How To Make A Self-Watering Edible Garden | Great Home Ideas

Charlie turns a wine barrel into a portable, self-watering veggie garden, perfect for renters and small spaces. Adam and Johanna transform a dated bathroom on a budget. Tara gets creative with natural dyes in a stunning eco-printing project. Graham visits Australia’s biggest pop-up garden, and Dr Harry shares incredible moments with native wildlife.

0:00 Coming Up On Great Home Ideas
0:23 Building A Barrel Veggie Garden
6:39 Budget-Friendly Bathroom Renovation
23:16 Eco-Printing With Garden Leaves
32:28 Australia’s Largest Pop-Up Garden
39:01 Australian Wildlife Encounters With Dr Harry

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something. It’s a veggie patch that waters itself. Brilliant. Two words that strike fear into the heart of every homeowner. Bathroom Renault. Satisfying feeling. The homemade card so personal they’ll be hard to part with. Such a great result. If you’re a renter or you’ve got limited space, I’m going to show you a mini edible garden in a barrel that’s going to keep you fed for years to come. I’m using this wine barrel to create a garden bed. The best part about it is it’s not fixed, so you can take it with you. And even if you got a small garden, it’s going to make a fantastic little receptacle, too. And I’m actually going to create a wicking garden bed. And what is that? Well, basically, you create a reservoir of water that your plants can use when you forget. Let me explain to you. So, take this glass of water as our reservoir and this tissue as our soil. You can see when it touches, it just soaks all the way up and our plants are going to be able to use that when it gets hot and dry. First step is you’re going to create a pond, but you don’t want it to stagnate. So, we’re going to drill a hole in the side. [Music] With a traditional raised veggie patch, you want them nice and high, about 600 mil to work from. But when you’re working with a wicking bed, you only really want a maximum of 300 mm of soil. That’s optimum for the roots to go down and the water to come up. Anymore, and it just dries out. So, I’m going to allow 50 mil for some mulch, 300 mil for my soil, and pop a hole in the side right there. [Music] So, a tip when using a speed ball is to not drill all the way through because what can happen is it can blow the back of the hole out and then you’re not going to get a waterproof seal. So, wait for the tip just to come through on the inside, then drill from the other direction. To make our pot waterproof, I’m using quite a thick pond liner. Now, you could use plastic, but I’d recommend it being food grade cuz you don’t want it to break down and get into the roots of your plants. Now, there’s no real science to this. You basically just need to push it in, and you want to try and reduce the wrinkles so you can maximize potting mix. Once it’s in place, I’ll staple it in [Music] packing. Get all your stuff. I’m tired of stressing. want to fight. It doesn’t matter. I’m always right. For our drainage point, I’m using a tank outlet. Now, these come with washers, which means it’s going to be nice and tight and waterproof. You have to make a hole in your pond liner. So, just poke your finger through and put just a tiny little cross. That way, you’re not going to lose too much water. And it simply screws in. [Music] something. [Music] [Applause] Now, you want to make sure you get this as tight as possible so it doesn’t leak. If you’re unsure, you could use some silicon or even some thread tape. [Music] To get water into your reservoir once you put potting mix in your pot is going to be impossible. So, I’m doing it with a really simple 19 mil flexible irrigation pipe. And I’m going to connect that up to a slotted egg drain. The reason I’m doing that is to distribute the water evenly throughout the reservoir. You hold that up. One other thing I’m going to do is put a cap on the 19 mil pipe. And that’s going to stop any mosquitoes getting in and breeding. with the bird. Not going to slow it down. Not going to take my time cuz it feels just right. [Music] And now we’ve filled our reservoir with clay pebbles. And the reason we’ve done this is so our potting mix doesn’t squash down on the water. Clay pebbles are also really good cuz they absorb a lot, which means we’re going to have lots of available moisture. Now, I’m just using a really simple plant pot over the tap. That’s going to stop any gunk from blocking it up. Now, before you put your potting mix in, you need to put in a layer of geoexile. Now, this allows the water through, but it stops the potting mix combining with those clay pebbles. Now, when you’re selecting a potting mix, you really need to get the best quality you can afford because the better ones, well, they have fertilizer in them and they hold on to moisture, which basically means you’re going to have healthier plants. [Music] We’re planting our pots up with completely edible plants. And the centerpiece is going to be this dwarf lemon. Now, this is going to give us year round structure, but also a bit of a canopy for our leafy greens. [Music] You got to remember when you’re planting up any edible garden bed that these plants are incredibly fast growing, so you need to give them space to grow into. Otherwise, they’ll just get congested. The last stage of our wicking barrel garden bed is to apply some mulch. Now, when it comes to any veggie garden bed, I like to use a pea straw mulch because it breaks down and helps to feed the plants. It also locks in a bit of moisture. Now, with veggies, I normally feed them a liquid fertilizer every 7 to 10 days because they need all the nutrients for growth. But in this system, you do it when you water as well. You fill in the pipe. You do it maybe once a month. So, you’re using less water and less fertilizer. A garden bed in a barrel with a built-in wicking system. It’s perfect for even the smallest of spaces. And the best thing is you can build it on a weekend. Do you feel alive? If I told you that we were working on an achievable makeover, I bet the last room you think we’d be tackling would be a bathroom. That’s right. Bathrooms can be pretty involved and pretty expensive. But we’re going to break it down for you and show you all the things you can do yourself to save yourself a bomb or that man. Hello. Hello. Hi. How we going guys? Good, thanks. How are you? Fantastic. So, tomorrow in Imagin, we’re here to save your bathroom. So, what’s actually wrong with it? Okay. True. She’s true. Um, the toilet’s cracked. We have a shower that you cannot get in and out of. Um, I have way too many mirrors. And also, one of the mirrors I broke. So, 7 years bad luck. Maybe, maybe not. I hope not. Yeah. And even the tiles. Everything’s quite worn. It’s very dated. It’s very old and it’s just falling apart. And what about storage? Is that a bit of an issue? Yeah, a bit of a huge issue. We can’t put anything in there. Um, kind of everything shoved in there. So, I’ve got no cleaning products. I can’t put them there. If you see, it’s just all jumbled on top of each other. So, they’re all common problems in old bathrooms like this. But the good news is it can be fixed. Yay. Is there any special requests? Um, one, it must not be painted red, so you just don’t paint it red. Two, it must have plants and whatever. I’d write I’d really like a new toilet, please. I reckon we might be able to scrunch that up. It sounds like we got our work cut out for us. Y started. All right, we’ll keep it a surprise for you guys. Thank you. Okay, bye. Oh, well, they weren’t lying. No, they were pretty bang on with this. It’s all right. We can work with this. Good bones to work with. Bring back the 80 straight away, isn’t it? Yeah. But you know what we need to do? Let’s clear it out first. Chuck us to even better. I’m going to the bench. [Music] Just making sure that he spot [Music] hands. Quick hand. [Music] Here you go, Grizzy. Legend cut that silicone. Beautiful. It’s onto the toilet. Now, there’s a few things you need to remember before you remove the toilet. The first thing is to make sure that you turn the water off. Once you’ve done that, you give the toilet a flush and that will empty the system, which means you can take this part off and then worry about removing the pen. So, if you come in close and we look inside, we now see that it’s nice and empty and ready for us to remove. Got a loop for you. I’m just emptying the excess water out of the pan down the waist pot. That way you don’t track water through the house, [Music] mate. With these old mirrors, you just want to make sure that you tape it up before you take it off. That way, if it does crack, it will hold it in place for you. You don’t get these big shards that fall apart and they could cut you. Oh, wait a minute. Who’s that good looking rooster? Oh, it’s mine. Now, Adam, apart from this vanity being extremely old, what a waste of space. You can’t even actually get into this or Yeah, it’s it’s so weird. Like, usually a normal vanity would have a what about 100 mil kickboard and then your cupboard doors would go all the way to the bottom. You might have some drawers on the side. This kickboard’s on steroids. Yeah, it is. It’s like 450 mil long. It’s unbelievable. Which means this has to go. Yeah, but you know what? It’s on pretty solid. It’s on solid. Another bit of muscle fix, Griggs. There it is. muscles. Hey, look at that. Wo! Oh yeah. Let’s go get the jogger. One basin going cheap. Sawya. Satisfying feeling. Now the bathroom’s cleared out. We can see what’s what and head to Bunnings to get some supplies. Oh, Griggsy, this hurts my head. Are you joking? I could look at stuff like this all day. I love picking things I mean, look, because we’re bringing so much light into that little bathroom, we can actually add a little bit of um contrast and have the the black for a bit of drama. Oh, yeah. So, it’s Yeah, that’s it. I definitely like it. And you know what else I like about that? It’s black and white. Go the pies. You know what I mean? Like, you’ll be walking into that bathroom every night, every morning. Old grab the tap, will you? Grab the tap. See, Adam, this is how you shop. One. One. Uh, one got two of those. Done. Screen. Uh, what screens? Ideally, we want a a corner opening door. Yes. Because it wasn’t working from that one side, obviously having to step over the toilet. Yeah. Okay. So, there we go. We can open the doors out. Step in. So, from that corner. Yeah. And the toilet will still be over there. So, are you I thought you had it. I love you doing the interpretive dance. I was just making sure it’s all going to work. You know, opening this is heavy. No joke. All right, I’ll stop mucking around. Come on. All right, let’s look for toilets. All right, what are you thinking? So, basically, it’s the setback that is key. And obviously, S trap or P trap. S trap meaning it goes through the floor. P through the wall. So, we’re going through the floor. We need an S trap. This one. Please tell me that one works because I like the fact that I have it makes it so easy to keep clean. All right, let’s have a look. Grizzy, where are we? Yeah, perfect. Oh, that will work. Definitely. All right. Well, should we want to chuck it on here? Yeah. So, even though we saved a heap of money by actually taking the original toilet out of the bathroom, we are going to need a plumber to put the new toilet in. But is that heavy right? Look, when you buy your toilet at your local Bunnings, they can actually organize installation at the same time. That’s awesome. Is that reverse? I reckon that’s pretty much everything. Oh, Griggs, you don’t have to guide me cuz I’ve got a lot guide you. I can’t even get in front of you. I’ve got a long load here. I need a sign. Long load coming through. Oh, he says it like that’s the first time he said that in his life. We’re showing you how you can have the bathroom makeover of your dreams without the big price tag. And a big part of that is working out what you need the professionals for and what part you can do yourself. And one of the main things you can do yourself is regrouting. Now, I’m using a grout rejuvenator, which is fantastic because it means I don’t have to scrape out all the old grout. [Music] It’s not going to take it cuz we’ve had it. When you are applying grout, whether it be normal grout or this rejuvenator, you just want to make sure that you’re going across the joints in a 45° angle. That will make sure that you’re really getting that grout into those joints. And you’ll see as I’m going along, I’m just wiping off the excess. It just makes it easier to clean. [Music] As you’re sponging off the grout, you can actually reshape it just to make sure that you filled those joints. [Music] Now, I love timber in any room, but to be honest, this cedar wall, someone’s had a bit of a crack with this yellow chalk paint at some stage. So, it’s going to be much easier for us to paint over it. But don’t worry, we are going to bring some timber elements back into this bathroom. So, we will bring the warmth back in here that timber can bring. Now, because it has a finish over the top, we need to make sure that we go over the top with a stain and mold blocker and a primer. And thankfully, this paint is all of that in one. Now, we’ve already sugar soap it. It’s dry. So, all I have to do is finish taping this up and get that paint on. And of course, it’s going to be a beautiful shade of red. Joking. [Music] Goodbye, yellow. A great way to save money on a bathroom Renault is to utilize what you got. And this feature has been here for that long. It’s actually come back into fashion. Now, we know that Imag wants some plants in this bathroom. And that’s what we’re giving her. We’re going to be using these pots, but they’re visible. So, to hide them, I’m just using some 2B1. And I’ll run a length at the bottom and up the top and then put some cement sheet on. That way, we’ll hide our pots, but still allow the plants to cascade down the wall. [Music] So, Griggsy, it was um it was red they wanted. It was no plants. No, no, no. It was no red and lots of plants. I’m working off the wrong list. That’s my not to use stuff. Remember the other thing was they wanted a lot more storage. They hated the mirrors in the bathroom. [Music] But storage is key. So, I think we can, you know, bring in some some warmth and some timber. Basically, it’s just going to be two rectangle boxes and we’re just going to offset the two. That’s way trendier. Yeah, that’s right. And Adam told me that’s what we’re doing. Yeah, we’re all up with the trends. You might be just go with it, Grizzy. That’s what I tell my daughters. [Music] And that’s why we pre-drill Grizzy. It just goes together so much easier. Very, very cool. All right, let’s check if it’s square. So, this is a good tip. Come have a look at this. This is a good little tip. Once we’ve lined it up at the top, Griggsy gets the square, just in case that shelf isn’t sitting straight, she can now push it to the square. Perfect. Perfect. I pre-drill and screw it off. So easy. Yeah. All right, let’s turn it over. How nice does it look? I think it looks fantastic. But because we got a lot of that that black tapware. Yes. How do you feel about just painting just the outside edge in black? It’ll tie all those things in together and make it real punchy. Yeah. Off the blonde timber. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Fantastic. So, you’re happy to do the painting? Actually, I like painting. Yes. And I don’t. So, that’s perfect. [Music] So, you notice that I’m painting quite gingerly, very lightly, and it’s because I don’t want any of the paint off the roller to drip down the sides. And we’re using a chalk paint, so it gives really great coverage and makes what looks like a hard job really easy. Hey, Ricky, that’s looking really nice. Isn’t it cool? So simple, and yet it really brings it to life. Hey, technically when you’re painting and you’re adding a color, that’s different to when you’re sealing it or you’re doing a really good job at painting. Yeah, but look, you could help me do this bit where you’re just bringing out the warmth of the natural tones of the timber cuz I’ve got a spare paint brush and everything. All right. All right. It would be rude of me to say no. You would after that. I’d have a massive tanning. We’re on the home stretch of our bathroom makeover. All that preparing is paying off with our plumber installing our toilet, shower taps, and vanity. [Music] Now for the fun parts, imagine wanted indoor plants. They are all the rage at the moment. I personally love the little girl is so invested in it because one, it makes your house healthier. Two, if you want to bring color in and looking for inspiration, where better to turn to than nature itself? And three, it’s going to give this beautiful, lush, amazing feeling to the room. So, we are going to fit quite a lot of plants in here. Now, we’re putting them into a container that actually holds quite a lot of water in the bottom. And that’s because they’re up high. You don’t want to water them too much. One of the biggest thing that kills indoor plants is people overwatering them. And because they’re in a bathroom, every time you have a shower or a bath, they will just love that humidity. These plants will thrive. [Applause] [Music] So, I want to leave enough space here in the middle for this last little salad. Woohoo! This is going to look so good. And best of all, we’re going to have two of these big pots up high in the bathroom. [Music] How good does this look? Just putting that little bit of timber back in here. Looks better in position, I’ll tell you. I like it. And then the black just ties in all the tapware. [Music] When it comes to installing the shower screen, this is definitely a job you can do yourself. But the trick is not ripping everything out the box at the start cuz then you’ll get confused. You want to get the instructions, read through them, and make sure you understand it. Then you can take everything out, lay it out on the ground so you can see all the parts. Basically, the way it works, it’s a main frame we’ve got that sits on the ground and then our fixed panels that go into the wall. [Music] Now, we’ve got our main frame in. You can see at the base that our margins run out, but that’s okay because with our wall channels, that gives us the play to correct that. So, I’ll move our frame out, get our margins right. I can then screw the frame off at the bottom, plumb our panels off, fix it all the way up. What are you doing? You’re not a Sparky Griggsy. It’s all right. I have the Sparky’s done all the dangerous stuff. So, all I literally have to do is plug these in. Yeah. Twist that round and on it goes. That is seriously a cool little system. [Music] upon me in every way. Yes, you did. So, you’re as excited as we are. This is a very, very good sign. But unfortunately, because of social distancing, we can’t all be in the bathroom at once. So, what do you say? Should we send them in? Yes, definitely. Guys, go check it out. Okay. Go, go. Oh my god. Oh. Oh my Oh my gosh. Toilet. Oh my god. Amy, look. Oh my god. I just want to play with it. Oh, look at all the plants. Oh, wow. Look at the light. Oh, it’s a party light. Wow. Look at the shower. Even if you’re having a fat day, you can get out of it. Now it’s mine. It’s really good. Oh, I love the greenery. It looks like totally It doesn’t even look like my house. I’m just like, this is like Christmas in here. Is this Oh, wow. I didn’t realize this had storage, too. [Music] There’s now a lot of storage in a very small bathroom. This is so much storage. I don’t know how you did this. This lowcost cosmetic transformation was all this bathroom needed to maximize storage, correct some design faults, and create a beautiful room you can be proud of. Now, Emma, I couldn’t help it over here that when you first walked in, you were happy there was no red. Well, we got something for you. [Music] [Music] The change is going to get rid of that button. Get rid of that button. She really doesn’t like red. So, I reckon as long as you two don’t ever use the red button on this, you’re going to have a lot of fun with the party lights. So, I’ll pop that down there. I reckon that’s a success. Boom. Boom. Nice. I haven’t quite gone over to the green side. Charlie, Melissa, and Graeme certainly have nothing to worry about, but I do need to borrow from their gardening world for a little craft project I want to share with you. [Music] We’re going to have a go at eco printing, which in a nutshell is using the pigments and the shapes from plants to print onto fabric and other materials. Now, what I love most about this craft is no two finished results are ever the same. It is unique. You can buy kits, but what I want to show you is how to use things you’ve already got at home just to save a little bit of money and make the whole thing easier. And if you’ve got a bunch of friends, get them together cuz this is one you can all have a go at. You’re going to hear me refer to one word throughout this process and that is mant. Now, basically what a mant is, it’s a fixative that helps to lock the pigment or the color in the pattern into the material you’re using. So, first up, we’re going to do some printing onto some watercolor paper. So, the type of mant we’re using is white vinegar. The ratio here of vinegar to water is basically one part white vinegar to two parts water. [Music] Now, take the paper, just dip it in, let it soak a little before you remove it. Another [Music] word common to this process is known as modifier. Sounds very technical, but it’s not. Trust me. What a modifier does is it deepens and enhances the color of the leaves you’re actually printing. And it’s easy to make your own modifier with, of all things, rusty tools. You’ve probably got some like this in your shed. I certainly have. So, just leave these in the bottom of a tub and add water and vinegar just in the same ratio as I did before. And you’ll see after a week, your tools will be a bit cleaner and they just impart all of that rust into the liquid and that’s what you need. With a good quality watercolor paper, you can make your own beautifully printed cards. So, after they’ve been soaking a bit, just fold them in half evenly and squeeze out the excess water. You don’t want them too soaking. And then just trim your leaves, the ones that you actually want to print with, and just have them all lined up ready to go. dip them into your modifier and with the card open, just shake off the excess. And then you can lay those down like that. Then if you fold the card in half, essentially once this is printed, you’ll get the same kind of pattern on both sides. So just lay that on the top. And then if you’ve got a little rolling pin or a spare bit of dowel, just go over again to squeeze the color and make sure you’re going to get a good print. Just do it a couple of times back and forth. Certainly a good one if you like your messy crafts. That’s for sure. [Music] It’s interesting when you look at the shape of a leaf. It’s obviously softer on top and it’s a little bit more defined underneath. So, you’ll find that you’ll get a better print if you put that defined side down. And you’ll notice here that what I’m doing is I’m stacking as I go. And just to get double value, I’ve actually put a little leaf in between each of the layers. That means I get a leaf print on the outside of the card as well as the inside. [Music] Oh, and also if you want something that’s a bit more defined and not so blurry, make sure that your paper isn’t too spooping wet. So just dry it out a little bit. That just gives you a bit more structure and definition to the leaves. To keep these bundled together and stop the leaves from falling out, what I’m using here are just some little bits of dowel. If you’ve got paddle pop sticks, that would work, too. Put a few on the bottom and lay the bundle on top and then some sticks across the top. That just separates the string, which I’m wrapping it with, and just keeps it really tied neatly. Then the whole packet gets popped into a steamer for about an hour and a half on a moderate kind of temperature. A barbecue outside is ideal for this. [Music] [Applause] Give it to me. Yay. With the cooking done, leave the whole bundle in the steamer overnight. That really helps to deepen and strengthen the color. Then you can undo the string, take out the leaves, and reveal all of your beautiful handiwork. A cake rag’s ideal. It’ll just help that paper to dry thoroughly. Now they’re dry. The colors and detail is superb. Love these. So to make them into a greeting card, just get some cardboard, lay that within. Get a long needle and just stitch the two together. I’m just using this beautiful embroidery thread. A couple of loops. Whoever you’re giving this to can see the beautiful printing on both sides. Now, for printing on fabric, I’m using cotton. And just like the paper before, we do have to pre-treat it. So, instead of using a vinegar and water solution as a mant for this cotton fabric, we’re using soy milk. It basically binds the fiber and helps the color to penetrate more thoroughly. So, once that’s all been treated and dried, you’ll end up with dry cotton like this. Just take a water atomizer and dampen it down very lightly. And that has to happen before you start laying out the leaves. And just like before, we’re using our rust water. You remember the one with the drill bits in the bottom? Just give it a good mix so it’s nice and even. And then you can just take the leaves of choice. So I think these will die beautifully. So strip those down. Dip in. Lay down your leaves on one half. Then we can fold over the other half of the fabric and roll together. [Music] Okay. Using a little rolling pin gadget again, just roll tightly around the dowel. And then to bind it together, some string just across one side and then back the other way. [Music] Next up, you need to boil the fabric. If you like the whiteness of the fabric, just use plain clean water. Otherwise, if you’re after something a little softer, you might like to try tea stain dyeing. You’ve probably done that before. It gives you a nice soft, mellow, almost creamy color. Now, this will also act as a mant, but you’re going to need about a dozen tea bags in a big pot like this. And you probably guessed by now, best not to use your best pots and pans for this kind of craft. So once you’ve made that good tea solution, dunk these in, cook them for about an hour and a half, let it cool, and then leave it overnight. [Music] I find it so fascinating how much the color changes. It’s just incredible. And it’s all to do with the chemical reactions within the leaves and also of course the mants that you actually use. So let’s snip away the string, see what we’ve got. It’s always exciting. Just one look over. Open it up and take away the leaves inside. Beautiful. Now, the final step in the process is to neutralize the fabric. Because we use that rusty water, it might want to eat into the fabric. So, use a little bit of by carb. Just a little dash into the bucket of water there. and just rinse it clean [Music] and then hang it out to dry. It’s just a little trip to where we have all along. The color is quite dark when they’re wet, but when they dry, they fade down a lot. And you can see they just become really soft and beautiful. Such a great result. So once you got the hang of this eco printing, there’s no limit to what you can create. Obviously paper and cardboard things like cards and you can do artwork for frames. You can do table wear, you could do cushion covers, bed sheeting, even clothing, t-shirts or pashmas. So if you like this idea, why not get a whole group together, put the kettle on and have a craft. And if you do make beautiful things, don’t forget to send us photos. We would love to post them on our socials. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] You got to love the hustle and bustle of city life. [Music] Oh, but it’s fantastic when you come across some living color. So many great ideas for home gardens and for courtyards. So, how do they do it? Well, let’s find out. [Music] Beautiful geras. You know, these cutflower florists have been in the CBD of Sydney well since forever. But now there are 100,000 living plants that are transforming this urban jungle into one of the largest pop-up gardens in the country. [Music] Wow, Michael. Hey, Grant. These towns are looking fantastic. Patuniius, they really love it here. Now, can you tell me sort of what’s happening with inside? Yeah, you can see there’s a number of different layers to them. And on that, think of them as a massive open set of salad bowls stacked from the bottom up in layers with holes in the middle. Yeah. Big open holes. And we basically fill the whole thing with potting mix and we go layer upon layer upon layer upon layer. So when we put water in the top, everything just sort of drains all the way through the center and all the areas in between. Patunias are fantastic for this because you’ve got all these different colors, but they’re really tough and long lived, aren’t they? Absolutely. We will look at them every day and then we will supplementary liquid feed when we’re watering. And we can steer the plant by having more nitrogen to get bigger or more potassium as a ratio to get more flowering. More flowers. Do we need to prune these say they get halfway through the season and then to bring them on for another long big flush? Absolutely. I think that’s one of the things that a lot of people don’t realize is that if you let them go, you end up with these long shoots. So, the more that we can come back and trim, sunlight is our friend, right? As we get sunlight, we get nice new growth that comes through and then more flowers. You could try one of these at home. Just scale it all down. Patunius. In fact, you could swap them for the next season for pansies and violas. What a display. [Music] How fantastic are these? You’ll see them right around the world because they’re so reliable. It’s beonia red dragon or dragon wing. They’re going to last for 9 months. That’s why councils and city of Sydney just love them. There are 400 of these placed right throughout the city. Now, there’s 55 kilos of weight in there. So, how are you going to make it light? Now, I really want you to try these at home. Get the biggest basket you can get. Then fill it with a bit of polystyrene initially because it’s lightweight, bulks it up, and then add the best quality potting mix you can afford. And then fill in. Well, there are about 40 plants in these. So, you could go for half a dozen. And then you’re going to have a display that looks absolutely sensational for 9 months of the year. [Music] Or how about something even more dramatic? A huge pyramid with this steel structure. Now, these plants are growing in pots, but the ones in the vertical garden are actually growing in garden beds. It’s just terrific. And I’m loving these three different shades of binka, new hybrids of old favorites. [Music] Ah, well, I found the right person who actually knows all about it. Michelle’s the city of Sydney’s horiculturist. You’re behind the design for this incredible pyramid. Can you just show me what you’ve done? Yeah. So, these are the designs for this summer display. So, these take about 12 months to develop. And you do this with all the garden beds right the way through the whole city? Yes. Cuz it just sort of pops up overnight, doesn’t it? It does. It does. We bring it in in the middle of the night, so it’s here in the morning just like by magic. It’s good for people’s soul and, you know, their whole well-being, isn’t it? Oh, people just love it. I love watching people take pictures. Oh, yeah. I think it must be sort of selfie central here. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Everybody wants to take a little bit of at home with them. [Applause] [Music] The classic go-to in any public space like this right around the world is to go for simple planter boxes just as they’ve done here in front of St. Mary’s Cathedral. But the plant selection is really critical. You want things that are super hardy going to look after themselves like the solosia. Now, if you want a bit of inside information, I’ve asked Michael what are the best ones that have been performing here for years, and it’s the native white fanflower and of course the golden yellow rebecia. There are a few surprises that are so easy to grow. Parsley. [Music] Now if you’ve got shade on your ver or balcony then maybe you like to try the alicasia. You can also go for the kolas. But when it comes to flowers in the shade you can’t beat the vinka and also the impatience. [Music] These colorful planter boxes are scattered throughout the city, including in front of Customs House at Circular Key, where a bird’s eye view not only of the harbor, but of the boxes really sets up the display. [Music] The other fantastic thing about these plants is when the flowers have reached their time, they’re not thrown out. They’re actually given to local schools and community gardens. All of this is an example of how a city is bringing living color into our lives. I’ve been a vet for over 50 years and I’ve traveled all over the world and seen some amazing animals. And tonight I’ll be taking you on a journey across Australia to see some of my favorite wildlife in Canters. And you know what? They’re all right here in our great southern land. You are in for a treat. I’m a Monrafo Beach at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef where every night between the months of November and March, a ritual takes place. A ritual that’s gone on for thousands upon thousands of years and ensures the very survival of the species. It’s something amazing. Share it with me. As darkness falls on Monrios, the band of researchers and volunteers fan out along the beach in search of the prehistoric loggerhead turtle. It’s not long before they find their first mother for the night. What amazes me is that after 30 years traveling the oceans of the world, this particular turtle has returned to the very same area from which she hatched to lay her own eggs. This has to be one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. She’s using a hind flippers to reach down into the damp sand and actually scoop out what appear to be handfuls of sand. And yet, she’s using a flipper to do it. The eggs are going to simply drop into the chamber below, but they’re not an egg like a hen’s egg. They’ve actually got a soft rubbery sort of shell, so they’ll bounce quite easily. She’s busy now closing in the chamber, patting it down hard. She’s finished for this breeding season. In fact, she won’t breed again for at least 2 to 3 years. and she will never ever see her hatchlings rise to the surface and make their own way down to the water. Her job’s done. When she goes back to the sea this time, she’ll go home somewhere on a reef out there in the great oceans of the world. [Music] [Applause] [Music] From one coast to the other, I’m headed to Western Australia to find a furry massup that’s native to Rott Nest Island. Can you guess what it is? The island’s an amazing place. Tourists and locals alike love to go on holiday there. The early Dutch explorers sailed past here in the 1600s and they saw these funny little things hopping around. They thought they were giant rats, so they called the place Rats Nest Island. But of course, these aren’t rats at all. They’re quawkers. [Music] So, Doug, this is their natural environment, right? That’s right. Yep. It’s estimated up to 12,000 quacers live here. One of the last populations of this little marupial left in Australia. They come here mainly because we got a a good supply of grass and it traps a lot of moisture and also it’s an area that they don’t get disturbed too much. You can understand why people come and look at that. That’s right. Just the way that you know the joies are hanging out of the pouch this time of year. You need to resist that face. I just really beautiful thing. Once you get into the village area, there are cockers everywhere. We want to find a place where we can find the sea. These guys are just so friendly. They walk up to you. Hello, my friend. How are you? They have the cutest faces in the world. So, there are photos of these little tackers all over the internet. But these cute caucus aren’t the only creatures that draw a crowd. For our next wildlife encounter, we head back to the east coast. This is Philip Island. Check out the superb coastline. It’s a wonderful place and the animal and bird population here has had a real explosion. But every evening, people gather to watch something pretty special. It’s a parade. Who doesn’t love a parade? The stars of the show are the smallest penguins in the world. There’s one. There’s another. And people come from all over the globe to see them. Home is in England. We’re from Germany near Hanova. Have you ever seen a penguin before? No, never. Only in a zoo. In a zoo. The journey from the ocean up the shore can be pretty treacherous for these brave little souls. You know, they’ve been out at sea for 17 or 18 hours and have a climb of at least a kilometer to finally get home. It’s a triumph of spirit over size. So, they’re solitary hunters, right? Why do they form a pack when they come in? Because crossing the beach is the scariest part of their day. Uh they group up together so that they’ve got safety in numbers. So they’ll come across the beach in a group and uh they just feel a lot safer. It doesn’t pay to be late. So when penguins walk, they walk with a waddle. [Music] You know why that is? Because really from there to there is actually stuck right up in their bodies and it’s really only their ankles that extend below their body. So when they walk they haven’t got too much to flex. So they wobble. You get a good view of the passing parade from the underground viewing platform. And the penguins are left in peace to do what comes naturally beating the kids. And the reason there’s so many of them is because it’s a baby boom. [Music] You know, we’re so lucky to be able to see all of these beautiful and amazing creatures living in the wild. That’s what’s so good about Australia. From turtles to friendly marupials to tiny little penguins. Now, which one was your favorite?