Muddy Boots

Perennials 30.4.24

With Elisabeth busy with garden and house renovations this week, we have decided to replay one of our listeners favorite episodes. 

Perennials. Elisabeth thinks these are a “must have” in every garden.

What is a perennial? A plant that persists for several years producing stems and flowers and dying back (or becoming dormant) in Winter. Herbaceous perennials completely die back in Winter (like a peony for example).

Perennials often have long flowering periods. Cut back before the Autumn Equinox for another flush of flowers. Many perennials are Mediterranean and drought tolerant but there are a huge variety of plants with differing requirements.

Numerous online retailers include Woodside Perennials, Woodbridge Perennials, Antique Perennials, Treasured Perennials

Top 10 of Elisabeth and Keith, gives us a total of 20 (or 21!).

1. Hydrangea Macrophylla 
2. Hydrangea Quercifolia
3. Allium
4. Salvia Mystic Spires
5. Salvia Leucantha including the purple, white velour and pink velour varieties
6. Sedum Autumn Joy
7. Achillea including Moonshine, Terracotta, Cerise Queen, Hela glashoff, Parchment
8. Digitalis (Foxglove) and Digiplexis
9. Liatris Spicata
10. Hellebore
11. Sisyrinchium Striatum
12. Geranium Rozanne
13. Echinacea
14. Buddleia 
15. Rudbeckia Goldsturm
16. Lavender
17. Helenium dunkle pracht
18. Stachys byzantina (Lambs Ears)
19. Scabiosa Midnight
20. Crepe Myrtle 
21. Lilac

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
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With Elisabeth busy with garden and house renovations this week, we have decided to replay one of our listeners favorite episodes. 

Delicious berries. Maybe you already grow your own or maybe you don’t know where to start. This week’s episode looks at 4 main berry types - raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries

Raspberries - 3 types
3 main varieties - Summer fruiting, autumn fruiting and the “dual cropper”
- Primo cane cultivars such as ‘Autumn Bliss’, ‘Heritage’, ‘Bogong - suited to warmer or coastal areas (require less chilling to produce new canes)
- Floricane are earlier fruiting producing fruit on cane from last year’s growth require a cold winter. Include ‘Chilliwack’, ‘Chilcotin’’Golden Raspberry’.
- Dual croppers produce fruit on both old and new canes so have fruit in Summer and Autumn. Include ‘Lloyd George’, ‘Willamette’, Sandford.
- Available in Winter as bare-rooted canes or in pots in other seasons. Full Sun

Blueberries
- Buy in pots
- Number of varieties with different climactic requirements. Cold loving varieties include Denise, Northland, Brigitta , Milder areas should look for Sunshine Blue or Blue Rose
- Full sun to part shade in slightly acidic soil
- Tip prune after fruiting
- regular feeding required

Blackberries
- Look for non-invasive varieties like the thornless ‘Chester’ and ‘Waldo’. Produce fruit in Summer on last year’s canes. They are vigorous growers up to 10m.

Strawberries
- Bush Alpine is an easy, runnerless variety. Keith recommends ‘Cambridge Rival’ ‘Chandler’ along with Japanese variety Hokawase. Will yield for 3-4 years of production. 
- Great to grow in baskets, pots, raised beds. Full sun and lots of organic matter
- Plant in April-May

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
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With Elisabeth busy with garden and house renovations this week, we have decided to replay one of our listeners favorite episodes. 

Join us to hear Keith’s tips on growing citrus. Follow Keith’s tips for healthy, disease free, fruit producing citrus in your home garden.

• Citrus trees love full sun and free draining soil. Not sure where to put it? Put it in a pot.
• Citrus are grown on different rootstocks - can be important to know what root stock it’s grown on to ensure it’s suited to your conditions and soil. For example “flying dragon” rootstock will tolerate heavier soils and some wetness.
• Citrus have surface-feeding roots which means their roots like first access to feed and they are heavy feeders. Feed citrus monthly as they have no dormant period. Keith suggests Neutrog Gyganics at half recommended rate but applied monthly. Potassium can help with fruit production    
• Most citrus don’t like frost! The occasional frost can be tolerated. Keith advises leaving frost burnt leaves on the plant as these can protect undamaged foliage from further frost damage
• Citrus don’t like competition. Avoid planting in the lawn unless you have a large lawn free area under the canopy of the tree.
• pH prefer soil 5 - 5.5 and definitely not over 6.
• Pruning - prune to size where fruit is reachable and ensure centre of tree is nice and open to allow sunlight to all parts of the tree

Pests and diseases are common issues with citrus. Black scale exudes sugary substance that ants feed on and spread and this can cause sooty mould. Regular application of Eco Oil will assist with avoiding pests. Citrus gall wasp originates from Australian native Finger Lime. The gall wasp will create a knobbly growth on the tree that inhibits growth. Prune these off and put straight into rubbish (not compost!).

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

Who will be the lucky winner of this week’s prize from The Plant Runner?

Another packed episode of excellent questions from our listeners and hear more about what Keith does (when he’s not talking to us about gardening!)

Some great tips this week include:

Your ECO Neem and Eco Oil mix can be made up and left in the sprayer for use. Adding a couple of drops of detergent can help others like Bordeaux spray from becoming pasty

Acer Negundo Box Elder tree can be a weedy species

Compacted clay soil? Hear Keith’s tips on preparing this soil before planting including loosening with F.D Ryan's broadfork, when to use gypsum and adding products like MycoGold

Shade loving perennials - Keith recommends Ajuga, Ligularia dentata reniformis (Tractor Seat Plant), Chatham Island Forget-me-not, Arthropodium, Sedum, Clivia, Primula, Veltheimia Bracteata

Tall plants like Aster falling over? Try crowding with other plants to support. Different forms of salivias, agastache, achillea for example.

Cherries (Keith recommends lapin variety) and pears (Keith suggests Packham’s Triumph) both require cross pollination for good crop production.

Can you apply crop rotation principles to flowering annuals? Probably not but ensure you are improving soil with Clyde’s lignite, Munash Rock Dust, Clyde's Compost

Hear how to remove Kaikuyu lawn. Use Slasher, cover with Weed Gunnel before covering with an agregate or gravel.

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

Ever heard of mychorrhizal funghi or have any idea how they benefit your garden? Well this week, we meet Tim Lister from BioStim who explains all!

• BioStim’s MycoGold can be add back beneficial fungal spores to our soil to replenish what has been lost through fertilising, chemical herbicides etc. 
• This product is available to the home gardener. A small amount can be added at the seedling stage or when planting out pots either directly to the soil or mixed in water.
• During high growth periods like spring, Mycgold can be added to soil where soil might be depleted. Unlike traditional fertilisers, the live fungal spores contained in this product will continue to work symbiotically with your plants roots long after application.t
• Not compatible with brassicas or blueberries.

Available from Diggers Club or directly through BioStim

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

Autumn is here and there is plenty to do in the garden! This week, hear Keith and Elisabeth’s suggestions on what to get done in the garden this Autumn.

• Pruning and deadhead perennials such as hydrangeas, salvias, lavender etc
• Prune espalier apples and citrus
• Rejuvenate your soil after summer with a broad fork (Keith recommends F.D Ryan's) before adding Rooster Booster, Clyde's Compost, Clyde’s lignite along with a liquid fertiliser like Charlie Carp or  Power Feed
• Feed citrus - try Harry's Citrus Food or Neutrog Gyganics
• Tomatoes are finishing up and will need to be removed
• Plant garlic cloves - 50mm in Vic, 100mm in warmer climates
• Sow brassica seeds - broccoli, cabbage, cauliflowers etc
• Dividing and propagating perennials including Japanese windflowers, dahlias, salvias, sedum, grasses, oakleaf hydrangea
• Grow from cuttings - snip off just below a root node, dip into rooting powder and put into pot (or water)
• Broadfork your lawn and feed with Rooster Booster and keep lawn high until winter months
• Plant bulbs - daffodils, hyacinths, jonquils, irises etc. Plant close together for maximum impact. Underplant 
• Autumn leaves are a great carbon addition in the compost. 

Enjoy the glorious colours of Autumn and the cooler working weather!

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

We’ve heard Elisabeth mention “my new garden” a number of times. Now we have the opportunity to follow Elisabeth’s journey to creating her new dream garden.

Keith drew up plans for the garden using council plans and including Elisabeth’s plant selections and ideas.

Elisabeth started the transformation with the most visible section. Two ModBOX raised beds are accessible to the kitchen for Elisabeth’s vegetables. 

Before any planting, soil was improved with Clyde's Compost and Clyde’s lignite. Morningside Landscapes are assisting with the heavy lifting. 

Next granitic sand will be laid before they getting starting on irrigation system using Dan micro sprinklers.

What’s on Elisabeth’s plant list? Japanese anemone, Crepe Myrtle, Baby Bay Tree, citrus, oleander, smoke bush, correa, leucadendron, liriope, euphorbia, lavender, grasses, viburnum, nepeta, oak leaf hydrangea, salivias, wistringia. Syzygium australe will be used as a screening plant.

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

Who will be the lucky winner of this week’s prize from The Plant Runner?

Another packed episode of excellent questions from our listeners and hear more about what Keith does (when he’s not talking to us about gardening!)

Some great tips this week include:

Your ECO Neem and Eco Oil mix can be made up and left in the sprayer for use. Adding a couple of drops of detergent can help others like Bordeaux spray from becoming pasty

Acer Negundo Box Elder tree can be a weedy species

Compacted clay soil? Hear Keith’s tips on preparing this soil before planting including loosening with F.D Ryan's broadfork, when to use gypsum and adding products like MycoGold

Shade loving perennials - Keith recommends Ajuga, Ligularia dentata reniformis (Tractor Seat Plant), Chatham Island Forget-me-not, Arthropodium, Sedum, Clivia, Primula, Veltheimia Bracteata

Tall plants like Aster falling over? Try crowding with other plants to support. Different forms of salivias, agastache, achillea for example.

Cherries (Keith recommends lapin variety) and pears (Keith suggests Packham’s Triumph) both require cross pollination for good crop production.

Can you apply crop rotation principles to flowering annuals? Probably not but ensure you are improving soil with Clyde’s lignite, Munash Rock Dust, Clyde's Compost

Hear how to remove Kaikuyu lawn. Use Slasher, cover with Weed Gunnel before covering with an agregate or gravel.

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

What alternatives are there to the classic, Australian lawn? 

Synthetic? Elisabeth is not a fan, will Keith convince her that they have a place?

• Before considering an alternative, consider a few elements - amount of sun, foot traffic, water conditions etc
• Granitic sand - can be a great alternative for areas between plants, border beds or for paths. 
• Mulch - Keith recommends 10mm pine bark
• Looking for a live lawn alternative?
  •  Herbaceous alternatives include: Creeping thyme, chamomile, prostate rosemary, round baby pigface, pennyroyal, 
  • Other plants that are suitable lawn alternatives - baby sunrose, zoysia tenuifolia, pratia pedunculata
  • Native options include dichondra (either repens or silver falls variety) or native violets
  • Consider establishing a Wildflower Meadow as we explored in an episode in October 2023 (listen now Apple Podcasts or  Spotify)
• Stepping stones will help keep foot traffic down to reduce damage to your lawn alternative

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook 

Currently own a worm farm or thinking you might like to? This week we meet Richard Thomas from Wormlovers

Hear about the history of Wormlovers and their journey over the last 10 years and learn from Richard’s knowledge on the benefits of worm farms for the home gardener. Check out the Wormlovers website to see the range of not only worm farms but planter boxes, wicking beds and other garden accessories.

Whether you’re a large family or living on your own, Richard will explain not only the waste reduction benefits of the worm farm but the reward of the effect of worm castings and worm tea on your garden.

New to worm farms? Here’s a few tips to starting:

• Place the worm farm in full shade
• Add a bedding of compost, soil or other suitable organic matter to the tray
• Add composting worms (1000-2000) - these can be purchased from Wormlovers
• Add small amount of garden/kitchen waste as well as waste paper/cardboard - remember not to overfeed your worms!
• Dilute worm tea to a ratio of 1:10 and use on your garden

Where you can find all things Muddy Boots!

Website: https://www.muddyboots.net.au/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/muddybootspodcast/ 
Facebook: Muddy Boots Podcast | Facebook