Here at Aussie Green Thumb, we recently got our hands on the new ‘Sculpt’ range of prunning tools from Cyclone and ran them through their paces to see how they would hold up. We’ve also got a set to giveaway; keep reading to find out how to enter in less than 10 seconds! Read more
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Note from Jim: A lot of you have been looking for practical info on building out parts of your gardens into more useable outdoor space,let’s walk through the advantages of incorporating outdoor blinds into your designs.
(Make sure you check out my most popular and helpful articles when you get a chance).
Outdoor areas are a valuable addition to any home, but enjoying your outdoor space can be a bit tricky when the weather decides not to cooperate with your plans. While there’s not a lot you can do about changing the weather, there is a lot you can do to save your outdoor areas from the mercy of the elements. Installing custom made outdoor blinds is the simplest solution to not only provide shelter, but also keep your outdoor areas looking great.
Of course, there are other options besides custom made outdoor blinds but with premade blinds, you can never be sure you’re getting products that are precisely suited to your various needs. Custom made outdoor blinds are simply the best choice for every situation and here are just a few reasons why. Read more
Many of the questions that I field here at AussieGreenThumb.com are with regard to vegetable gardening. How to improve the soil, how to grow good tomatoes, how to, how to, how to. I am more than happy to field these questions and hopefully I am able to answer them sufficiently most of the time. However, today I am reviewing a product that I recommend to anyone who wants to improve their vegetable garden and isn’t already using raised garden beds. Today I am reviewing a product I recently discovered at Bunnings, ACQ Treated Pine garden beds.
As some of you may be aware, generally speaking it is good to stay away from using treated pine in building raised garden beds because most treated pine is treated with chemicals that include arsenic. There is conflicting evidence as to whether the arsenic actually does or does not leach into the soil, and as such most people stay away from this. However, ACQ treated pine is safe because the treatment chemicals used DO NOT INCLUDE arsenic or chromium for that matter. As such, ACQ treated pine is great for use in building raised garden beds.
Bunnings ACQ treated Pine garden beds
I stumbled across this product when I myself was trying to work out which wood I would use to build a garden bed. When I saw a pre-cut and ready to DIY assemble packed garden bed that was priced at only $49 I thought all my Christmas’ had come at once. To build this myself I would have struggled to do it for less than that price (at wholesale price it would be possible) and the added labour this would save me appealed greatly. The website lists the price at $59 but I did only pay $49.
Because I am actually naturally skeptical about ‘pre-made’ things I actually only bought one first because I wanted to road test this product before committing to using these for my entire vegetable garden. I took it home and started putting it together to see just how easy this product was to use and whether or not it suited my needs. I can safely say it exceeded my expectations on nearly every level.
True to their word every part of the assembly was ready to go. The pine sheets were pre-drilled and the screws included in the kit. All I had to do was grab my drill, put the right philips head drill piece in and get to work. I had the frame together in about 30 minutes.
I then moved the frame into position. It was light-weight enough to be able to move once assembled but felt very strong and stable. It measures 120cm x 120cm x 31cm which is a little lower than I would have liked, but for the ease of use I am happy with that. I’d probably have built my own to 40cm. After putting the frame together I filled it with my desired soils and manures and also built a simple polypipe reticulation system into it.
I was so happy with this product that I actually went out and bought another two and set them up in the same way. The second and third frame only took me about 20 minutes each to assemble since I knew exactly what I was doing. Filling them took about an hour total and adding reticulation about another half an hour. All up my entire project would have been about 5-6 hours tops, an easy weekends work.
I’d strongly recommend this product if you are looking to install raised garden beds at your place.
All my best articles have been collected into what I’m calling the ultimate gardening toolkit – make sure you take a look, there’s a heap of great gardening advice available.
I’ve also published a series of gardening ebooks that you might be interested in. Good luck!
Do you want to grow a better garden? Check out my ebook which covers 7 of the most important topics you need to understand to start growing a better garden today!
Spring is well and truly in the air. As I write this I am looking out my window at the wonderful blue sky with the sun shining down all around. I really do enjoy Spring. With Spring comes flower season and to make sure that your garden has the best display possible this spring you need to make sure that you are regularly feeding your plants. There are many different ways to fertilise plants but my favourite way is to spray them with liquid fertiliser. To do this job you need a good garden sprayer and today I am going to tell you all about the Hozelock range of Sprayers. According to Adam Woodhams, Hozelock’s high quality range of specialty garden sprayers will set you on the path to a perfect garden.
Before we get into the article, a quick disclaimer. I was provided with a free sample of the two garden sprayers I am about to review. I was not paid or placed under any coercion to provide a specifically positive or negative review, simply to write my own unbiased opinions. As such the below reviews are my thoughts on the Hozelock garden sprayers. Thankfully…I loved them so this is really easy to write!
Sprayer 1 – Hozelock Garden Sprayer – Retails from $36
This is the basic garden sprayer from the Hozelock range. Its features(from media release);
· Lightweight outdoor pressure sprayer with an ergonomic pump handle for easy pressurisation. (available in either 7L or 10L sizes).
· Features a lockable flow control and trigger, as well as a unique easy fill wide neck to ensure no liquids are wasted or spilt on you.
· Easily adjusted spray nozzle allows for simple pattern change – from jet for spot treatment to cone & mist for chemical application of wide areas.
From my testing I would very strongly agree with each of these features. When i received the sprayer it was in pieces but I found it extremely easy to put together, the pieces just made sense. However the instructions provided are ample if you do need some help in setting it up.
With my gardening work I regularly have to cover large area’s. I have found that the 10L variety easily covers pretty much any size space that I would need to which saves me having to continually fill up. The pump mechanism for building pressure is simple to use and moves up and down with ease. It also locks in to the top when you are ready to use the sprayer. Once pressurised I put the sprayer into a lock position so I could see how long it sprayed for without significant loss of pressure. I was astounded to still be timing after 4 minutes of continually spraying with very minimal drop in pressure. After 4 and a half minutes I pumped it a few more times to see how much it took to get it back to full pressure, only 6-10 pumps and it was back.
This sprayer also has a pressure valve built in so that if, for whatever reason, the pressure does become too much, the sprayer allows some pressure out so that you don’t have an exploding sprayer. Though this shouldn’t ever really be an issue, it is good to have that safety mechanism in place.
Score: 8/10
Sprayer 2 – Hozelock Viton® Sprayer – Retails from $30
This particular sprayer is designed specifically for chemicals that require a little more safety in storage. Features include (from the Fiskars media release);
· A range of three sprayers (1.25L, 7L and 10L) specially designed for heavy duty applications, which require resistance to more aggressive chemicals.
· Equipped with a set of Viton® fluoroelastomer seals and stainless steel lance for added protection against harsh chemicals.
· Suitable for chemicals such as: motor oil, turpentine oil, petrol, ink, methylated spirits,
hydraulic fluid, bleach, degreaser and floor wax.
· Viton® is a registered trademark of Dupont
This sprayer is designed for spraying the more nasty garden chemicals. From lower scale insecticides to high end poisons, the Viton® garden sprayer will do the job with aplomb.
I tested this sprayer using RoundUp®. I got very similar results in terms of pressure and length of use as I did with the garden sprayer. I was able to fill the bottle and then clean it afterward without having to make contact with anything that had come in contact with the insecticide. The controllable nozzle head made it very easy to choose the right spray so that i could focus on smaller area’s when other plants were present but also make it bigger when I wanted to cover weed infested area’s.
Score – 8/10
What i like most about these two sprayers is that, between the two of them, every spraying task I might have in my garden can be completed. Having one of each also means that I can keep my good chemicals (fertilisers etc) completely separate from my bad checmicals (RoundUp® etc). I don’t have to worry when using fertilisers that there may be traces of poison in my sprayer because I won’t have used anything but good fertiliser in it.
I strongly recommend you consider either or, better still both of these products if and when you are looking to buy garden sprayers.