Welcome to our new look News page. Here you will find quick references to what's new on our website, along with a FAQ section, and a general information section containing information on all sorts of things. This is where we will post little bits of info that might not necessarily go on our other pages, but is useful for the DIYer. So regularly check back here each time you log into our page to see what's new, and perhaps get a hold of some useful information. If you would like to ask a question for our FAQ section, simply email us the question, and we will answer it right here!

Water restrictions are a major part of our gardening lives, and many businesses are now working hard to market their water wise products, services and suggestions. We are not going to do this as we have been promoting water wise solutions for years. It's just a shame it took such a severe drought to make everyone realise the importance of saving water. Check out our pages on mulch, soil, lawns, lawn alternatives, weed control, and some of our articles further down on this page to give you some ideas on how to beat the drought. And if you believe that water restrictions means a dead garden, check out the updated photos of one of our gardens 14 months after initial creation, here.

What's new?!

Due to shop sales we are in the process of upgrading all of the crystal products that we have listed. Please keep coming back to check what is new on these pages.

We have moved from a contracting role to a consulting role as of January, and so we wont be continuing to create gardens as we have for the last five years. Instead, we are offering a consultation service in which we can offer ideas and advice to the people who would love to create a natural environment themselves.

Check out our article on the importance of composting and mulching for the health of ourselves and our environment. A must read for anyone with a garden.

Looking after our soils is paramount to a successful garden, and to the future sustainability of our planet. Read our article on soil care, and get some handy information on soil types and pH levels.

We now have more crystal products for sale, including tumbled stones and carvings with no minimum purchase.

We have introduced a range of 100% pure essential oils and hand made pure essential oil incense sticks.

We have introduced a range of natural massage oils, infused with 100% pure essential oils, for general massaging, with the added benefit of aromatherapy.

FAQ.

How often will my new garden require maintenance?

If your garden is brand new, weekly maintenance is the best option, but as this would be far too expensive for most people to afford, fortnightly maintenance is a good alternative. But, I wouldn't leave it any longer than that. If you are happy to do your own maintenance, then try to get out into the garden every day. Not only is this good for the garden, but it is also very therapeutic for you and your energy will become imprinted on the new garden, and you will find you have a deeper connection with it.

If I have a dog, can I still have a pond?

Yes you can have a pond if you have a dog, but you need to determine if your dog will be entering the pond or not. If you plan to keep the dog away from the pond, or put some type of fencing up to prevent the dog from entering, then the pond construction is as normal. If, however, your dog will be able to enter the water (and will do often), then we need to build the pond slightly differently, with a special type of liner that is extra strong. And, we also need to cover the liner with about 6 inches of sand and pebble to help stop the dogs claws from piercing the liner. Unfortunately, even this is no guarantee that the dog wont pierce the liner, especially if he/she tries to dig in the pond, but its the best solution apart from having a concrete pond, and that has its own little dramas to contend with. With care, and a calm dog, you can do it.

Will I get frogs if I have a pond?

Yes! Frogs will find their own way to your pond with no help from anyone.

How can I keep frogs out of my pond?

You can't!! Frogs will be there naturally and even if you are lucky enough to catch one and put him away from the pond, more will take its place.

Do I have to keep filling my pond up in summer?

Quite possibly. Water will evaporate, and over the course of a hot day, you may notice a drop in water level in your pond, so you may need to top it up regularly. A way out of this is to install a float valve to keep the water level at a constant height. Splashy waterfalls will also contribute to the water loss , and you may even notice water losses in winter. This is normal, and usually unavoidable.

How often should I water my new plants?

This will depend on your soil type, type of watering system, time of year, heat, type of mulch, etc. The soil will need to be moist all the time, so you will need to monitor it daily at first until you get used to how much water is required to do this. It is best though not to water too frequently in short bursts. Deeper watering every second or third day is better than a light daily sprinkle. Upon saying this though, on some sandy soils, it may actually be necessary to water your new plants several times a day if its really hot to avoid wilting. A high quality irrigation system will eliminate these problems.

Do natives still need water?

Yes natives need water just like all plants! Don't fall into the trap of believing that natives don't need water!!! It's simply not true! Tolerance to drought is only possible once the plant is established.

Is it true that natives don't like fertiliser?

Not entirely. Some natives like Banksias, for example, don't like fertilisers high in phosphorous. However, if you stay away from chemical fertilisers, and stick only to stuff that is 100% organic (like Neutrog Rapid Raiser), you will have absolutely no problem at all. All Banksias that I have planted have responded well to Rapid Raiser, as organic stuff is naturally slow release, so is not harmful like artificial chemical fertilisers.

Do I still have to prune natives?

In some cases you will need to prune natives, especially if you need to control their growth over paths, etc. If however you like to let the plants do what they choose to do and grow how they want to grow, then you can leave them be to create their own wonderful shapes. Plants were not meant to be pruned into symmetrical balls, so avoid doing this, but sometimes a little clean up here and there to stop straggliness is beneficial.

What mulch is the best to use?

Any mulch with lots of fine organic matter will be fine. I recommend cottage mulch if you are buying any, or tree pruning's are just as good. Avoid using mulches made entirely of pine bark chip, or large chunks of wood, as these will not be very beneficial to your soil, due to a high carbon/low nitrogen ratio. Manures are also a good choice, but only recommended if you have a dripper system installed, as they tend to soak up a lot of water, and surface watering will take forever. Do not use gravel or pebble as a form of mulch because these give nothing back to the soil in the way of much needed nutrients, and eventually the plants will suffer for it.

Can I connect my irrigation system to my rainwater tank?

Yes you can, but in most cases you need to use a pressure pump of some sort to build enough pressure in the irrigation lines to get them to work properly.

Will mains water in my pond kill my fish?

It depends on the quality of the water, and the type of fish. If you have goldfish, they may cope fine and you shouldn't kill any. Some other types of fish may be more sensitive though. Frogs can also be put off by mains water if it is high in chlorine and fluoride. It is best to wait for 2 to 3 weeks before introducing fish into your new pond, to give the water time to settle down and become more balanced.

Will the mulch I put on my garden have weeds in it?

If you use cottage mulch, then no, as it is steam treated to kill any weed seeds that might have been present. If, however, you purchase your mulch from recycling depots, you are pretty much guaranteed to have weed seeds mixed in. But, you will have weeds in your existing soil anyway, so you will get weeds no matter what mulch you use.

Why do I need to get the weeds out of my garden?

Weeds compete with your plants for water and nutrients, and they also grow much faster than most types of plants. This can lead to smothering of your new plants, and can also tangle with your ground covers, making it almost impossible to pull the weed up without pulling up the said ground cover with it. In severe cases, some plants need to be removed to take out the offending weeds.

How long does it take to create a new garden from scratch?

This depends on so many different things, like yard size, access, amount of material, what needs to be done, etc. If you are getting a pond for example, a general time for completion is around 3 to 4 weeks. And that's just the pond!! If you have irrigation, rock walls, separate garden rooms, etc, you would expect this to take longer than just laying some lawn. Basically the more interesting your new garden is going to be, the longer you need for construction, as it takes a long time to complete lots of little intricate details.

What type of retaining wall is best to use?

This depends on what look you want to have in your garden. If you have a natural looking garden, then rock is the best to use. If you have a formal type garden, then keystone or block walls will suit fine. Occasionally you can mix them around, but it is best to stick to what suits your particular type of garden. If the wall is small, you could use sleepers as a retaining wall, but I would only do this if there is no possibility of causing major damage if they rot through, or get attacked by termites.

Am I allowed to have different themes in the one garden?

If your garden is large, you could consider to split the area up into 'rooms', and then you could make each room a different theme if you wanted to. However, if your space is small, it is best to keep the same theme throughout to avoid clashing. If you can see your entire garden from one viewpoint, then I would definitely stick to one theme throughout to avoid the 'tacked-on' look. Don't be tempted to squeeze every possible theme into one garden, as this will look overcrowded and the different themes will clash.

I have a really small paved courtyard and would love to have a pond. Is this possible?

If you want an in-ground pond, then you would have to lift the pavers up in the area, and dig down into the soil. But, if the area is too small for this, you may need to consider a water feature in a self contained pot or bowl, or perhaps a Universal Rocks type water feature, which you could set up on top of the pavers, giving you a pond.

If my soil isn't the right type for particular plants, can I put them in pots?

I am probably the wrong person to ask about this, because I believe that all plants should be planted in the Earth where they belong. I believe that plants in pots are not connected to the energy of the Earth properly, and are therefore not as healthy. Upon saying this though, many people successfully grow plants in pots without any trouble. My advice would be to consult a plant professional, like the guys at Ibis Siding, to get the best advice on what species will do well in pots.

What type of pond is better? Lined, preformed, or concrete?

I guess this depends on what size your pond needs to be, where it will be situated, and what it will be used for. If you are only in need of a smallish pond, then either type will do fine, keeping in mind that some types are more expensive than others. If you want to have a pond in a paved courtyard and don't want to go to the expense of lifting your beautiful new pavers, then a preformed one is probably a good way to go, as they can be placed directly on top of your pavers. If you are using your pond just for fish and maybe a tortoise, then a lined pond will be perfect. You can buy different strength liners to suit your installation, and some of the top of the line liners will be able to handle ducks, and larger animals. If, however, you wish to keep yabbies in your pond, or if there is a really good chance that your dog will frequently swim in the pond, then concrete is probably going to be best in this situation. We prefer to use liner, as it is usually much cheaper, much easier to install, flexible, allowing any shaped pond to be constructed, and wont crack or leak like some concrete ponds do after a little soil movement. We usually recommend that if you have a dog, it is safest to keep it out of the pond, but if you have a dog that will be entering the pond, we can use a super strong liner, and put 6 -8 inches of river sand and pebble on top so that the dogs claws have less chance of puncturing the liner. This should be enough to protect the liner in most cases, but there is no guarantee that the dog wont try to dig in the mud, which will cause a problem. Yabbies cannot be kept in a lined pond at all, as they will eventually burrow through the liner in an attempt to make themselves a home. This will damage the liner quite considerably. Basically, the pro's and con's for each type of pond are as follows;

Liner:

Pro's - Flexible, allows any size and shape to be constructed, cheaper, easier to install, will allow ground movement at any time throughout the pond life, black coloured to give an illusion of greater depth, depth alterations can be made before final trim of excess liner.

Con's - Relatively fragile, needs to be concealed against the sun, need to be careful what animals visit, need to be careful if stepping into the pond.

Preformed:

Pro's - Relatively easy to install, strong if installed correctly, already shaped and usually made to look like rock, can be installed above ground

Con's - You are stuck with the shape and size of the pond, can be expensive, can be UV sensitive, must be installed dead level, doesn't allow seamless creek/waterfall installations in most cases.

Concrete:

Pro's - Strong, can handle lots of animal and human traffic.

Con's - Can crack with ground movement, difficult to install, must be well sealed to prevent leaks, looks artificial, expensive to install, final alterations are not possible.

What does it mean by 'low maintenance' gardens?

The key word in this sentence is 'low', not "no". A low maintenance garden is simply a garden that doesn't require much upkeep, typically about 30 mins a week or so depending on the size of the garden. For example, if you have a tiny yard, a low maintenance garden might take you around 30 mins to 1 hour a week to maintain, including weeding which will always be a necessity. However, if your garden is large, say 2 acres, then low maintenance would not really be used to describe this garden, as it would probably take about 1 day per week to look after. "Low maintenance" is one of those buzz words that people use, but don't really know the meaning of. Planting 'natives' does not necessarily make the garden low maintenance, nor does planting Flaxes. Irrigation systems can reduce the maintenance in gardens, so can properly sized garden beds. If you have a garden bed 0.5m wide, and plant a shrub like Buddleia, or Westringia, then you will add to your maintenance, whereas if you made your garden beds appropriately wide enough to accommodate such shrubs, your maintenance will be much less. A bit of common sense in the planning stage can reduce the maintenance required later on.

General Information

Lawns

Even with our drought in full swing, and water restrictions in place, people seem to be insisting on 500 square metre plus lawns! What's going on? Lawns are massive water guzzlers - even the drought tolerant ones! I have seen beautiful, old, massive trees cut down to make way for over 1000 square metres of Kikuyu lawn and a perimeter of standard roses! Yes, as unbelievable as this sounds, this is what people are doing!!! People should be thinking of reducing the lawn area and substituting it for something less reliant on our most precious resource. A garden area of the same size uses thousands of litres less water a year, is much less maintenance, and is much more interesting! And, is much less expensive to maintain. Lawns are the most maintenance intensive of all landscaping options, and it is about time people start to think differently about installing massive amounts of lawn.

Drought tolerant

Many people believe that if you plant a drought tolerant plant, you will never need to water it - EVER!!! This cannot be more incorrect! Drought tolerant plants, like Grevillea's, Correa's, some Eucalypts, etc, are drought tolerant once  established, which in some cases can be several years. While the plant is young, it still needs regular watering just like any other plant, and they all still need to be thoroughly watered in when they are planted. Even succulents have to be watered in when you first plant them, to settle the plant into its new home. It is amazing how many people are disappointed to realise that all of the plants they planted at their new holiday house, are now dead after having no water for 3 months until their next holiday visit. Once the plants are established, they can go for prolonged periods without watering, but not indefinitely. Drought tolerant does not mean no water ever - It simply means that the plant can handle periods of low rainfall (relative to their indigenous average yearly rainfall) without dying. And the definition of surviving??? Some plants will drop their leaves and become quite sparse to reduce the rate of photosynthesis in order to handle a drought. In these cases, yes they are surviving the drought, but they don't look healthy or pretty. A garden full of plants in this situation will certainly not look good at all.

Advanced plants or small plants?

This is a difficult question for many people, especially since most of us want our new garden to be up and running as fast as possible. Not to mention all the gardening shows on TV, in which nearly all the plants planted are advanced. What these shows fail to mention is that planting advanced plants is not a good idea in some climates. Most of these TV shows are based in the eastern states, and it might be ok to plant advanced species over there, due to their higher rainfall, and milder climate. However, in our Mediterranean climate here on the Fleurieu Peninsula, advanced species will suffer for quite a long time. Couple that with the strong, salty winds on the South Coast, and the sandy, infertile, water repellent soils we have in some areas here, and you have a recipe for disaster. Advanced plants need so much more water to help them establish, because they not only need to put roots down and stabilise themselves, but they also need to feed the huge amounts of extra foliage at the same time. And, they usually have a tiny root ball when you buy them, so there is even less surface area of soil to feed them than what there would be if they were in the Earth. This causes them to suffer quite dramatically, and a higher death rate is immanent. Plus, advanced species will usually sit in the ground (if they survive) and do nothing for maybe a year or two, and then start to grow, because it can take this long for them to establish. If you were to plant two of the same species of plant side by side, one small, the other advanced and watch them grow for a few years, you will find that the small one will overtake the advanced one, and be much stronger and healthier. And, you will also find that the small one took a lot less water, and will most likely be less prone to wind damage. One of the very few exceptions to some of these rules, is Pittosporum, which establishes very quickly anyway, provided the soil is free draining, and there is sufficient moisture. Another draw back to planting advanced plants is that they are often top heavy due to lots of foliage and a small root ball. This causes them to be unstable in the soil, and many people stake them to hold them up. This is not a good solution, as the tree or plant will rely on these stakes for support and wont put out proper support roots to anchor itself to the ground properly. This in turn will make the tree or plant unstable later in life as it gets taller, and will very likely come down in a big wind. Basically, if you buy a plant that is too weak to hold itself up when you plant it in the Earth, then the plant is too advanced, and you should go for a younger, stronger specimen.

So why do people choose advanced species? Usually because they are trying to get a head start on the growth of the plant, so that they don't have to wait so long for their garden to establish. But, as you can see, there really is no point to this, so save yourself some money, buy smaller plants, and enjoy watching them grow up. We usually recommend plants in 6 - 8 inch pots, or tube stock for the most success.

Misunderstood 'buzz' words and statements

Many people use what we call 'buzz' words to describe a particular type of garden they are after, often without realising the true meaning of what they are asking for. Television shows, advertisements and many retailers exploit these 'buzz' words in order to appeal to the general publics' acceptance of the meaning of such words, just to make a sale, which is very irresponsible. So, to make things a little clearer, we have written a list of these 'buzz' words and phrases commonly thrown around, and the true meaning of them so that you are aware of what you are asking for when it comes to garden types, or themes.

Low maintenance - As stated in a previous paragraph on the subject, this simply means a garden that takes around 30 mins to 1 hour a week to maintain, for a normal size garden. It does not mean that you never have to do anything in the garden, ever.

Drought tolerant - Describes a plant that can handle periods of low rainfall without dying, as discussed above. Does not mean you never have to water the plant, and the plant will only be drought tolerant once it is established, which can take a couple of years.

Native - Many, many people use this term believing they are describing a low maintenance garden in which nothing needs to be done, and no water is required. This is wrong!! A native garden is one composed entirely of  plant species indigenous to your area, or plant species native to Australia, suited to your area. In no way does it describe the maintenance level of your garden, nor the water requirements. There are lots of natives that love wet, swampy soil.

You can't use Glyphosate poison in a native garden because natives don't like the poison - This is probably one of the strangest comments I have heard, because NO plants like poison. That's why its called poison! If used correctly, Glyphosate can be used in any garden type.

Natives require less water than exotics - So not true! It depends on the plants you are comparing. I have seen irrigation schedule charts claiming that natives need less water than exotics, which is just not always the case. For example; lets compare a native (Viola Hederacea) with an exotic (Diosma). In this case, the Diosma is much hardier, more drought tolerant, and requires a lot less water than Viola. There are many other examples I could include here, but it would take up a lot of space. Bottom line is that the beginning statement is untrue because it depends on what plants you are comparing. It is possible to create a very hardy, drought tolerant garden using nothing but exotics.

Some plants never need water - If this were true, the deserts would be full of such plants. All plants need water at least some of the time, even Succulents. All plants photosynthesise, and so need water in some form to survive.