Autumn Action – Gardening Australia

SERIES 36 | Episode 08 | EASTER SPECIAL

Autumn is a perfect time for a reset – to rethink a part of your garden or plant a new bed while the soil is still warm.

Planning

With any new project, ask what the aim is: Do you want shade, beauty, colour, a windbreak? Clarence is aiming for a beautiful native plant patch to improve his garden biodiversity.

Cleaning up

First job is to clear any weeds, paying particular attention to any tough perennials with persistent rhizomes or bulbs, such as nutgrass; these should be put in a bag and left in the sun for a couple of weeks to kill them off completely.

Improve the soil

Clarence builds up the new bed with some bought-in soil mix. He adds some sand as well because most native plants like a free-draining mix. Choose the soil to suit what you want to grow.

He rakes it into shape and tamps it down to form a solid base that is less likely to erode in heavy rain.

Planting

Set the plants out – if you have a larger feature tree or plant, it’s best to place in the centre or ‘back’ of a bed, depending on how you will be looking at the finished bed.

When you’re happy, start planting. It’s best to start with the biggest plants, and position smaller shrubs and then groundcovers around them.

Give the plants a light mulch and water in well.

Featured PlantsNUTGRASSCyperus rotundusNATIVE FRANGIPANIHymenosporum flavumKANGAROO PAWAnigozanthos cv.CUT-LEAFED DAISYBrachyscome multifida ‘Mauve Delight’NATIVE FUCHSIACorrea ‘Dusky Bells’BUSH MINTProstanthera ‘Purple Haze’PAPER DAISYRhodanthe anthemoides ‘Southern Star’

Filmed on Dharawal Country | Wollongong, NSW