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	Topic and Question	Answer
	home made soil wetter – VIC Can you please tell me how to made home made soil wetter. It is so expensive to buy, I thought maybe one could make it at home. BACK TO TOPICS	I know it is expensive – I buy a big bag and make it last one whole season (spring to autumn). It is worth it though, as I don’t know of a home made version. I would not be spraying detergent around willy-nilly as you could end up with more problems than you started with.
	Old tyres as garden beds – NSW Is it safe to grow Vegetables and herbs, and strawberries in old tractor tyres? I was told that they would give off toxic matter/chemicals. BACK TO TOPICS	There is some evidence to suggest that the cadmium given off from old tyres makes them a poor choice in which to grow anything you plan to eat. I certainly don’t recommend using them anymore.
	fruit trees – VIC My 2 year old apricot tree has some branches dying off. The rest of the tree is still healthy. I also have a 5 year old nectarine tree with one branch dying out the rest of the tree is healthy. The two trees are located in opposite sides of the garden and they get watered once a month. BACK TO TOPICS	Bad news Gary – it sounds like your apricots and nectarine have eutypa dieback (formerly known as gummosis). Try this Sth Aust. Government website for advice.
	frangipani flowering – VIC I was wondering if you could help me with my frangipani's. I have 3 cuttings that leaf every year but i don’t get flowers. The three are the width of my fingers and the length of half my arm and sit in large massive pots with plenty of room. How do I get them to flower? I tried the sulphur potash once...how often do we need to give potash, and how often do we need to water them, please? BACK TO TOPICS	We gardeners are a contrary lot aren’t we? You are doing very well to keep frangipanis alive in Melbourne because they are more suited to the tropics. They need regular watering from spring through to autumn and have to be kept on the dry side throughout winter when they are dormant. Sun is very important. They need a fair bit of heat and sun to make them flower - a north facing position with a concrete or brick wall behind them will help. I would give them a slow release fertilizer in spring.
	tree fern – VIC How do I transplant from one place to another? BACK TO TOPICS	If it’s a soft tree fern (Dicksonia) you can saw it off and replant in the ground (bury about 30cm in the hole) but if it’s a rough tree fern (Cyathea) you will need to dig up the root ball for a successful relocation.
	plants for deep shade – NSW We have a row of European Fir trees which regularly drops their needles. Underneath their is deep shade. Can you recommend any plant not under 1 metre for screening purpose. Would Agapanthus or Lomondra Longiflora be ok? BACK TO TOPICS	This is a challenging situation for any plant. Deep shade, dry dusty hydrophobic soil which is probably on the acidic side. If anything can survive agapanthus probably can! Lomandra really like a bit more water. You would need to prepare the soil well and water regularly to get them established. Use a soil wetting agent to reduce the hydrophobia.
	cumquats not fruiting – VIC We have 5 courtyard cumquats in the ground. All are 12-14 years old (fruit like a small circular orange) each approx 2 metres high and they look quite healthy with very green thick foliage. They are fertilized with a citrus fertilizer 2 to 3 times annually, Nov, March and July and watered regularly via drippers. The problem is they have not fruited for approx 4-5 years since we cut them down to 1 metre and kept that height for approx 3 years. This year we let them re-grow to 2 metres but still no blossom and no fruit. What are we doing wrong ? BACK TO TOPICS	You’ve given the plants a heck of a shock and they are putting all their energy into recovery e.g. producing leaves. Try holding back on the fertilizer – it sounds like they’re getting too much of a good thing. They flower in early summer so try not to prune them at that time.
	Lawn seed variety to use – QLD I live at Forest Glen on the Sunshine Coast. My block slopes and the soil is sandy light loam. I would like to cover with grass seed an area recently denuded because of stump removal. What variety would suit this climate and area best? BACK TO TOPICS	Running grasses would be best as they will help stabilize the soil. Your local turf suppliers recommend buffalo grass varieties, couch grass varieties, kikuyu and zoysia grass. You could consider getting the area hydroseeded as this would bind the soil together while the seed germinates.
	destructive grubs – NSW Hi, I find grubs in some of my garden pots usually after the plant has died. The grubs are grey/white with a black tail end, they are 25-30 mm long and as thick as my little finger. There can be 25+ grubs in a 300mm pot, I even find them in hanging baskets which makes me think they are deposited there by some flying insect. Any information on what these grubs are or how to control them would be much appreciated. BACK TO TOPICS	It sounds like they are the grubs of the African black beetle. The grubs eat the roots of a wide variety of plants. There are several products on the market for dealing with them. I find the beetles seem to be attracted to outside lights at night and I find piles of them in pots in areas that are lit at night. Try moving your pots and baskets to an area not lit at night or turn a light off if you can.
	Getting rid of Plumbago plants – NSW I have Plumbago plants that are taking over - how can I get rid of them, forever, please? Also how do I get rid of Camphor Laurel--just a small one but I have tried poisoning and chopping it down but it still regrows. BACK TO TOPICS	You can either dig the plants out including as many of the roots as possible or the less exhausting method is to cut the plants off at ground level and paint the stump with glyphosate immediately (not 5 minutes later). You may have to persist in treating any regrowths until they stop.
	swimming pool plants – NSW We have installed a saltwater swimming pool, the pool does not have a planting box/ retainer wall on the side as our garden is already small. Our kids regularly splash the whole area with pool water. Now we are having trouble finding anything that we can plant. We were hoping for something higher in the background such as orange Jasmin ( lime trees would have been great) that we can prune a bit flat and under plant with something flowering or a type of grass. The area is only 75 cm wide and is facing North East, with morning sun. Hope you can help, my searches have not come to much. BACK TO TOPICS	I wonder whether it might be better to buy a couple of large pots or planter boxes and plant into them. That would get the plants up and away from the splashes. Bananas should do well and will get up in height so you have room to put something beneath them.
	indoor plants i have an indoor plant called a china doll which grew madly this summer. We have kept it away from hot sunny windows as it dries too quickly. Now it is dropping all its leaves and starting to look like a bunch of sticks not the showy thing it was a month ago. we don’t know what to do. BACK TO TOPICS	This is a rather tetchy plant and will drop its leaves if it dries out or gets too wet, too hot or too cold. You can try watering it with some seaweed solution (a good tonic) and keep it in bright but indirect sunlight with consistently mild temps between 18 and 25 degrees. If the temp plunges at night it won’t like it.
	treated pine logs – NSW Six months ago I bought treated pine logs to make a raised garden it says arsenate on the tag. Is this safe to use for growing vegies in? BACK TO TOPICS	A good rule of thumb is to never used treated timber to build anything that comes in contact with soil where you are growing edible plants. Red gum sleepers are a safer option.
	transplanting orange tree – WA When & how is it best to transplant an orange tree, approx 3 -4 yrs old in Perth. BACK TO TOPICS	Winter is a good time to transplant almost anything. You need to make sure that the ground is moist before you dig up the root ball taking as much soil with it as possible. Wrap the root ball in hessian so the sandy soil doesn’t all slip away. Have the hole where it is to go already dug. Place the tree in the new hole and at the same level as the old spot and water in well with a seaweed solution. Don’t fertilise until the tree shows signs of new growth. If it has any fruit on it remove this before transplanting.
	pruning a Caliistemon NSW I have two very large Captain Cook Callistemons that are starting to get top heavy and I fear if I don't prune them the main trunks will end up splitting and killing them. Should I give them a severe pruning to save them at risk of them being ugly. They are both about twelve years old and grow on a slight slope, they have almost finished flowering. BACK TO TOPICS	I had the same problem and I pruned my plant back to a stump only a metre or so high in early winter. It shot away again in spring quite happily and is now a dense shapely bush. Keep the water up the plants to assist them in re-shooting.
	Pruning Rhododendron – VIC Our Rhododendron received a lot of leaf burn in the hot spell just recently and I would like to prune it back. I am looking for some advice on when I can do it. I have never attempted it before. BACK TO TOPICS	I wouldn’t be pruning it or fertilizing it until it showed some signs of new growth – probably after flowering in spring. If you really wanted to prune it before then, you could do this in winter but you would sacrifice this spring’s flowers. Keep the moisture up to the roots and water with a seaweed solution.

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Question Topics This Month
home made soil wetter – VIC Old tyres as garden beds – NSW fruit trees – VIC frangipani flowering – VIC tree fern – VIC plants for deep shade – NSW cumquats not fruiting – VIC Lawn seed variety to use – QLD	Destructive grubs – NSW Getting rid of Plumbago plants – NSW swimming pool plants – NSW indoor plants treated pine logs – NSW transplanting orange tree – WA pruning a Caliistemon NSW Pruning Rhododendron – VIC
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