The Garden Spade in Bronte, New South Wales, Australia | Gardener

The Garden Spade

Locality: Bronte, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 414 794 716

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• Home improvement
• Gardener

23.01.2022 Well autumn (planting season) is upon us folks which means one thing (well to gardeners): focus focus focus ! focus on optimising the quality of your soil by adding compost 2-3 weeks prior to planting; add slow release fertiliser to your lawns in preparation for winter and whilst were on the subject of lawns - now is the time to spray for those horrid nasty hideous weeds: bindi! (wouldnt it be nice if a few councils read this blog!). St Pats Day is just one day behi...nd us but legend has it: plant garlic on St Pats Day. So after letting your compost work its magic, pop out to your local vegie shop and purchase an organic garlic bulb. Divvi up the garlic into individual bulbs, create a hole twice the length of the bulb and pop the garlic in, pointy end facing up. Then all you have to do, except water it every so often, is wait for your garlic. A tell tale sign is the leaves of the garlic will turn brown Enjoy wandering around the local nurseries, collecting plants for your garden. If you need a little help and live in Sydney, contact The Garden Spade :) See more

22.01.2022 The Garden Spade was called to do a job most (in fact, I think ALL) landscaping companies would not get out of bed for: fill three existing pots to create a welcoming space at the entrance of a small office. Whilst chatting to the owners, I discovered they also wanted to fire up a weber bbq every so often at lunch time so we decided to utilise the pots and create a pretty yet usable small kitchen garden. The pots consist of herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, coriander and parsley as well as pick-as-you-go lettuce. To complete the picture, I added a lobelia border around the centre pot. The "Welcome" ornament above the centre pot was an existing added bonus ! Getting out of bed for these small jobs is what the Garden Spade loves to do !

21.01.2022 a friend called me to say she had lost her clothesline ... to an overgrown hedge! So it was Garden Spade to the rescue! These are the little jobs which people dont have time to do or dont have the tools, are too small for a traddie to bother with OR are afraid of spiders! Or all of the above! I have to admit, I did scream just a tad when the spider woke up, increased in size by 10 fold and moved!

21.01.2022 I was asked to help create a small native garden. The house had been recently extensively renovated and the garden was a building site. The clients wanted the remaining existing plants removed. To save time and effort all round (not to mention green waste), I suggested posting an ad on Gumtree, with a photo of the plants, advertising them as free, come and dig it out yourself and viola! They were bombarded with responses as mature plants are very expensive. Once all exi...sting plants had been removed, I set out to improve the soil, ready for the new native plants. As the clients had an interest in design , I suggested they attend the local councils native nursery with me to choose the plants they liked. We then positioned the plants together, to their liking. Once the plants were in place, I planted the natives and then finished with Seasol and lightly mulched. Two months later, the native garden is flourishing See more

21.01.2022 ... and just one more task to add Many of us have an orchid, most likely in the house, usually given as a present ... and a lovely present it is too whilst the flower lasts - but then what? One thing to do to care for your orchid is to give it a dose of Epsom Salts, this time of year. Now the ratio is important - 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts to 9L of water in watering can. Place the orchid where it can drain easily. Gently pour the water over the orchid. Its important to cov...er the leaves as well as watering the plant in general because leaves take in essential elements. For general care, there is fertiliser specifically for orchids available at any good nursery. Research the internet and determine how much feed your particular orchid prefers. See more

21.01.2022 Now that winter is nearly over (happy dance!!), The Garden Spades engine has been turned back on! I was asked to plant a vegetable garden for a young family. Initially the beds had been planted with natives and a few bushes of rosemary, but as my client said, there is only so many roast lambs one family can have! So three weeks ago, I cleared the beds and added a mixture of compost, cow manure and a little dynamic lifter to the beds and let them rest for 3 weeks. Bed ...2 was a little tricky as it already held 2 native plants which the client wanted to keep. Some natives are not a fan of fertilisers containing phosphorous so the bed was halved with one end used for the vegie patch. Today was planting day! The two beds are now full of young seedlings including a variety of herbs, lettuces, baby beets, rocket, red and spring onions, tomato and eggplants plus a couple of flowering plants to entice the bees to do their thang. See more

20.01.2022 Lavender is one of those plants which many of us love. Its out in full force in most nurseries, in all sorts of varieties and colours. However it does tend to go woody after a couple of years. Plants can be expensive so rather than turf out the woody plants, buy new ones only for the whole process to start again, I will show you how to save on that entire process, by using cuttings from existing plants. Now trust me, this is very easy and most of all - free! Step 1: tri...m a healthy stem from a lavender plant - about 10-15cm long Step 2: run your fingertips, from almost the top of the cutting, down the stem, stripping off the leaves as you go, leaving a few leaves at the top Step 3: using a bamboo stick or something similar (even a wooden spoon handle would suffice!), shove the stick into the ground where you want your lavender cutting to grow. This just makes it a lot easier to plant your lavender cutting Step 4: place the lavender cutting into the hole, so just the top leaves are above the surface. Secure the cutting with soil Step 5: fairly crucial to success: once a week for at least the next month, gently water the cutting with Seasol. Seasol is basically liquid seaweed which is diluted 30ml in 9L water can. Seasol is used to help the plant develop roots as well as overall general health to the plant. In no time, you will have a new lavender plant growing! I planted 24 cuttings, 17 of which survived so the success rate is pretty good. Now is the time to carry out this little task - so add it to your list of things to do this weekend Happy Gardening from The Garden Spade ! See more

20.01.2022 Spring has definitely sprung in Sydney so its time to add some colour and food to your garden! Even if you have a small balcony and its in the sun for most of the day, you can grow so much in pots. My choice would be some herbs, pick-as-you-go lettuce and some pretty potted colour. If you need some help ... :)

12.01.2022 The Garden Spade has been busy snip snip snipping, tidying a climber growing along a clients fence. Difficult to capture, but the difference was amazing ... a real ah thats better effect !

12.01.2022 Just before last weeks rain set in, I was asked to sort out a local cafes kitchen garden - Gertrude & Alice in Hall St, Bondi Beach. I think its such a great idea for a caf to have a little garden out the back, if there is space and sun. The $ saved in herbs especially would be quite significant - not to mention the convenience and, above all, freshness! There are 4 beds in total, one of which needed a total overhaul - completely chokkers with weeds. The other beds we...rent too bad, a credit to the busy caf. I set about weeding the main bed, only to discover a few parsley plants quite happily growing. Goes to show how tough the plant is. I added a soil boosting mixture to all beds, consisting of mainly compost with a little cow and chook manure thrown in and commenced planting a mixture of kitchen herb seedlings plus a few cuttings of sage, rosemary, thyme and lavender which I brought from my own garden. The beds were topped up with organic mulch and all plants received a good dose of diluted Seasol In just a few weeks, Gertrude & Alice(and its customers!) will be able to enjoy the wonderful tasty herbs straight from the garden (ps and they make the best coffee! ) See more

10.01.2022 Now that winter is nearly over (happy dance!!), The Garden Spade's engine has been turned back on! I was asked to plant a vegetable garden for a young family. Initially the beds had been planted with natives and a few bushes of rosemary, but as my client said, there is only so many roast lamb's one family can have! So three weeks ago, I cleared the beds and added a mixture of compost, cow manure and a little dynamic lifter to the beds and let them rest for 3 weeks. Bed ...2 was a little tricky as it already held 2 native plants which the client wanted to keep. Some natives are not a fan of fertilisers containing phosphorous so the bed was halved with one end used for the vegie patch. Today was planting day! The two beds are now full of young seedlings including a variety of herbs, lettuces, baby beets, rocket, red and spring onions, tomato and eggplants plus a couple of flowering plants to entice the bees to do their thang. See more

05.01.2022 I dropped in to see how a client's vegie patch was coming along ... and it's coming along ! The three photos show: the bed before planting, the bed with new plants and the bed as it is now - lots of food for dinner time picking

04.01.2022 I recently placed an order for a variety of cottage garden seeds from The Seed Collection. The seed packets include canterbury bells, foxgloves, snapdragons, stock and sweetpea, just to name a few. This weekend Ill be preparing a few garden beds ready to direct sow some of the seeds in early autumn (planting season!). Other seeds will require a little more TLC and will need to be sown in punnets which Ive saved over the years from nurseries. Why dont you consider adding some colour to your garden? You can either order seeds from a website such as The Seed Collection or perhaps obtain a few plants from me when theyre ready? If you need any help preparing a garden bed or two (and youre in Sydney!) contact The Garden Spade :)

02.01.2022 A client wanted to enhance the front of their newly renovated terrace. The client had a specific idea of the look she was after, which I readily welcomed. Im always happy to follow and incorporate a clients vision as long as the plants are suited to the position. A box hedge was already in place however it needed a little pizzazz to really lift it ... and that pizzazz was lavender! I inspected the proposed garden bed and the soil was in desperate need of improving. O...nce this was completed, I left the bed for at least 2 weeks to settle in before heading off to the local nursery to purchase the required plants. Two rows of lavender were planted and the end result was just beautiful - and in perfect timing for the festive season. ** later, I will post about growing new lavender from cuttings, as lavender does have the tendency to become woody after a few years *** See more

01.01.2022 I dropped in to see how a clients vegie patch was coming along ... and its coming along ! The three photos show: the bed before planting, the bed with new plants and the bed as it is now - lots of food for dinner time picking