Yes this is such good advice. We are so eager to do some gardening work in the next months! What's your recommendation for the age of new trees that you want to plant? Should we get tube stock or go and get a young established tree... Or? I'm not even sure what all the other options are but we'd love to add more trees to our garden for shade!
ooh so exciting!! Hmm so it depends what you're planting really, if it's natives then probably going with tube stock would work well (APACE have a sale that runs yearly in May, so you could check them out for native plants). If you're looking at fruit trees or other non-natives, I'd go for a medium-sized tree rather than a mature one. It doesn't need to be teeny tiny, but going for a younger tree typically means the tree will establish better in your garden, will have a healthier, deeper root system in the long run, and they usually catch up in size to the mature trees after a few years anyway :) If you're after a lovely non-native tree that gets big and adds beautiful shade, autumn colour, spring interest and which feeds the black cockatoos, I can't recommend a pecan tree highly enough - we absolutely LOVE ours! check out my newsletter on here from a while back about every tree we have in our garden, you might find some other ideas in there that you like :D
Ahhh Casey that's so helpful thank you! Makes me want to go buy some trees RIGHT NOW 😂. I think I've even saved that post for reference! And a pecan tree might just be the ticket 👌🏻
Welcome back and thank you for landing in my inbox. As a northern hemisphere gardener I love getting beds ready over the winter because on my allotment, if a beds got loads of brambles winter is the perfect time to prepare it because nothing grows in the cold dark days (for me it’s End October through to February but add 6 months for yourselves) it gives me a head start before spring when i want to plant garlic, onions, potatoes or perennial tubers.
Thanks Claire, it's nice to be back! :D I love hearing your northern hemisphere gardening stories they always remind me of the mice of brambly hedge (have I already told you that? have you read the books? they are my absolute favourite and full of tales of blackberry tea and roasted chestnuts and winter fiestas, so lovely!). Anyway, totally agree, there's something so hopeful about getting stuck into the garden in winter and thinking about all the preparations you're making for spring
Julie! This makes me so happy to hear!! Good on you for putting all the extra effort into your soil I am so so glad that it's paying dividends with your plants! Some of my salvias are on the cusp of blooming and I had almost forgotten how beautiful they are, such great plants for late summer colour :) thanks for the lovely message and keep me posted on your garden updates!
Congratulations!!!!! 🥹🥰
Thank you!! :D <3
Yes this is such good advice. We are so eager to do some gardening work in the next months! What's your recommendation for the age of new trees that you want to plant? Should we get tube stock or go and get a young established tree... Or? I'm not even sure what all the other options are but we'd love to add more trees to our garden for shade!
ooh so exciting!! Hmm so it depends what you're planting really, if it's natives then probably going with tube stock would work well (APACE have a sale that runs yearly in May, so you could check them out for native plants). If you're looking at fruit trees or other non-natives, I'd go for a medium-sized tree rather than a mature one. It doesn't need to be teeny tiny, but going for a younger tree typically means the tree will establish better in your garden, will have a healthier, deeper root system in the long run, and they usually catch up in size to the mature trees after a few years anyway :) If you're after a lovely non-native tree that gets big and adds beautiful shade, autumn colour, spring interest and which feeds the black cockatoos, I can't recommend a pecan tree highly enough - we absolutely LOVE ours! check out my newsletter on here from a while back about every tree we have in our garden, you might find some other ideas in there that you like :D
Ahhh Casey that's so helpful thank you! Makes me want to go buy some trees RIGHT NOW 😂. I think I've even saved that post for reference! And a pecan tree might just be the ticket 👌🏻
Welcome back and thank you for landing in my inbox. As a northern hemisphere gardener I love getting beds ready over the winter because on my allotment, if a beds got loads of brambles winter is the perfect time to prepare it because nothing grows in the cold dark days (for me it’s End October through to February but add 6 months for yourselves) it gives me a head start before spring when i want to plant garlic, onions, potatoes or perennial tubers.
Thanks Claire, it's nice to be back! :D I love hearing your northern hemisphere gardening stories they always remind me of the mice of brambly hedge (have I already told you that? have you read the books? they are my absolute favourite and full of tales of blackberry tea and roasted chestnuts and winter fiestas, so lovely!). Anyway, totally agree, there's something so hopeful about getting stuck into the garden in winter and thinking about all the preparations you're making for spring
Hi Casey and welcome back!
I just wanted to let you know that my garden is thriving and looking better than ever thanks to your advice on soil improvement.
So over winter I layered bags of poo with mulch, planted and waited.
Th results are stunning even in this Perth summer. My salvias are the best ever and everything is so beautifully healthy.
All the best and thank you.
Julie Excell
Julie! This makes me so happy to hear!! Good on you for putting all the extra effort into your soil I am so so glad that it's paying dividends with your plants! Some of my salvias are on the cusp of blooming and I had almost forgotten how beautiful they are, such great plants for late summer colour :) thanks for the lovely message and keep me posted on your garden updates!