Gardening Australia

Australia’s number one monthly gardening resource, ABC Gardening Australia magazine is packed with step-by-step advice and stunning design ideas from its popular team of experts. Whether you are a novice gardener or have a green thumb and years of experience, you’ll find the advice you need.

welcome

STAY I N TOUCH

PLANTS • This month’s pick of the bunch for garden lovers nationwide

PRODUCTS

Gardening Australia

BOOKS

JANUARY • Your guide to garden shows and events around the country this month

tell us about your event

7 Superb trees for a small garden • Every garden needs a tree or two, but when space is at a premium, the selection process can be tough. AB BISHOP presents her short list for trees that will earn their keep in a small garden

Let’s MINGLE • Licorice plant works well in dense block plantings or as the quiet backing for a potted flower display. It’s the ultimate mixer plant, says MICHAEL McCOY

mandevilla magic • For bold, unmissable flowers that love the heat, look no further than these climbing beauties. Despite some confusion about their name, they provide fuss-free colour in most gardens, writes STEVE FALCIONI

top picks

outback splendour • Set in the desert outside Port Augusta, the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden highlights the stark beauty and remarkable survival of the country’s toughest plants

nature play for children

too HOT to GARDEN? 20ways to MAKE IT THROUGH • For those ‘fry an egg on the car bonnet’ kind of days, it helps to remember the basic tenets of gardening through an Aussie summer

stayin’ ALIVE • If you’re a forgetful waterer, or you need to keep your plants alive while you’re on holiday, there are plenty of cool gadgets and pots that’ll do the watering for you, writes KIRSTEN COLVIN

Dear diary • As the new year rolls in, why not start keeping a record of what you’re doing and loving in your garden? JENNIFER STACKHOUSE explains how to get under way with a paper or digital diary

Hobart s’ MELTING POT • Transforming an industrial wasteland into a thriving community garden, the recently opened Edible Precinct is an inclusive project where everyone brings something to the table

6 BUSH FOODS to grow at home

a touchy subject • Spiny, scaly and hairy plants have evolved to survive their harsh environments, says TIM ENTWISLE, and they can be enjoyed for their tactile and visual texture in home gardens, with some painful exceptions

the earliest APPLES • There’s something special about new year apples, which are best eaten close to picking, or stewed to make classic dessert fillings, writes JACKIE FRENCH

the gardeners bucket list LORD HOWE ISLAND in Australia • This island paradise is like a giant garden, with more than 240 indigenous plant species living in its rainforests, grasslands and other ecosystems, writes LIANI SOLARI

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

JANUARY a month in the GARDEN • More than 50 jobs to do in your action planner

IN THE PATCH • Horticultural editor and devoted food grower PHIL DUDMAN shows you what to plant, pick and tend in the edible garden this month

luscious berries FROM THE BACKYARD • Even in a tiny garden, you could be picking delicious home-grown berries to enjoy with your muesli, smoothies and pavlovas, writes PHIL DUDMAN

PROTECT YOUR CROP

helping HAND • Tips for tackling this month’s problems

GARDEN GUESTS & PESTS • Highly venomous tiger snakes may seek shelter from summer heat under debris in the garden, says LEONARD CRONIN

chatty companions • Geckos might be small, but they make their presence felt, says MARTYN ROBINSON

MAIL BOX

tropical surprise

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