suit your desires.

Another positive is there are different pre-made heights. I saw 3m wide by 1.5m varieties and also the taller 3m wide by 1.8m high, which is what I chose to work with.

What could be better about the product.
I am hesitant to say what I am about to say because it may just be my experience, but I found this product was actually deceptively difficult to get just the way i like it. You’ll see in the picture to the right my attempt to install it. Though it does look reasonable, I am a bit of a perfectionist and as I write this article, I am not ‘entirely’ happy with my DIY outcome. The most difficult thing is getting all the lines straight, which isn’t entirely necessary but looks better. I have also found it difficult to get the nice, neat straight line at the top. Nothing that I can’t fix in time, but I would say the product LOOKS easier than it perhaps is to install.

The market I feel this product is designed for is the weekend gardener who just wants to get something ‘practical’ to cover an ugly fence. A weekend gardener doesn’t want to have to get the spirit level out because you need a perfectly level foundation to get the desired outcome. However I do feel, with this product, that is just about needed if you want it to look like the top picture. In saying that, if you just want something to cover an ugly fence and you don’t care if it is perfect, this is probably a good product for you.

More on Installation

The product doesn’t come with the fixings to secure it with but this is to be expected as what you use will depend on what fence you are covering. The DIY instructions suggest you use fencing staples, screws, wire or nylon ties. Because I have an asbestos fence and couldn’t disturb it too much, I chose to use the existing screws used to hold the asbestos sheets together. I simply unscrewed the top nut (most fences have 2, top and bottom), pressed the screen up against the fence, placed the metal plate over the screen and then placed the nut back onto the screw. Simple.

Compare and Contrast
Here is a photo taken during the installation process. You can compare and contrast the old, run down asbestos look to the new, Euro Reed Screen look. I do much prefer the Euro Screen Reed look.

The Last Word
Ultimately I am actually relatively happy with the Eden Euro Reed Natural Garden Screening. Even though it will take a little bit more work than I first expected to get the desired outcome, it is still quite an easy way of improving the overall look of my back fence. If you are not too worried about the lines matching up and the top being completely straight, you could probably install 2-3 of these 3m wide sheets in about two hours.
Score: 7.5/10

If you live in a tropical climate, you may have already started to receive the summer rains, and this will only continue. If you have large grassed area’s, make sure you either manually aerate them with a garden fork, or you apply a good soil wetting agent during November. Even your gardens could do with a bit of soil wetting agent to make sure they can absorb and dissipate the large quantities of water about to come their way. You’ll also want to apply a good lawn fertiliser and a good garden fertiliser to the various area’s of your garden.

If you live in the more temperate or cool climates of Australia, your story is very different. Far from expecting drenching summer rains, temperate and cool climates can usually expect a very dry next few months. Because of this, a lot of the tasks for November are based around water management. Like the tropical climates, an application of soil wetting agent, if you haven’t done so already, would be beneficial. Rather than preparing for lots of water, this is to ensure that any water that does fall makes it to where it needs to be—the roots—and doesn’t sit on top of the soil surface for the sun to evaporate.

I also tend to say this every month, but if you have ignored me 9 times, you’ll have to ignore me a tenth. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch! Mulch in summer is your best friend. It will help keep the soil moist, stop the sun being able to cause large scale evaporation, and provide much needed organic materials throughout the summer months. Mulch your garden!

If you have spring flowering plants that are starting to finish their flowering you might like to consider giving them a prune now. If you have plants that

flower from Spring through summer, continue to make sure you remove the spent flowers because this will encourage most plants to at least try and flower again. Spring and summer flowering bottlebrushes are a prime example. Cut off the dead flowers and you will likely get another display sometime during summer.

It may also be time to remove your spring annuals if they are no longer looking healthy. Local nurseries are stocked full of summer annuals and November is a great month to get them growing. In most temperate and cool parts of Australia, November is still relatively mild, compared to Dec-Feb, so planting summer annuals now will give them a month to prepare for the summer sun.

Keep an eye on your vegetables and make sure you are watering them regularly. The hot sun will absolutely devastate vegetable plants that are low on water. Good water and the right amounts of shade will significantly help in achieving a healthy vegetable garden this summer.

Photo: Surburban Dollar on Flickr

Earlier this month I reviewed Bunnings new ACQ treated pine raised garden beds. I now have four of these installed in my own backyard and they are working like an absolute treat. This article does raise the question though, why should you consider using raised garden beds in your garden, particularly if you want to grow vegetables? In this article I am going to share the top 5 reasons why I think you should consider using raised garden beds for your next vegetable gardening venture.

Reason 1 – Raised garden beds reduce the compaction of the soil.
Though it is true that plants needs good, solid, secure soil to grow in it is equally true that they need light, air filled soil to thrive. Raised garden beds, by nature, have soil that is much less compacted than general garden spaces. This is partially because when you build a raised garden bed, you have to fill it and this naturally reduces how compacted the soil is. It also remains less compacted because you have no need to walk in the garden bed, so the soil will maintain a level of looseness. This enables more air to be trapped and maintained in the soil, which plant roots need to survive.

Reason 2 – Raised garden beds are easier to use.
Raised garden beds are easier to use because the garden bed, being raised, is much closer to you. There is less need to bend down or squat. They are also easier to use, as long as they are designed well, because they bring order to your garden. Vegetables are generally planted in rows and raised garden beds are easiest built in rectangles and this natural order helps make raised garden beds easier to use.

Reason 3 – Raised garden beds utilise moisture more efficiently.
Plants need moisture to survive, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know this. Raised garden beds better utilise the water that is available. Light, fluffy, air filled soil is generally better at both absorbing large amounts of water but also at dissipating, or removing, excess water. As water seeps into the soil, soil that isn’t compacted absorbs what it can and then allows the rest of the water to sink deep down into the soil, which is basically what is known as drainage. Most plants need well draining soils to thrive and raised garden beds encourage this.

Reason 4 – Raised garden beds help plants to grow for longer.
Another thing about vegetables is that they generally prefer to grow in warm (note warm, not hot) soils. Raised garden beds tend to warm up quicker but also tend to not overheat. This, again, has a lot to do with the air in the soil. Because they tend to warm easier, it means the natural gardening seasons can be slightly extended each side because the soil will warm better than in normal garden beds. Raised garden beds better use the available sunlight.

Reason 5 – Providing organic matter and fertiliser is easier and more efficient.
With raised garden beds, your garden is very clearly defined. You also generally tend to use all the space in a raised garden bed. This means that all the organic matter that you add and all the fertiliser you provide go into growing healthy plants. When using a garden bed that is level with the surrounding area’s, nutrients from the organic matter and fertiliser that you add can leach away into surrounding area’s which don’t necessarily need nutrients.

Conclusion
If you are keen to grow vegetables I very strongly recommend you consider using raised garden beds. They say that an average, 4-5 person family could grow all the vegetables they need for a year with 6 1.5m² beds. For most places this is probably more than you can fit, but most places could fit 2-3 of this size and even in 2-3 beds you can grow a lot of vegetables. Why not consider installing a raised garden bed or three soon? If you are interested, check out my review of Bunnings ACQ treated pine raised garden beds.

Article Headline Examples

Kitchen Gardens – Visit one of the world’s most beautiful kitchen gardens.

Roses in Adelaide Hills – A leading Adelaide horticulturalist has created a series of striking garden spaces.

Everlasting moments – WA’s spectacular wildflowers.

Best of the Regular

Reader Events – A page dedicated to informing you of upcoming special events. Usually this page seems to only promote one event but that one event is usually quite a good one.

A month in the country – Another section which outlines what is going on in the different states country area’s throughout the current month. Really good place to find out when garden festivals are happening!

The Last Word

As someone who has spent equal time living in the country as the city but now residing in the city, I really enjoy Country Style magazine. It almost helps me to experience some of the charms of country life from my city dwelling! This magazine really is very well put together with a great mix of the different elements that make up country life. It also often features some rather large gardens given the space country people often have to work with.

Check it out! 7.5/10 for me.