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Blog
The Tree P's
Posted on October 23, 2018 at 7:35 AM |
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A huge part of the last 30+ years of my life has been helping people put their gardens together. The most important part of our customers success is choosing the right plants, planting them properly and looking after them as thy settle in. This coming Saturday the 17th at 10.30 I invite you to be part or a discussion that I call “the three P’s” … Plant Choice, Planting Procedure and Post Plant maintenance. Get these three things right and you are a long way towards having a enjoyable successful garden. I don’t expect that, at the end of this talk that you will have the same abilities that I’ve spent a life acquiring but I hope that those attending have the confidence to ask the right questions and a better knowledge to choose plants with confidence. |
Helping Pollinators in the Garden
Posted on April 21, 2014 at 2:59 AM |
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Birdwatching at Fairhill
Posted on June 8, 2013 at 11:56 PM |
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On the last Wednesday day of every month at 8.00am during
winter (7.00am starting August) the Wednesday Day Club spend and hour wondering
through Fairhill Botanic Gardens enjoying the huge diversity of bird life that
the gardens have attracted before retiring to have a cuppa, talk about their
sightings and a chat. On most
outings they identify over 60 different types of birds with the highest number
being 85 seen and three heard, that’s a huge diversity in a 10 acre
garden. They have listed over 150
species of birds over the past years. There is a consensus among the Wednesday Day club members
that the best bird watching any where is in the Fairhill Botanic Gardens which
is pleasing in many ways but in a lot of ways it is very concerning as is
indicates a lack of bird habitat else ware. In 1974 Fairhill Botanic Gardens was a dairy farm, not one
tree or shrub on the place. It has
been interesting to watch the changes in the bird population as the gardens
evolved. Before any of the trees
and shrubs the bird life consisted of open field bird, the Butcherbirds,
Magpies, Peewees and the odd Kookaburra.
As the quicker flowering garden beds started to provide
shelter the Honeyeaters started to arrive followed by finches and wrens as more
seed producing plants started to produce. Evolving further, the rainforest gardens started to close in
and rainforest birds such as Emerald Doves, Catbirds and Whipbirds took up
residency. During this stage the open field birds declined and the
gardens went through a period when they disappeared altogether. But recently they have started to come
back as the trees started to provide a habitat for them. There are Noisy Miners on the list of sighted birds; they
are occasionally seen in the open paddocks on either side but never in the
gardens. This is because the Noisy
Miner is an attack bird. It needs
open lines of sight so that it can dominate all other birds. And because the gardens don’t provide
that, the Noisy Miners don’t feel comfortable and stay away. At the last gathering of the Wednesday Clubbers there was a
discussion about the decline of bird life. The consensus is that there is a lack of corridors (one
comment was “that a bird can no longer travel from Brisbane to the Sunshine
Coast any more”) but also the lack of habitat in private gardens. Fairhill Botanic Gardens is a great
example of how a bird friendly garden can be created. And it does not need to be 10 acres, there a some fantastic
examples of small backyards providing great support for the bird population, we
just need more of them. The morning of the last Wednesday of the month is a really
enjoyable time in the gardens and the members of the Wednesday Day Club invite
all who has the time to join in.
There are no membership fees, just role up to Fairhill Botanic Gardens
and join in. The next gathering is on Wednesday the 26 of
June; look forward to seeing you then. |
Platypus Sighting
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 12:10 AM |
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It’s been confirmed! Three weeks ago I sighted a platypus on the Fairhill dam. I was stoked of course but everyone that I spoke to bragging about the sighting doubted me with comments like; “are you sure”, “really” followed by mumbling something like “yea right Nick” and other remarks that are probably better left unsaid. On the last Wednesday of every month there is a bird watching group (called the “Wednesday Club”) come to the gardens to see what birds they can find. Last Wednesday as well as seeing 61 different birds they also sighted the fabled platypus. And better than that – some in the group recon they are two platypi. They were thrilled but a bit perplexed at my comment of “that’s confirmed”, I was relieved (it wasn’t my imagination). Fairhill Botanic Gardens is a haven of sights and sounds and the addition of either one platypus or, even better, two platypi … well it makes it even better. PS If I manage to get a photo (with platypi that can be a bit of an ask) I'll past ot this page. |
Around the Garden
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 1:47 AM |
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The sun is out, Grevillea and Banksia are flowering, the
gardens are looking a treat and the birds are loving it. On the last Wednesday of each month a group of bird watches
(called “The Wednesday Club”) come to the nursery and gardens to see what birds
they can find, have a cup of tea or coffee and a chat. Each month they typically see and hear
50 to 60 different birds. Last
Wednesday they saw 63 birds and heard a further 20 different birds, 83 species
of birds in one morning - WOW!! Everyone is welcome to come along and join in with The
Wednesday Club, so if can make it at 7.00am on the last Wednesday feel free to
join in. If there are any topics that you would like to find out more about send us your ideas and we’ll see if we can get something together. |
Autumn Is the Time to Plant
Posted on March 4, 2012 at 11:38 PM |
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Autumn is the time to plant!! As I’m writing this blog I can already hear the mumblings
“here we go, a salesman trying to drum up some business”. Most people think that spring is the best time to plant but
its not. There is no right or
wrong time to plant in the warm temperate, subtropical and tropical areas of
Australia but the best time to plant is autumn as I’ll show you below. Compare the conditions in spring, when most gardeners plant
and autumn when there is not much planting done. In spring the soil is cold and dry (cold because winter has
just finished and dry because late winter and spring tends to be the driest
part of the year) and the ambient temperature is rising, often quite
radically. All of this makes it
quite stressful for the plants being planted (and those planting them). In autumn conditions are much, much more favourable, the
soil is warm and moist (warm because it has had all of spring and summer to
heat up and moist because most of our rain falls in late summer and early
autumn) and the ambient temperature is falling slowly. All of these conditions a make for an
almost stress free transaction from pot to ground, both for the plants and
those planting them. The other
advantage of autumn planting is that you don’t need to be consistently
watering. Often all you need to do
is water the plants in and keep an eye on them, only giving the occasional deep
watering. If you are in a frost zone it will be important to protect
newly planted plants from frost for the first year. I resent being called a salesman, I’m a “plantsman”, have
been for most of my life and yes I am trying to drum up sales, but only because
this is when my customers and I, those that have taken my advice, get the best
results and pest satisfaction from their gardening. |
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