How to plant Australian native plants
Eucalyptus caesia
Early autumn is an excellent time for planting Australian native plants. The soil is still warm, the extremes of temperature have, in general, passed and rainfall becomes established again in the temperate areas of Australia.
Good gardening practice will always give good results for planting any types of plants, and Australian natives are no exception to this rule.
1. *Weed control is most important. Remove all weeds from the area to be planted. Be aware that cultivating the soil often will encourage weeds to establish. (On the other hand some native grasses will establish on uncultivated soil).
2. *Prepare the soil by forking to at least the depth of the root system, plus half again, and a diameter of 30-50cm (12-18inches) depending on the pot size.
3. Dig in whatever well rotted organic matter you may have, or keep it to apply to the soil surface.
4. I find it a useful thing to fill the planting hole with water and allow the water to drain away. This not only gives moisture in the subsoil to encourage roots downwards, but enables you to check the drainage of the area.
5. Create a raised planting site by bringing in soil from another area of the garden, if poor drainage is a problem or
6. Add gypsum to the soil if water seems to sit too long in the planting hole. About a kilo per square metre is recommended on poorly draining soils ie those that are mostly clay.
7. If water sits on the surface and seems to beadĀ, non wetting soil is probably the problem. Buy a suitable soil re-wetting agent and follow the directions on the container. These are usually added after the planting is done. Similarly when watering fails to wet potting mix, dunk the container in a bucket or tub such as a garbage bin and if necessary add soil wetter to the water or the surface of the pot depending on the product being used.
8. *In general it is a good idea to soak potted plants in a bucket of water with some soil wetting agent added to it just before planting. (Unless you know for sure that the pot already contains this.) Soak long enough for bubbles to stop rising.
9. Adding fertilizer to the soil immediately below the plant can be a good thing. Use about a tablespoon of slow release fertilizer suitable for native plants, or use blood and bone added to the soil used to put around the plant in the planting hole.
10. *When placing the plant, create a small depression in the soil to act as a water catchment for rain or as a dam for hand watering.
11. *Plants need to be established by regular watering around the roots for several weeks, then weekly watering then leave greater intervals, depending on the amount of rainfall received. Don’t expect the plant to survive on natural rainfall if autumn rains have not begun in your district.
12. *Mulch the area surrounding the plant, keeping the mulch back a little from its stem.
13. *Use inorganic mulches like small sized gravel or sand that is free of weed seed.
14. *Or use organic mulches which will break down over time and need replenishing, but in doing so will add humus to the soil.
15. *Suitable organic mulches would be bark or wood chip, pea straw, rotted lawn clippings, or other rotted vegetable material or waste material.
The points marked * are the minimum that should be done.
Soils aint soils…
No Comments »6th March, 2006; Category: Soils and Potting Mixes
Hakea orthorrhyncha
…to misquote an ad of some years ago! Where I live in the Mallee area of South Australia, the soil is very poor and the rainfall is low. So when it rained on the north coast of New South Wales last week, the amount of rainfall was incomprehensible. 14 inches (350mm) in a day at Bellingen, inland from Coffs Harbour! That’s more than we get in an average year.
I measured the pH of the soil at a number of locations over our 5 acres (2 hectares). Is it any wonder the fruit trees have not done as well as I had hoped. The pH is 8+ to 9+ which is highly alkaline. The quality of the soil varies from sandy loam, to limestone rubble to non-wetting mallee sand. There used to be a strawberry farm on our property, so the structure of the soil is not too bad at all.
My usual reaction to someone who says “that won’t grow on your block of land” is to attempt to prove them wrong. I don’t think I am alone! A lot of plants grow very well in alkaline soil. Some plant species will grow reasonably well, but do not achieve the ultimate size. Others sit and “sulk”, and others struggle to maintain good leaf coverage. Of course some of the most desirable plants (in my eyes) are the ones that are native to areas of acid soil! It is amazing how adaptable Australian native plants are.
When I began writing this piece I wondered if I really understood the science behind pH of soils, so I detoured to find some more info. I am glad I did. I realise that I should have been using iron chelate or iron sulphate more diligently on some plants and would have far better growth by now. Some homework to do later this week.
For more information on soil pH see the ASGAP web page Understanding Soils and Nutrients.
Mallee Native Plants
2 Comments »5th March, 2006; Category: General
I love propagating plants! The idea of getting something for nothing works well in gardening! Digging up a clump and breaking it into many pieces which you then plant elsewhere or share with a friend or pot up for sale is fun. Picking a seed pod, waiting for it to open and shed the seeds inside, sowing the seeds and then planting out lots of little plants is very satisfying. Taking cuttings from plants, poking them into an appropriate potting mix, then discovering the roots on the bottom of each little piece is miraculous. I feel excited every time I upend the contents of a pot of cuttings, or seedlings, in preparation for potting on into individual pots.
What an amazing thing to happen. A large tree in your local playground or park probably grew from a seed smaller than the size of a full stop on this page!
In this blog I hope to pass on many ideas of what plants you can try in your garden, whatever its size. Also hints and tips and information about growing Australian native plants in particular and what could make gardening with these plants more of a pleasure. Not to mention the side benefits to be gained from being outside getting dirty.
My nursery, Mallee Native Plants Nursery, is where I work. The website for it is being worked on now. I hope soon to have a catalogue available on line, when son Simon (IT Whiz) gets it ready for me to operate.