Sharing our love for natives

So why natives? 

A lot of natives flower nearly all year round, they grow so well here and love our climate. It's just a matter of finding the right native for your area. However, there are ways around that too.  

That being said… Let's talk about grafted natives, in particular, grevilleas. Grafted grevilleas are basically blending proven properties of two plants. It is a great idea to choose a grafted plant because it will allow the plant to settle more easily on a rootstock that is suited to the soil and environment in the area giving them a much longer life and survival. Grafted grevilleas are all round stronger and robust having higher tolerance to the adverse weather conditions we are surrounded by including excessive rainfall to a drier climate. That being said… there are things you can do to your pots and ground to help along any native plant. Therefore, non-grafted is also an option that requires just a little more work (but not much 🙂).  

Natives tend to not like soils and potting mixes that are high in phosphorus. So, it is extremely important to keep our natives happy by prepping the ground or pots allowing them to have a good start in life and prolonging their life, bettering their chance of survival. There are mixes that have been specially formulated for natives that contain low phosphorus and are a must when planting a native.  

By now you probably cannot wait to buy yourself a native and are thinking to yourself… where do I start? Well, the list and the qualities are endless.  

Some of the qualities of natives include:  

• attracting birds and bees; 

• high success rate in survival and growing; 

• great to look at; 

• large range of colours and different looking flowers; 

• variety of shapes and sizes, and  

• all contribute to our ecosystem, which is a 10 out of 10 for us! 

Let’s talk design!  

Imagine a garden of different heights with each plant showing off its beauty to you, whilst at the same time enjoying the view of the wildlife having a great time right in your own backyard. You can start with a native ground cover with a maximum height of 40cm and a 

maximum spread of 2m. Then, your garden can step up to a small bushy native shrub which can reach a height of 50cm-1m. Or instead of a shrub, you could choose to put in a small tree, reaching to a maximum height of 2m. Then along the back… that's where you can plant some big trees. There are many other great designs that can be imagined and then created with an abundance of native plants to choose from. 

Just to begin, here are some beautiful ground covers/low spreading shrubs which grow well here on Bribie Island. The gorgeous Leptospermum Pink Cascade - one of our favourites! They are a fine leaved dark coloured foliage plant which gets covered in small gorgeous pink flowers. They grow to a height of 80cm and a generous spread of 1.5m. Another favourite of ours is the Grevillea Raspberry Ripple. This stunning plant is a low small spreader, with small green leaves and a small delicate raspberry coloured flower. The plant reaches a height of 50cm and also has a massive spread of 1.5m. 

SHRUBS/SMALL TREES 

Where do we begin! There is an abundance of these to choose from, but let’s just discuss our two favourites:  

The Austromyrtus Copper Top, a beautiful looking plant with copper colours throughout its foliage and getting covered in delicate little white flowers. The plant has a maximum height of 1.2m and a maximum spread of 1.5m.  

Secondly, we just love the Callistemon Icy Burst, Candy Burst and Snow Burst. These small trees have bottle brush flowers, either pinks or whites, which flower nearly all year. They grow to heights ranging from 1-3m. We cannot stop at two because we have to mention some gorgeous grevilleas, which also make great small trees, including Grevillea Moonlight, Honey Gem, Flora Mason, Apricot Glow and many more.  

The callistemons and the grevilleas are a great choice when selecting a small tree for their prolific flowering and bird attracting qualities. 

Now for some of the big trees. I am just going to tell you our three favourites. 

1. The Ivory Curl Tree - what's not to love? The gorgeous curly leaves and the sprays of clustered white flowers that just cover the tree from summer to autumn. This tree reaches a height of 10m. 

1. The Fraser Island Apple Tree - Another beauty. Not only does it produce edible fruit, but it is famous for its lime green foliage and dense foliage. This tree reaches a height of 6-10m. 

1. The Tuckeroo Tree - These three are hard to rank, but we must say, the Tuckeroo is up there. It is very hardy, drought tolerant and features a lush green leaf colour, a nice, rounded shape and evergreen foliage. This tree reaches a height between 5-8m tall. 

Remember to prep before planting. As discussed earlier, it is important to prep the ground or pot with a native mix that has been specially formulated to cater for the natives' needs. This mix contains all the trace elements needed and has a low phosphorus content which is perfect for natives that are sensitive to phosphorus. The next important thing to consider is staking. We need to remember that while some plants are still young, we need to treat them with care, like you would a baby. Like a baby, a young plant's limbs are still weak and have trouble supporting themselves. Therefore, staking is imperative, allowing the plant to develop well and become strong while giving them the support they need. 

Well, that’s a wrap, thank you for reading.  

Any questions or queries, be sure to pop in and have a chat.  

Until next time…  

Happy Gardening, Adelle and Paul. 

Herbs and Vegetables! 

This time of year is a great time to start establishing that herb and vegetable garden. Be sure to get planting for our winter vegetable stock.  

Great things to plant now include: cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage and much more. Herbs that are flourishing at the moment are: basil, parsley, oregano and chives and much more. Be sure to prep your garden bed with specially formulated tomato and herb mix. Sugarcane mulch is a great and helpful final touch for your vegetable and herb garden, breaking down and putting nutrients back into the soil. 

Check This Out! Locals Recipe Corner 

This month's recipe focuses on the currently flourishing basil and parsley as the key ingredients. Thank you Shez from Bellara for sharing your beautiful pesto recipe. 

Ingredients 2 1/2 packed cups of basil leaves 

1 cup packed parsley leaves and stems 

1/4 cup pine nuts 

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 

1 or 2 peeled garlic  1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste 

Method 

Into a food processor, add green leaves, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan cheese.  

Blitz until just fine, slowly add oil, scraping the sides down often.  Add a little salt and pepper.  

I highly recommend you put this on anything savoury - any meat, breads and even crackers!! Keep in an airtight container, it lasts for at least two weeks. Enjoy!