Finalist Four in Ipswich's Best Garden Competition

Leonie Peasey

I am the custodian of a garden that has not been loved for 20 years. The previous owners belonged to the ‘large trees, woodchip and roundup’ school of gardening – easier to maintain between tenants!

After removing a 22m gum 3m from the house, a 10m ficus planted directly behind a timber retaining wall, digging up monsteras with roots tracking under the driveway and raking up many layers of woodchip, I found grey, compacted, hydrophobic soil, with clay not far from the surface.

A spade was no use – a mattock was my tool of choice, there were no bees, earthworms or frogs.

It has been a labour of love and a voyage of discovery to bring my garden to life. As a novice gardener, my original vision was overly ambitious and I have planted inappropriately at times, which saddens me when I see plants struggling and dying, but I am learning.

Two and a half years on, my garden is beginning to prosper from the planning and hard work – the foundations have been laid and I can build from here.

I look at my garden and instead of seeing how much there is still to do, I sit and appreciate the beauty of the young plants, the butterflies they attract and see an occasional bee and delight in the first green tree frog.

It is still a young garden, with a long way to go, but when I dig over moist friable soil, rich with homemade compost and earthworms, I know that what I have given in labour and love, is being returned tenfold, and will continue for years to come.

Finalist Three in Ipswich's Best Garden Competition

Barry Beetham

My garden satisfies my eyes, my nose, my tongue, my stomach and my muscles. It even contributes to my sleep.

I have pot plants, flowers, trees and grass so my garden satisfies my eyes. Have you ever seen up to 30 zygo cactus in purple flower, or the pleasantness of lovely green CSIRO experimental grass that grows where other grass won’t grow or a variety of foliage and prickly pot plants or healthy vigorous vegetables or tall lady finger bananas ripening in bunches in in one place? This truly satisfies my eyes. Have you ever walked down the garden path and enjoyed the odours and perfumes from flowers and fruit and native bee honey? My garden truly satisfies my nose.

My tongue and stomach? Sensational dragon fruit, heavy bunches of bananas, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, caulies, gooseberries, cassava, mangoes, strawberries, figs, Ceylon Hill Cherries, sweet potatoes, peas, beans and so much more really do satisfy my tongue and stomach.

Walk into the garden and there is always something to do – exercise the doctor says is essential for good health; yes my garden satisfies my muscles. And sleep? Yes getting tired for garden work contributes to my satisfying sleep.

Challenges and variety add to the spice of life.  Sometimes too much rain and at other times insufficient rain; so the challenge of water confronts me. Hence water tanks and a system to harvest precious rain water for gardens, trees, pot plants and some lawn. The various grubs challenge!

Variety inspires. 

Hence now red, orange and white zygo cacti have been added to the collection of purple zygo cactus. There are leaves large and small in a variety of greens. Not just one orange tree or mandarin but several with blood orange, Valencia and Washington navel. Tight skinned and loose skinned mandarins as well. There is a variety of tubers to eat such as cassaa, sweet potato and English potato.

Yes my garden is an enormous part of my life and is well a passion and I love it.

Finalist Two in Ipswich's Best Garden Competition

Tracey Patterson

I love my garden.

It gives me such great pleasure to work in it, regularly adding to and re-sculpting its design and composition. At the end of a long day, I enjoy nothing more than relaxing with my husband and family, surrounded by my beautifully landscaped ‘canvas’, replete with trees, bushes, shrubs and colourful flowers. My husband and I have spent many happy hours together creating our ‘master piece’, and we continue to derive much enjoyment from the time we spend developing, altering and ‘refocusing’our horticultural efforts in our on-going quest for perfection!

My quaint letter-box welcomes you to my garden. As we cross the bridge, the rippling water echoes the serenity of its goldfish inhabitants.

My garden offers peace and tranquillity, a place of solitude to ease the tensions of a busy day. Its calming influence on my family and my pets is legendary!

My garden is welcoming, with its fascinating colour blends and intricate design. It is so therapeutic to stroll around catching glimpses of my hand-made glass mosaic objects, which all have their own special spots.

The plants in my many pots scattered throughout the garden are so diverse, interesting and attractive. We also have two reclusive ‘pot men’ peering through the palms!

My garden means so much to me.

Finalist One in Ipswich's Best Garden Competition

"PARKSIDE on Thorn" - Agnes Maskalans

Our garden is our haven, a retreat from the rest of the world. It is a delight for the five senses, a garden where one can immerse oneself totally and experience the sight, sound, smell, feel and taste of nature.

The sight of flowers blooming, the bright plumage of the tropical parrots flitting amongst the trees and the wonderful array of colours and textures provided by Mother Nature, is a feast for the eyes.

Our garden is also an aural experience, where one can listen to the delightful chatter of birds, the patter of raindrops on the tin roof, the rustle of leaves, as well as the crunch of gravel as you walk through the rainforest.

At night, the captivating scents of jasmine, daytura and cunjevoys intoxicate and delight, surrounding our home with a fragrant perfume.

There is nothing like the tactile experience of the cool sensation of grass underfoot, the gentle breezes that caress and the foliage that gently brush against you as you wander through Parkside.

It is also about the gourmet delight of being able to garnish and flavour home cooked meals with leaves plucked from the herb bushes or to savour the taste of eggs, freshly laid by our chickens.

Our garden is a family garden. We share it with birds, lizards, frogs, insects and our pets. We love to hang out in our garden and have many spots to do so. Our garden allows us to connect with nature and feel grounded.

Lucky Me

I was lucky enough to be a 2012 Finalist for the Nursery and Garden Industry Australia (NGIA) Young Leader Award. The Young Leader Award seeks to identify, recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of individuals in the Nursery & Garden Industry, who display exceptional commitment and passion towards their business, the industry and leadership potential for association and industry schemes. Six finalists Australia wide are chosen.


What did I win - The opportunity to network with the most amazing people.

My tangible prize was a fully paid NGIA conference at the Gold Coast Marriott Resort, a trip to Melbourne for a discussion on the Pot levy, which lucky for me coincided with the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, a trip to Sydney for a marketing seminar and a training session of my choice in my state.

Before the award I was slowly taking off my rose coloured glasses and thinking this industry may not be for me. Now I am all fired up again. I want to do everything and be apart of it all.

This award has let me meet a lot of people I would have never have had the opportunity to meet. Gardening Celebrities like Jason Hodges, Tino Carnevale (ok so all I said was Hi but I still met them!), Hortiman and Claire Levander. I got to meet the owners and managers of My Garden Centre Crushes (garden centres I look up to) Rivers of Yarrambat, Vadoulis Garden Centre and Brookefield Garden Centre. I met the CEO and President of the NGIA. I met so many amazing people like Leigh Siebler (editor of Greenworld magazine, just one hat he wears) and other Garden Centre owners that I have read about in the magazines and plant production nursery members. There is too many to mention really.

There were five people though that have affected and left me most inspired. These were my fellow finalists. I believe meeting them has helped me put back on my rose coloured glasses and given me the stamina to push on and give this industry everything I have to offer.

They are Brooke Stanway (Tavistock Nursery) who won the Award, Maroun Maait (Apline Treemovals), Alastair McLean, David Parlby and Danielle Shallow.

We are viewed as the leaders of the NextGen of the Australian Nursery and Garden Industry. After meeting with and being apart of this amazing group I believe that the Australian Nursery and Garden Industry can only go from strength to strength.

Keep an eye on us we are the future and you'll be seeing us everywhere reminding you to Improve your Plant/Life Balance!

Got Milk

Why is it so hard just to buy milk? You all know the advert on TV with the guy who just wants milk but the shop assistant rattles off about twenty different choices. All he wants is milk that tastes like milk! In the end the relief on his face when the shop assistant just gives him what he wants is priceless.

I’m not a huge fan of being overloaded on choice.  Electronic equipment, like computers and their programs, is one area where I’d rather there is no choice just a simple answer.  I’m not a person that likes to spend hours trolling the internet and magazines looking for the best computer program for my needs. I appreciate going to a specialist computer shop, talking to an expert and them recommending me the best program for my needs.

I feel the same about gardening.  Gardening shouldn’t be hard – back breaking maybe but not hard. Getting good gardening advice shouldn’t be confusing either.   If you have a problem with your plants, need some general gardening advice or even just need to buy a living gift, I recommend you go to a specialist garden centre as they have expert staff on hand at all times ready to help.

Have you ever been confused and overloaded by the choice of gardening products on the market, I know I do sometimes.  I often wonder just how many versions of trace element mix can there be!  Every gardening magazine, lifestyle show and the guy next door all have their favourite gardening tips. 

If confusion and past not so ‘good tips and helpful hints’ have stopped you enjoying the great outdoors, it’s time to take control and visit an expert – your local garden centre, like Trevallan Lifestyle Centre.

Your local garden centre’s staff are the gardening experts – they should be able to listen to your needs and recommend the right product. Good garden centres shouldn’t need to offer a large choice especially in insecticides and pesticides. You don’t need to know that there are ten brands on the market that kill slugs and are safe for dogs.  You just need one and one that works. So a garden centre need only stock the one brand that they as experts perceive is the best.  Sometimes a small range of similar products (for example potting mixes)  is necessary as people’s needs are different. The garden centre’s experts should then be able to inform you of the differences and recommend the best one suited to your needs.

Your local garden centre is not only staffed by experts but those experts are usually local and have all suffered the same gardening problems that you are currently suffering.  Garden centre staff enjoy helping you through your gardening problems, taking the confusion away and giving you back the joy of gardening.

Next time you decide to improve your plant life balance and give your life some TLC make sure you visit the gardening experts - Trevallan Lifestyle Centre - your local garden centre.

Vintage Garden Plants - Hydrangeas

I like plants.  You’ve probably already guessed that but what I mean is I love the diversity plants offer us in our lives. I love how the same plant can be used in a formal garden or a cottage garden and still look fantastic. I love how the popularity of certain plants is cyclic just like our fashion industry.

I adore old fashion plants or vintage styled plants (vintage makes me sound more fashionable!).  I think there was a reason our grandmother’s gardens were full of certain plants.  It was because they didn’t require much TLC to look fantastic all year.

Hydrangeas are one such plant. These wonderful, hardy shrubs would certainly have to be included on the list of the best flowering plants in the world.

Hydrangea flowers are absolutely stunning and with over 500 different cultivars there is sure to be one to suit everyone.  There are two main groups of flowers these cultivars are split between – Mopheads and Lacecaps. Mophead flowers are large round flower heads resembling as the name implies the head of a mop. In contrast, lacecap flowers bear round flat flower heads with a center of subdued, fertile flowers surrounded by outer rings of showy, sterile flowers. The hydrangea flowers usually appear from early spring through to late summer.  It is the colours of the hydrangea flower that I find most amazing. The colours range from white through to red, pink, purple, and blue but the amazing part is I can change the colour of my flower!

Beautiful Array of Hydrangea Colours

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/weeklypics/6-20-05.html

The acidity of your soil determines the colour of the flowers. If the soil is acidic the flowers will be blue to electric or even peacock blue but if the soil is more Alkaline the flowers will be pink through to red, neutral is purple of course. The white cultivars remain white regardless of the soil pH.  To make sure you get the colour you want you must change the soil pH before flower buds form.  Start treating your soil around August with lime for pink flowers or sulphur for blue flowers. 

Even though the hydrangea flower is impressive, the foliage too can be quite remarkable.  Most hydrangeas have large lush dark green oval leaves, often with serrated edges but some have variegated green and white leaves.

 I find hydrangeas to be very hardy once established.  They are best grown in part shade but I have seen some beautiful plants grown in full sun.  I find the flowers on these bushes tend to burn off too quickly though in our hot summer sun.  Many of the cultivars available are compact but a quick prune in Autumn will help promote next seasons flowers.  Due to the compactness I find they do well in both pots and gardens.

New Release Strawberries and Creme
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tesselaar/4171329525/

Hydrangeas are one of my vintage must haves for your garden as they require not much TLC.  Plus the anticipation of wondering what colour will it flower this year is a cheap but wonderful thrill all gardeners experience.