my house (in metro WA) has recently become a bit of a passage for local cats to get to a huge patch of bushland. i aim to keep my yard a safe place for native animals, and they are messing with that. i would love to hear suggestions for ways to **reduce the cats** but **NOT deter native animals.**

hesitant to use the motion censor sprinklers because they waste water and would scare the shit out of a quenda i imagine. don’t want to use any sprays etc. without knowing the impact on native animals. i am happy to install those things on top of the fence but want to be sure that it won’t deter birds. happy to buy and use a cat trap, but would like to know if this actually helps or if others are finding they just return the next week anyway once released to the council. i would be really curious about any plants you’ve planted that deter cats, considering some spiky natives around the perimeter.

currently have colourbond fencing around the property, one large tree that overhangs the fence onto a block of flats behind me, and a wooden gate with 10-15cm gaps in it that i’m guessing needs to be blocked off.

would love any ideas, we are seeing about 10-15 different cats on our security cameras. thank you!

My tomato plant suddenly turned blackish brown, dry here in Western Sydney. I sprayed herbicides thinking it was some pest, watered it. but now it continues to be miserable.

Somewhat recent home owner and new to gardening. I recently pruned an orange tree due to a significant scale infestation (I also learnt what scale is). The tree seems to be recovering and has many new shoots emerging. I'm wondering whether any of these should be cut to priortise others or if I should just let them all grow? Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I live in Camden, Sydney and my wife has been in love with the "Fairy Floss" (Corymbia Ficifolia) for a while now. We are ready to plant one, but i'm struggling to find a nursery so far in South Western Sydney that have them in stock. I'm happy to travel all over Sydney even regional parts to locate it as it will be feature in our backyard.

So I'm hopefully someone here has knowledge where i could find one, or have inside knowledge when they will be coming out? Flower Power does stock them, but they do not know when they will receive stock, and they're all out.

Cheers and thanks.

Found these all over some bolted pakchoy, should I be worried? Perth wa

Hi all, can you please help with working out if these three plants are weeds or not? Location: Canberra.

Number 1 started appearing in my front garden about halfway through Winter in little clumps and the purple star flowers appearing in the last few weeks.

Number 2 is near my front porch and hasn't spread, so I suspect it was planted. However, it also doesn't appear anywhere else in the garden and that's a little unusual.

Number 3 appeared in my side garden in Autum and spread through the side garden and back garden. I'm not 100% if the ones out back are exactly the same, but they had beautiful white flowers on tall stems towards the beginning of Winter.

Unfortunately, I've let the garden get a little out of control since I moved in (combination of not being a big gardener and health issues) and have got a fair bit of weeding ahead of me but I don't want to make the mistake of pulling out actual plants. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Hi all!

I'm after some help identify these Australian native plants, shrubs and trees in these photos.

In a few images there are some crepe myrtles!

Edit: Location = NSW. However these images are from Instagram pages of Australian landscapes.

Trying not to spend a fortune on gardening, but I need some nets to protect my cabbages and kale. The 3x3m nets and 4x4 are so expensive. I'm don't wanna pay $40-60 just for nets. Any suggestions?

Hi everyone, it's spring time and this is my first ever lawn now I have my own home! Could anyone recommend a product for bindis on buffalo I could purchase from Bunnings please? Appreciate any help and tips.

Every year at this time my fig tree is completely skeletonised by these grubs. The tree is devastated and drops all its leaves needing a huge daily clean up under it. At a loss how to deal with this. Would love to encourage birds in to the tree to peck them off. Is this realistic? It is a really big tree so picking them off is not an option. Any other solutions?

Not only that, they also climb up my house weatherboard and leave red stains that are impossible to get off. At my wits end!

Located in Perth (WA). North-East facing. About +1m wide and +6m long. Area covered with thick layer of mulch over a weed mat - I know, nasty stuff, but I’m slowly removing it as I work the area and planting stuff.

On the street end I got a black mulberry in a big black pot (have no plans of putting it in the ground). Then planted a Kalamata olive tree, about 2 years old. Then planted a dwarf nectarines about +2m away from the olive - where the shadow line.

What else I can do? Over the rock barriers? Something to make it more lively. Anything to do to cover the black big pot housing the mulberry?

BTW, on the other side of the bricks line, my careless neighbour, overgrown weed and nothing else. The previous owner planted a large yucca against my wishes - he put it just to be mean. Just a day before he handed the keys to the new owner, I cut it at ground level during the night, drilled holes in the stump and poured over half a bottle of concentrated blackberry poison and then covered it in mulch - my proudest piece of work 4 years ago.

I have lived in South East Queensland for many years now and miss my homeland. The edelweiss is a very famous flower from my home and I think growing some would help me. For a complete beginner, how difficult would this project be? Are there any other similar European flowers that are easier to grow?

We have just moved into a new build. The block was raised about a meter to accomodate council flood requirements so we originally sat below our back neighbours but are now sitting higher than them.
The developers did nothing about adding height to the retaining wall between our block and the back neighbours block and so our yard now slopes down toward the retaining wall.
I really want to try and level the back yard so it’s usable and need some advice on how to approach this. Ideally i need another 450-500mm on top of the existing retaining height to level it out.
I know retaining walls are really expensive, i just don’t know what to do here 🤷

Hi everyone, I’m removing some yuccas from a narrow strip along the entire length of my house, between the back fence and the deck.

Originally I was thinking of going for a tropical look, with some bamboo and palms such as Lady Palm to create a bit of privacy and block the neighbours’ view.

I’m now also considering using the space for fruiting plants instead. I’m wondering about narrower dwarf or semi-dwarf trees, ideally something that can reach around 3–5 m and provide some screening while also producing fruit. Things like almond, cherry, nectarine, etc.

I’ve also thought about bananas, which would keep the tropical look while still producing fruit.

The main thing is that the planting area is quite narrow, so I’m looking for plants that can be kept relatively slim without constantly fighting to keep them under control.

What would you recommend for this kind of space? Particularly interested in anyone who has actually grown dwarf/semi-dwarf fruit trees or bananas in a narrow garden bed.

Hi all, I have three rows of about 30m each. I've connected two green soaker hoses along each row, which are then connected to a 3 way splitter. Everything is then connected to the bore pump and running, however I find sometimes the little holes don't "open" and part of one row doesn't get watered for example. Nothing in the hose clogging it etc. Is there a trick to getting these hoses to do what they're supposed to? Should I go around with a needle and repoke the holes? Any help appreciated!

Hello,
Don’t spend a lot of time in the garden but want to start getting it ready for summer. Have a lot of weeds in the garden beds. Just going through now hand pulling them and also digging down a bit to get some of the roots. Have taken a lot of the bark chips out while pulling the weeds so was thinking of replacing.

I assume there is no magic trick to stop the weeds from growing, especially around the edges of the lawn?

In the larger sections by the clothes line I guess I could put a bit of weed mat down?

I thought I read somewhere that a thick layer of bark chips/stones helps to prevent weed growth as it’s hard for the weeds to reach the soil.

Just wanting some general advice before I dump new bark chips down.

Some pics are attached to show what I’m doing.

Thanks!

Hello all! I've got a lovely, mature camellia in the front yard and have noticed some speckled leaves. They don't appear to be pest related (apart from one rusty looking bit - im not sure), and only coming from one branch. Is sport variegation usual for these trees?

Secondary to this, has anyone had any success in propagating camellias? I'm planning on trying the old 12cm stick with nodes in clonex + humidity, but would gladly take any tips/advice

Hi all,

We are currently building a new home and looking now at the landscaping side of things. We have really been considering TifTuf but would like to know how it goes with allergies sufferers.

Previously we had sir Walter buffalo which was supposed to be good for allergies but it still caused the kids to break out.

There is also an area of the block where we plan to install a future pool in a couple of years, should we install TifTuf here or go for a cheaper alternative?Just noting it will meet with other areas of the lawn.

Any advice here would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Redfern NSW - but it’s in a pot on a balcony so that won’t be very helpful.
Hopefully a native so we could have it in our garden. But knowing my luck it won’t be. Thanks in advance. 🪻🪻💮🌼🥀🌻🌷🌺

The planter will only get sun until maybe midday. I’m ideally after something that a) gives a bit of privacy, ergo grows a big taller b) evergreen c) is not too ‚bushy‘ - like I want it to be looking good in a planter and not like a hedge if that makes sense, like the Camillas in the back and d) if it flowers that would be a bonus. Planter will be on auto irrigation.

I know with these requirements it’s not easy lol. Also open to one bigger plant in the back for the privacy and then smaller in the middle (at the front I have silver falls). Based in Melbourne, thank you!

Currently have these weeds (i assume) growing throughout my lawn.
Is there any product or recommendations as to how to fix my lawn
Thank you in advance