Grow a Hedge of Natives
1 Comment »13th March, 2006; Category: Caring for Native Plants, Plant species, Pruning Australian Native Plants, Using Australian Natives
I couldn’t have timed it better! The last Gardening Australia programme on ABC TV was on maintaing Australian native plants in gardens, emphasising the importance of regular pruning.
I saw on one of the Lifestyle TV programmes some time ago the suggestion of using Westringea species as formal hedge plants. The programme showed these trimmed hedges as ‘fences’ separatingĂ‚Â garden areas and it looked great. Again the best results were achieved by constant early trimming amd light pruning to maintain the leaf cover well down on the plant before it developed woodiness. The Westringea fruticosa (Native Rosemary- called this because the appearance is like the herb Rosemary) forms do lend themselves to this treatment very well.
The Westringea species that I know best for this purpose are
- Westringea rosmarinifolia (Native Rosemary, white to mauve flowers)
- Westringea fruticosa
- Westringes fruticosa ‘Highlight’ (variegated leaves and mauve flowers)
- Westringea fruticosa ‘Morning Light’ (variegated leaves and white flowers)
- Westringea fruticosa ‘Smokie’ (grey variegated leaves, white flowers, smaller growth)
- Westringea ‘Jervis Gem’ (small dense bush, mauve flowers, use as you would English Box)
- Westringea ‘Wynyabbie Gem’ (mauve flowers)
All of these will grow well in alkaline soil, all can be planted in coastal areas and all are hardy plants once established.
Correas and Pruning
6 Comments »11th March, 2006; Category: Caring for Native Plants, Correas, Pruning Australian Native Plants
I found some more Correa cuttings which had grown roots, in the hot house. Sometimes they strike readily, other times they will actually send out flowers and the odd new shoot but when potting time comes there is not a root to be seen. Grevilleas will do this too, I have found.
If I have to trim the roots of the cuttings when potting on, I will often tip prune the plant at the same time, or take a little more of the top to balance the root system that is available to the plant.
Last year we had a trip to Ngarkat Conservation Park, near Keith in the upper South East of SA. It was winter, the first rains for the year began that weekend, and the area had had a bushfire through it in January of the same year. Despite the lack of rain we found the locally occurring Correas had sprouted abundant new growth from the base of the plants at ground level. The top of the plants were a few charcoal twigs.
This made me feel that it was worth experimenting with quite severe pruning of the Correas which I had neglected in the garden. I forgot about it last spring. I am watching for the new growth to appear this autumn and will try a few of the late flowering plants, rather than lose the flowers this year. Thought I would cut back to the last three of four buds on each stem and see what happens. I will have nothing to lose really as the plants are quite scruffy. They will have to be chopped back or pulled out.
Pruning Plants
No Comments »10th March, 2006; Category: Caring for Native Plants, General, Pruning Australian Native Plants
Lost my right hand man to Writers’ Week again today. Hopefully I can get some potting on done and also finalise the plant list for the plant sale. I keep finding species that I missed when I did the list the other day.
Meanwhile I have plants presenting great cutting material and I would love to be sidetracked by that job also. Everything comes in waves in the Nursery. Zillions of jobs needing to be done now, and then periods of watching things grow until the next wave of potting on. (Until I visit someone with a native garden and plants presenting cutting material).
Sometimes I feel like Peter Cundell on the ABC TV gardening programme, Gardening Australia. Put a pair of secateurs, or loppers in his hands and the personality changes as he attacks plants with glee. He is usually pruning, while I go mad taking cuttings.
The above reminds me of a friend whose plants always looked wonderful, in flower or not. She was a self confessed mad pruner but without the tools. She made a practice of constant tip pruning of all her native shrubs. That is, removing the top growing tip containing a couple of leaves. This forces the plant to make new growth back along the branches. As a result, flowering is much improved because of the greater number of shoots on the bushes. It often looked as though she had used shears to trim the plants.
I remember seeing her after one Plant Sale with a basket of plants and before she had got back to her car every one of them had been tipped pruned. “Can’t help myself!” she said.
It is a hint I often pass on to customers at Plant Sales. People are often disappointed with the appearance of native plants as they get older. They don’t usually have time to prune at a particular time in the plant’s seasonal growth. Tip pruning often solves this. The exception to this is for a plant which has a naturally upright habit, where tip pruning could ruin the shape of the plant.
Correas are Great Plants
Husband Trevor has gone to Writer’s Week sessions today. This is part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, and it is the first time Trevor has been able to attend. I had thought of going to Adelaide with him to look for some fabric to go on with a patchwork project done with English paper piecing but will try to go tomorrow.
Meanwhile some of the zillions of Nursery jobs need to be achieved today. I need to complete the plant list for the Australian Plant Society Autumn Plant Sale for a start. Then begin sowing seed for the Spring sale. This is the bit that I really enjoy, along with taking cuttings.
I have to get to my friend’s place and prune her Correa ‘Pink Pixie’ and Correa ‘Firebird’. Both are in bud at the moment but have taken over the area they are in. Marvellous growth for this location. However Correas do very well in alkaline soils even with the high pH. I love them, and so do the Honeyeaters which work over every flower looking for nectar. I can highly recommend them (the Correas) in any garden. I must do a list. There is at least one that would be in flower at any time of the year. To have that progression of flowering would certainly keep the Honeyeaters around.
If you should be visiting Victoria, a great Australian Native Garden where you will see many Correas is Katandra Garden. The owner, Bob O’Neil, won Australian Gardener of the Year (ABC) and is an active member of the Correa Study Group. He is also going to be a guest at the Regional Conference for the Australian Plants Society in Adelaide later in the year.
Planning to plant
We arrived back from Sydney this evening after two weeks’ holiday with son Simon (ITWhiz) and wife. What they say about the “tyranny of distance” is true. Distance is a tyrant when it separates family. Of course we have come home to zillions of jobs waiting to be done. They don’t go away, unfortunately. On the other hand some jobs are quite exciting. I need to take some of my own advice, given in my last post and get on with preparations for planting out some of the tube stock I have had waiting since January. It was too hot then to try to keep young plants going. Several days over 40C including some as high as 45C! I have a patch where I want to establish a small arboretum of local mallee species, and broaden the planting to species from other mallee areas. There are several species of Olearia that I want to get going, as well as Podolepis, Brachyscome and Cassinia, all of which are members of the daisy family. These all grow in the scrub (bush) within a few kilometres of our property. There are also some everlasting daisies (Helichrysm and Xerochrysm) which are native to this district. It would be nice to have them self sow themselves after this next season. The local form of Brachyscome ciliaris pops up every year in a new place on our block. This is a dainty pale mauve daisy about 1-1.5cm in diameter on a small plant which grows to about 30cm tall here. I should be collecting the seed and scattering it further afield on the block as it seems to come up right where we need to mow the grass each spring. It is a hardy little plant. Would be great in a cottage garden. There are a number of suppliers of seed of Australian native plants. See the list on the ANPSA website called Australian Seed Supplies.